{{italic title A ''Heerhaufen'', also ''Haufen'' or ''Haufe'', was the name given to unorganised or poorly organised

paramilitary A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...

troops and

auxiliaries Auxiliaries are support personnel that assist the military or police but are organised differently from regular forces. Auxiliary may be military volunteers undertaking support functions or performing certain duties such as garrison troops, u ...

Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the area' ...

during the Early Modern Period. The term is German and is sometimes translated "company" or "troops". The term ''Haufe'' was used especially during the

peasants' war This is a chronological list of conflicts in which peasants played a significant role. Background The history of peasant wars spans over two thousand years. A variety of factors fueled the emergence of the peasant revolt phenomenon, including: ...

s and

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

for a body of men, sometimes of several thousand armed peasants or ''

Landsknecht The (singular: , ), also rendered as Landsknechts or Lansquenets, were Germanic mercenaries used in pike and shot formations during the early modern period. Consisting predominantly of pikemen and supporting foot soldiers, their front line wa ...

en'', often with as part of a

grassroots democracy Grassroots democracy is a tendency towards designing political processes that shift as much decision-making authority as practical to the organization's lowest geographic or social level of organization. Grassroots organizations can have a var ...

movement (c.f the ''Heeresversammlungs'' of antiquity), and therefore more loosely organised than the smaller and strictly military units known as ''

Fähnlein The ''Fähnlein'' (in Swedish: fänika) was an infantry unit approximately equivalent to the company or battalion which was used in parts of Europe during the Middle Ages. The size of the unit varied; originally a Fähnlein could consist of as many ...

s''. The well known

German Youth Movement The German Youth Movement (german: Die deutsche Jugendbewegung) is a collective term for a cultural and educational movement that started in 1896. It consists of numerous associations of young people that focus on outdoor activities. The movement ...

song ''"Wir sind des Geyers schwarze Haufen"'' ("We are Geyer's black ''Haufen''") recalls the notion of the ''Haufen''. The German name for a

forlorn hope A forlorn hope is a band of soldiers or other combatants chosen to take the vanguard in a military operation, such as a suicidal assault through the kill zone of a defended position, or the first men to climb a scaling ladder against a defende ...

is ''Verlorener Haufen'' ("Lost ''Haufen''").

See also