The Königsberger Paukenhund was the traditional

kettle drum Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally ...

dog 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 ...

n infantry based in the

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...

n capital of

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was named ...

. The tradition dates from the 1866

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 ...

, where troops of the Prussian 43rd Infantry Regiment ("Duke Karl of Mecklenburg-Strelitz") overran the drum wagon of the

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

77th Infantry Regiment ("Karl Salvator of Tuscany"), whose dog, a Saint Bernard named "Sultan", had been shot. The East Prussian soldiers took the drum wagon back on their victorious return to Königsberg, where it received much attention. There, dogs were assigned to the regiment. As part of the musical corps, the dogs, named either "Sultan" or "Pasha" in honor of their Austrian predecessor, participated in parades and the procession of the castle guard until after the

First World War 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 ...

. Following the establishment of the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...

and founding of the

Reichswehr ''Reichswehr'' () was the official name of the German armed forces during the Weimar Republic and the first years of the Third Reich. After Germany was defeated in World War I, the Imperial German Army () was dissolved in order to be reshaped ...

, the soldiers asked for restoration of the ''Paukenhund'' tradition. A businessman named Kalitzki donated a Saint Bernard dog to the newly formed 1st (Prussian) Infantry Regiment. The last ''Königsberger Paukenhund'' was killed in April 1945 by his caretaker as the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

encircled Königsberg. The caretaker also shot his wife and their children before turning the gun upon himself.Bericht von Richard Ney, einem ehemaligen Angehörigen der 7./1. (Preuß.) I.R., in: Arbeitskreis Militärmusik in der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Heereskunde, Mitteilungsblatt Nr. 9, Dezember 1980

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Konigsberger Paukenhund Military animals of World War I Military animals East Prussia Königsberg Military animals of World War II Drums