The 11th Division (''11. Division'') was a unit of the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

. It was formed in Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland) in November 1816 as a brigade, and became the 11th Division on September 5, 1818. The division was subordinated in peacetime to the VI Army Corps (''VI. Armeekorps''). The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I. The division was recruited primarily in the

Province of Silesia The Province of Silesia (german: Provinz Schlesien; pl, Prowincja Śląska; szl, Prowincyjŏ Ślōnskŏ) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1919. The Silesia region was part of the Prussian realm since 1740 and established as an official p ...

, mainly in the region of

Lower Silesia Lower Silesia ( pl, Dolny Śląsk; cz, Dolní Slezsko; german: Niederschlesien; szl, Dolny Ślōnsk; hsb, Delnja Šleska; dsb, Dolna Šlazyńska; Silesian German: ''Niederschläsing''; la, Silesia Inferior) is the northwestern part of the ...

Combat chronicle

The 11th Division's 21st Infantry Brigade served in the

Second Schleswig War The Second Schleswig War ( da, Krigen i 1864; german: Deutsch-Dänischer Krieg) also sometimes known as the Dano-Prussian War or Prusso-Danish War was the second military conflict over the Schleswig-Holstein Question of the nineteenth century. T ...

against Denmark in 1864. The division fought in the

Austro-Prussian War The Austro-Prussian War, also by many variant names such as Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), (; "German war of brothers") and by a variety of other names, was fought in 186 ...

in 1866, including the

Battle of Königgrätz The Battle of Königgrätz (or Sadowa) was the decisive battle of the Austro-Prussian War in which the Kingdom of Prussia defeated the Austrian Empire. It took place on 3 July 1866, near the Bohemian city of Hradec Králové (German: Königgrä ...

. In the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, the division fought in several battles, including the

Siege of Toul The siege of Toul was the siege of the fortified French town of Toul from 16 August to 23 September 1870 by Prussian, Bavarian and Württemberg forces during the Franco-Prussian War. Toul controlled a railway line leading to Germany and it was v ...

and the Siege of Paris. In

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the division served on the Western Front. It spent most of the war in various parts of the trenches and fought in the 1916

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

. Allied intelligence rated it a second class division.

Order of battle in the Franco-Prussian War

During wartime, the 11th Division, like other regular German divisions, was redesignated an infantry division. The organization of the 11th Infantry Division in 1870 at the beginning of the Franco-Prussian War was as follows: *21. Infanterie Brigade ** Grenadier-Regiment Nr. 10 ** Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 18 *22. Infanterie Brigade ** Füsilier-Regiment Nr. 38 ** Füsilier-Regiment Nr. 51 *Jäger-Bataillon Nr. 9 *Dragoner-Regiment Nr. 8

Pre-World War I organization

German divisions underwent various organizational changes after the Franco-Prussian War. The organization of the 11th Division in 1914, shortly before the outbreak of World War I, was as follows:''Rangliste der Königlich Preußischen Armee'' (1914), pp. 71-72. *21. Infanterie-Brigade: **Grenadier-Regiment König Friedrich Wilhelm II. (1. Schlesisches) Nr. 10 **Füsilier-Regiment General-Feldmarschall Graf Moltke (Schlesisches) Nr. 38 *22. Infanterie-Brigade: **Grenadier-Regiment König Friedrich III. (2. Schlesisches) Nr. 11 **4. Niederschlesisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 51 *11. Kavallerie-Brigade **Leib-Kürassier-Regiment Großer Kurfürst (Schlesisches) Nr. 1 **Dragoner-Regiment König Friedrich III. (2. Schlesisches) Nr. 8 *11. Feldartillerie-Brigade: **Feldartillerie-Regiment

von Peucker Peuker, Peucker is the German surname of * Caspar Peucer (or ''Peucker'') (1525, Bautzen – 1602), reformer, mathematician, astronomer, medic, diplomat and writer * Nicolaus ''(Nikolaus)'' Peucker ''(Peuker)'' (1620, Kolbnitz bei Jauer ( pl, Ch ...

(1. Schlesisches) Nr. 6 **2. Schlesisches Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 42 *Landwehr-Inspektion Breslau

Order of battle on mobilization

On mobilization in August 1914 at the beginning of

, most divisional cavalry, including brigade headquarters, was withdrawn to form cavalry divisions or split up among divisions as reconnaissance units. Divisions received engineer companies and other support units from their higher headquarters. The 11th Division was again renamed the 11th Infantry Division. Its initial wartime organization was as follows:Cron et al., ''Ruhmeshalle'' *21. Infanterie-Brigade: **Grenadier-Regiment König Friedrich Wilhelm II. (1. Schlesisches) Nr. 10 **Füsilier-Regiment General-Feldmarschall Graf Moltke (Schlesisches) Nr. 38 *22. Infanterie-Brigade: **Grenadier-Regiment König Friedrich III. (2. Schlesisches) Nr. 11 **4. Niederschlesisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 51 *Jäger-Regiment zu Pferde Nr. 11 *11. Feldartillerie-Brigade: **Feldartillerie-Regiment von Peucker (1. Schlesisches) Nr. 6 **2. Schlesisches Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 42 *1. Kompanie/Schlesisches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 6

Late World War I organization

Divisions underwent many changes during the war, with regiments moving from division to division, and some being destroyed and rebuilt. During the war, most divisions became

triangular A triangle is a polygon with three edges and three vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC. In Euclidean geometry, any three points, when non- collinea ...

- one infantry brigade with three infantry regiments rather than two infantry brigades of two regiments (a "

square division A square division is a designation given to the way military divisions are organized. In a square organization, the division's main body is composed of four "maneuver," i.e., infantry regimental elements. Other types of regiments, such as artillery, ...

"). An artillery commander replaced the artillery brigade headquarters, the cavalry was further reduced, the engineer contingent was increased, and a divisional signals command was created. The 11th Infantry Division's order of battle in 1918 was as follows: *21. Infanterie-Brigade **Grenadier-Regiment Nr. 10 **Füsilier-Regiment Nr. 38 **Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 51 *2. Eskadron/Ulanen-Regiment Nr. 2 *Artillerie-Kommandeur 11 **Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 42 **Fußartillerie-Bataillon Nr. 131 *Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 122 *Divisions-Nachrichten-Kommandeur 11

References

11. Infanterie-Division - Der erste Weltkrieg
* Claus von Bredow, (1905) * Hermann Cron et al., ''Ruhmeshalle unserer alten Armee'' (Berlin, 1935) * Hermann Cron, ''Geschichte des deutschen Heeres im Weltkriege 1914-1918'' (Berlin, 1937) * Günter Wegner, ''Stellenbesetzung der deutschen Heere 1815-1939.'' (Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück, 1993), Bd. 1 * ''Histories of Two Hundred and Fifty-One Divisions of the German Army which Participated in the War (1914-1918), compiled from records of Intelligence section of the General Staff, American Expeditionary Forces, at General Headquarters, Chaumont, France 1919'' (1920)

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:11 Infantry divisions of Germany in World War I Military units and formations established in 1818 Military units and formations disestablished in 1919