The Chief of the General Staff (

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 ...

: ''Chef des Generalstabes der Armee'') of the

Bavarian army The Bavarian Army was the army of the Electorate (1682–1806) and then Kingdom (1806–1919) of Bavaria. It existed from 1682 as the standing army of Bavaria until the merger of the military sovereignty (''Wehrhoheit'') of Bavaria into that of t ...

was the military leader of the armed forces in the

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German E ...

Names of the General Staff of the Army commanders

* ''Generalquartiermeister'' ('' Quartermaster General'', from 1792 to 1805) * ''Chef des Generalstabes'' (from 1805 to 1822) * ''Chef des Generalquartiermeisterstabes'' (''Chief of the Quartermaster General Staff'', from 1822 to 1840) * ''Generalquartiermeister'' (from 1840 to 1878, after 1883 also inspector of military training institutions) * ''Chef des Generalstabes der Armee'' (after 1878)

General Staff of the Bavarian Army

Originally the

General Staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military un ...

(German: ''Generalstab'') of the Bavarian army was created by prince-elector

Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria Charles Theodore (german: link=no, Karl Theodor; 11 December 1724 – 16 February 1799) reigned as Prince-elector and Count Palatine from 1742, as Duke of Jülich and Berg from 1742 and also as prince-elector and Duke of Bavaria from 1777 to his ...

on demand of Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford in 1792. In 1822 it was renamed under

Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria Maximilian I Joseph (german: Maximilian I. Joseph; 27 May 1756 – 13 October 1825) was Duke of Zweibrücken from 1795 to 1799, prince-elector of Bavaria (as Maximilian IV Joseph) from 1799 to 1806, then King of Bavaria (as Maximilian I Joseph) ...

to ''Generalquartiermeister''. During the reign of

Ludwig II of Bavaria Ludwig II (Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm; 25 August 1845 – 13 June 1886) was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886. He is sometimes called the Swan King or ('the Fairy Tale King'). He also held the titles of Count Palatine of the ...

, it was renamed once more to ''Generalstab''. The office of the Chief of the General Staff was located in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

. The General Staff of the army supported the supreme command of the army, and was point of contact for the Truppengeneralstäbe (''general staffs of troops''), the general staffs of the divisional commands, which were created after 1826, abolished in 1837 and once more deployed in 1847.Wilhelm Volkert, Richard Bauer
''Handbuch der bayerischen Ämter, Gemeinden und Gerichte 1799-1980''
(German), 1983, p. 336 ff. The General Staff followed the mobile forces on mission, until the Bavarian army was subordinated in case of war to the command of the

German Emperor The German Emperor (german: Deutscher Kaiser, ) was the official title of the head of state and hereditary ruler of the German Empire. A specifically chosen term, it was introduced with the 1 January 1871 constitution and lasted until the offi ...

in his function as ''Bundesfeldherr'' (''federal commander'') after 1870. Due to this the commanders of the Bavarian army were under the direct command of the central German military authorities during

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 ...

; on mobilisation most of the Bavarian General Staff became the headquarters of the largely Bavarian 6th Army, with some officers joining the

Supreme Army Command The ''Oberste Heeresleitung'' (, Supreme Army Command or OHL) was the highest echelon of command of the army (''Heer'') of the German Empire. In the latter part of World War I, the Third OHL assumed dictatorial powers and became the ''de facto'' ...

References

{{reflist, 2 Military of Bavaria