1st Foot Guards (German Empire)
The 1st Foot Guard Regiment or 1st Guards Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the Royal Prussian Army formed in 1806 after Napoleon defeated Prussia in the Battle of Jena–Auerstedt. It was formed by combining all previous Foot Guard Regiments, especially the 6th and the 15th Infantry Regiments of the Old Prussian Army, the former were the famous Potsdam Giants of Frederick William I of Prussia, the latter was commanded and led by Frederick the Great as his life guard, and was, from its inception, the bodyguard-regiment of Kings of Prussia. Save William II, who also wore the uniforms of other regiments, all Prussian Kings and most Princes of Prussia wore the uniform of the 1st Foot Guard Regiment. All Princes of Prussia were commissioned lieutenants in the 1st Foot Guards upon their tenth birthdays. The King of Prussia was also the Colonel-in-chief of the regiment, as well as the Chief of the 1st Battalion and 1st Company of the regiment. Therefore, the regiment held the highest rank within the Prussian Army, which, among other things, meant that the officer corps of the regiment marched before the princes of the German Empire and the diplomatic corps in the traditional New Year's reception. Unofficially, the regiment was known as the "First Regiment of Christendom".
The regiment was disbanded in 1919 when the Imperial German Army was dissolved, with the Infantry Regiment 9 Potsdam of the new Reichsheer bearing its tradition. The Wachbataillon continues the tradition of this regiment in the Bundeswehr of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Regimental commanders
The first regimental commander of the 1st Foot Guards was Second Lt. Julius Ludwig von Pogwisch, who served from 4 November 1806 to 15 April 1807. He was followed by Col. Gustav Adolph von Kessel. Subsequent commanders through the first half of the 19th century were Major Ernst Ludwig von Tippelskirch ; Major Friedrich Johann Carl Gebhard von Alvensleben ; Lt. Col. Carl Heinrich von Block ; Lt. Col. Eugen Max von Röder ; Col. Carl Ludwig Wilhelm Ernst von Prittwitz ; Col. Franz Karl von Werder ; Col. George Leopold Carl von Gayl II ; and Col. Karl Eberhard Herwarth von Bittenfeld.Between 1850 and the beginning of the Franco-Prussian War were Col. Eduard von Brauchitsch ; Col. Count Count Albert von Blumenthal ; Col. Friedrich Wilhelm Johann Ludwig Freiherr Hiller von Gaertringen ; Col. Karl Graf von der Goltz ; and Col. Bernhard von Kessel III.
Col. Victor Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Dietrich von Roeder's command, which started on 18 May 1867, extended into the start of the Franco-Prussian War. He was killed one month into the conflict on 18 August 1870 during the Battle of Gravelotte. Von Oppell served as acting commander until 11 December, when Col. Oktavio Philipp von Boehn took over. He held this position through the end of the war and was replaced by Col. Anton Wilhelm Karl von L'Estocq on 12 December 1874.
After the war, command of the 1st Foot Guards was held by Otto von Derenthall, first as an acting commander, then as commander. Following him were Col. Oskar von Lindequist ; Col. Hans von Plessen ; Col. Oldwig Wilhelm Ferdinand von Natzmer ; Col. Gustav von Kessel ; Col. Col Georg von Kalckstein ; Lt. Col. Karl von Plettenberg ; Gustav Freiherr von Berg ; Karl Freiherr von Willisen ; Friedrich von Kleist ; and Friedrich von Friedeburg.
Prince Eitel Friedrich of Prussia began his command of the 1st Foot Guards on 1 August 1914, a few days after the beginning of World War I. He was replaced on 14 November by Friedrich von Bismarck, who was acting commander until his death in Bouvincourt-en-Vermandois. Siegfried Graf zu Eulenburg-Wicken and Friedrich Franz Adolf von Stephani alternated command through the end of the war: Eulenburg-Wicken ; von Stephani ; Eulenburg-Wicken ; von Stephani ; Eulenburg-Wicken ; von Stephani ; and Eulenburg-Wicken.