Bart150 Posted 26 August , 2008 Share Posted 26 August , 2008 I have the impression that in WW1 the 76th was the regiment for Hamburg. That's why the city's war memorial refers to the 76th. http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infanterie-Re...tisches)_Nr._76 But a German regiment in WW1 had three battalions, total 2500 men. So how could one regiment be enough for a large city like Hamburg, which, incidentally had 40,000 dead in the whole war? What am I missing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Clifton Posted 26 August , 2008 Share Posted 26 August , 2008 The German infantry regiments were normally named after the constituent princely state in which they were raised. The naming of regiments for Hamburg, Lubeck and Bremen is a relic of their original status as city-states in the old Hanseatic League. Men from Hamburg may well have joined regiments from the surrounding areas but 76th was the only one among the old Regular infantry with its HQ in Hamburg. Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiegeGunner Posted 26 August , 2008 Share Posted 26 August , 2008 The naming of regiments for Hamburg, Lubeck and Bremen is a relic of their original status as city-states in the old Hanseatic League. Hamburg and Bremen are still city-states in the modern Federal Republic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob lembke Posted 26 August , 2008 Share Posted 26 August , 2008 Hamburg and Bremen are still city-states in the modern Federal Republic. At the time, "Hamburg" was complex; my father provided flame-thrower services to the IR Nr. 31, which was the (or a) IR for Altoona, which sort of was Hamburg. Don't have a good handle on this. Bob Lembke PS: Of course everything in the Kaiserszeit was complex, a major reason why the topics are so much fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiegeGunner Posted 26 August , 2008 Share Posted 26 August , 2008 At the time, "Hamburg" was complex; my father provided flame-thrower services to the IR Nr. 31, which was the (or a) IR for Altoona, which sort of was Hamburg. Don't have a good handle on this. Altona was an independent city until 1937/8 when it became a borough of Greater Hamburg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyliecoyote Posted 26 August , 2008 Share Posted 26 August , 2008 Hamburg not only had the 76 I.R. There was also Reserve I.R. 76, Landwehr.I.R. 75 (4 btlns.), 1st (IX. 9),2nd (IX. 10),3rd (IX. 11), Landsturm Inf. Btlns. Hamburg, 1st (IX. 27),2nd (IX. 28),3rd (IX. 29) Landsturm Inf. Ersatz Btlns. Hamburg, (IX. 34) Landsturm Inf. Ersatz Btln. Hamburg, 5th (IX. 42) Inf. Ersatz Btln. Hamburg, not including what ever Kriegsmarine & Marine Korps men (if any) were stationed in this important port City. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Hederer Posted 27 August , 2008 Share Posted 27 August , 2008 There was a thread here earlier about Hamburg in particular. I posted some data on the casualties suffered by the city alone--a search might reveal this thread. Gives an idea of the city's participation in the war effort. I'm currently on a laptop with GPRS connection, so in-depth searching is not my fortee! Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bart150 Posted 29 August , 2008 Author Share Posted 29 August , 2008 There was a thread here earlier about Hamburg in particular. Paul, this thread seems to be gone. Summarising the answers above I conclude the following: In 1914 the city of Hamburg was less extensive than it is today. Even so, only a minority of soldiers from Hamburg were in the 76th or 76th reserve regiments. Therefore it was tough on the men in other regiments that the big memorial in the centre of town was dedicated specifically to the 76th and 76th reserve regiments. I don't quite see how this unfairness arose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Sheldon Posted 29 August , 2008 Share Posted 29 August , 2008 Bart You are not quite correct. I posted about the Hamburg memorials a couple of days ago elsewhere on the Forum. The main Hamburg memorial is a pillar by the Innenalster and commemorates the 40,000 men of Hamburg who died. The IR 76 memorial (the controversial one) was not dedicated until later and stands not far from the Kennedybruecke. Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bart150 Posted 29 August , 2008 Author Share Posted 29 August , 2008 Jack, I'm pretty sure the IR 76 memorial hasn't always been in its present location. I don't know if there's any record of where it was set up originally. Bart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Sheldon Posted 29 August , 2008 Share Posted 29 August , 2008 You are very likely correct. I expressed my last post somewhat clumsily. The point I was trying to make is that the memorial to IR 76 is just that. It was never the main Hamburg war memorial. Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyliecoyote Posted 29 August , 2008 Share Posted 29 August , 2008 Was I.R. 76 on the Belgian coast late in 1914? Click for a link to a photo here. It will be the 9th to 11th photo down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Clifton Posted 29 August , 2008 Share Posted 29 August , 2008 Was I.R. 76 on the Belgian coast late in 1914? Not unless it was temporarily detached from its division (17th), which was near Bailly on the Oise between Oct 1914 and Nov 1915, having taken part in the Battles of the Marne and the Aisne. There was at leat one German Naval Division on the Channel Coast in late 1914 (just as the British RN Div was) and this might well have contained a battalion or two of naval reservists converted to infantry. Some of these may have been from Hamburg. Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyliecoyote Posted 29 August , 2008 Share Posted 29 August , 2008 That is what is confusing about the photo, they are not supposed to have been by the coast, but the photo, shows men of the 76 I.R. on a beach sitting on a sand pile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bart150 Posted 29 August , 2008 Author Share Posted 29 August , 2008 The postcard was mailed 7 November 1914. So the photo was taken at some moment before 7 November 1914. Could have been in peacetime: exercising on the Baltic coast, for example. Or anywhere with sand; eg a building site. Nice collection of photos, anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyliecoyote Posted 29 August , 2008 Share Posted 29 August , 2008 Before the war, there was not a shortage of correct pickelhauben, two of those men are wearing non military pickelhauben, which was a phenomona of 1914. Nice collection of photos, anyway. Thanks Bart! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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