The 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade (german: Panzergrenadierbrigade 1) in

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the ...

was a formation in the

Bundeswehr The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...

, which was subordinated to the 1st Armoured Division in

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

. The Brigade was disbanded on 31 December 2007. During its lifetime the Brigade was stationed between the

Lüneburg Heath Lüneburg Heath (german: Lüneburger Heide) is a large area of heath, geest, and woodland in the northeastern part of the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. It forms part of the hinterland for the cities of Hamburg, Hanover and Bremen ...

Harz Mountains The Harz () is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' derives from the Middle High Germ ...

, the Solling hills and the

River Weser The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports of B ...

Formation sign

The formation sign displays the white '' Sachsenross'' or Saxon steed on a red background within a yellow and white shield. The steed recalls the Welf dukes and the

Kingdom of Hanover The Kingdom of Hanover (german: Königreich Hannover) was established in October 1814 by the Congress of Vienna, with the restoration of George III to his Hanoverian territories after the Napoleonic era. It succeeded the former Electorate of Ha ...

. The original Saxon tribal emblem was adopted in 1235 by the Welf dukes, the Dukes of Brunswick and

Lüneburg Lüneburg (officially the ''Hanseatic City of Lüneburg'', German: ''Hansestadt Lüneburg'', , Low German ''Lümborg'', Latin ''Luneburgum'' or ''Lunaburgum'', Old High German ''Luneburc'', Old Saxon ''Hliuni'', Polabian ''Glain''), also called ...

, as an additional coat of arms. Through the amalgamation of part of the Lüneburg-Brunswick region with the Principality, later Kingdom, of Hanover the Saxon steed appeared in 1705 on the escutcheon of the kingdom's coat of arms surrounded by the main yellow and white shield. On the foundation of the state of

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

in 1952 the Saxon steed on a red field became the coat of arms of the state. The white border of the coat of arms, in embroidery shown as a white cord - represents the usual heraldic custom of the German Army: white borders were always the formation signs of the "first" brigades in a division. The superior division as well as the other two brigades in the division traditionally bore an identical formation sign apart from the white border. On the disbandment of the Brigade the sign continued to be worn by Panzerlehrbrigade 9, which gave up its old sign in 2006. The white border remains.

Composition 2007

In 2007, just before disbanding the brigade was organised as: * Headquarters Company ''Stabskompanie'', in

* 33rd Tank Battalion * 421st Panzergrenadier Battalion * 10th Armoured Engineer Company * 15th Armoured Artillery Battalion * 803rd Armoured Engineer Battalion * 141st Logistics Battalion

Commanders

The brigade commanders were (rank on taking over):

External links

Website of the Brigade

Bundeswehr.de: ''Panzergrenadierbrigade 1 verabschiedet sich aus Hildesheim.''

Website of Hildesheim armour

Traditionsverband Panzerbataillon 14, Hildesheim

Website of the former PzArtBtl 15

Website of Panzerjaegerkompanie 10
{{Authority control Brigades of the Bundeswehr Infantry brigades of Germany History of Hildesheim Military units and formations established in 1958 Military units and formations disestablished in 2007 1958 establishments in Germany