1st Foot Guards (German Empire)


The 1st Foot Guard Regiment 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 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.
s of the 1st Foot Guard Regiment on parade at the Lustgarten in Berlin in 1894.

Regimental commanders