Kaiserjäger

The Kaiserjäger (officially designated by the Imperial and Royal ("k.u.k.") military administration as the Tiroler Jäger-Regimenter^[1]) or "Tyrolean Rifle Regiments", were formed in 1895 as four normal infantry regiments within the Common Army of Austria-Hungary. Despite the state title "Tirol" its members were not just recruited from the crown land of Tyrol^[2] (including Vorarlberg) but also from other parts of the monarchy.^[3] The regiments were disbanded in 1918 with the end of the k.u.k. monarchy. The word Jäger (meaning "hunter" or "huntsman") is a characteristic term used for light infantry or light infantrymen in German-speaking military context.

Background

The first standing troops in the Tyrol were the native Tyrolese soldiers of the Tyrolean State Battalion (Tiroler Landbataillon) formed in 1703. This was superseded in 1745 by the Tyrolean Field and State Regiment (Tiroler Feld- und Landregiment), which was given the status and prerogatives of an imperial regiment and went under the regimental number 46. Due to the political situation during the Napoleonic era, the regiment was permanently station in Veneto - still Austrian at that time - in 1801, which is why it lost its original name.

As its successor in Tyrol, the 64th Tyrolean Rifles (Tiroler Jäger-Regiment Nr. 64) was established, based on a Tyrolean rifle corps and the battalion of Kurzschen Jäger ("Kurzsch Rifles"). When Tyrol fell to the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1805, the name Tyrolean Rifles was withdrawn and placed in suspended animation. After the return of the Tyrol to Austria in 1814, the reorganization of a Tyrolean rifle corps was immediately begun. Initially it consisted of one battalion, but was later expanded to three. The inhaber of the Rifles was Field Marshal Franz Philipp Fenner von Fenneberg (1762-1824), which resulted in the contemporary title of Fennerjäger.

Footnotes

^ The title "Kaiserjäger" - literally "emperor's hunters", but meaning "emperor's rifles", was an honorary nickname and not part of the language of the military chancellery. The official designation was "K.u.K. (1.-4.) Tiroler Jäger Regiment", i.e. "1st - 4th Imperial and Royal Tyrolean Rifle Regiment". Nevertheless the name "Kaiserjäger" gained increasing popularity in everyday speech,so that it was and still is universally and solely used.
^ Trient also belonged to Tyrol at that time
^ In various sources the percentage of Tyroleans (including people from Trentino) and Vorarlbergers is stated as at or over 90 %. But as the First World War dragged on, casualty replacements could only be ensured by drawing on other parts of the monarchy.

Literature

Anton Graf Bossi-Fedrigotti: Kaiserjäger – Ruhm und Ende. Leopold Stocker Verlag, Graz, 1977
E. Wißhaupt: Die Tiroler Kaiserjäger im Weltkrieg 1914–1918 (2 vols., 1935 and 1936)
Generalmajor Kasimir Freiherr von Lütgendorf: Die historische Entwicklung des Landesverteidigungswesens, der Kaiserjäger und Landesschützen, Vienna, 1914
Dr. Bernhard Wurzer: Tirols Heldenzeit, Innsbruck, 1959
k.u.k. Kriegsministerium „Dislokation und Einteilung des k.u.k Heeres, der k.u.k. Kriegsmarine, der k.k. Landwehr und der k.u. Landwehr“ in: Seidels kleines Armeeschema – pub.: Seidel & Sohn, Vienna, 1914
Haager, Christian et al: Tiroler Kaiserjägerbund: Tiroler Kaiserjäger seit 1816 – die Geschichte der Tiroler Eliteregimenter ; Gründung – Einsätze – Ausrüstung / herausgegeben von Tiroler Kaiserjägerbund und Alt-Kaiserjägerclub Innsbruck; Innsbruck, 1991 and Cremona, 1996²
Huter, Franz: Ein Kaiserjägerbuch 1 – Die Kaiserjäger und ihre Waffentaten. Innsbruck: self pub. by the Bergisel Museum, 1980
Huter, Franz: Ein Kaiserjägerbuch 2 – Kurzgeschichte des Bergiselmuseums – Innsbruck : self pub. by the Bergisel Museum, 1985
Jakoncig, Guido: Tiroler Kaiserjäger im Weltkrieg. – Innsbruck: Wagner, 1935
Potschka, Ludwig: Geschichte des Tiroler Jäger-Regiments Kaiser Franz Joseph – Innsbruck: Wagner, 1885 (4 vols.)
Raschin Edler von Raschinfels, Karl: Die Einser-Kaiserjäger im Feldzug gegen Rußland: 1914 – 1915; Extract from the diary of the regimental adjutants – edited by Karl Raschin Edler von Raschinfels; Bregenz: Teutsch, 1935.
Schemfil, Viktor: Das k.u.k. 3. Regiment der Tiroler Kaiserjäger im Weltkriege 1914 – 1918 – edited by Viktor Schemfil based on the wartime documents of the regiments; Bregenz: Teutsch, 1926

External links

[1] The title "Kaiserjäger" - literally "emperor's hunters", but meaning "emperor's rifles", was an honorary nickname and not part of the language of the military chancellery. The official designation was "K.u.K. (1.-4.) Tiroler Jäger Regiment", i.e. "1st - 4th Imperial and Royal Tyrolean Rifle Regiment". Nevertheless the name "Kaiserjäger" gained increasing popularity in everyday speech,so that it was and still is universally and solely used.

[2] Trient also belonged to Tyrol at that time

[3] In various sources the percentage of Tyroleans (including people from Trentino) and Vorarlbergers is stated as at or over 90 %. But as the First World War dragged on, casualty replacements could only be ensured by drawing on other parts of the monarchy.

[1]

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[3]