# K.u.k. Feldjäger

The Feldjäger were established in 1808 as Jäger infantry in the Empire of Austria and later formed part of the regular infantry of the Common Army, only their peacetime uniform distinguishing them. The designation Jäger for the soldiers and Feldjäger for their units had purely historical reasons, as light infantry and skirmisher units had been abolished in 1866.

## Uniform

The hat made of matte black, waterproof felt served as the parade headgear for the Jäger and k.k. Landwehr. It had a crown and brim and was decorated with a circular green cord, the Jäger hat badge and a hackle of black cock feathers. The chinstrap was made of sheep's wool, had a button and an acorn covered with green wool at each end. The two acorns were attached to the rear of the crown. The cord for officers was made of black interwoven gold thread.
The crown was in the shape of an oval cone, with a moderately bulbous base at the top. The brim was level at the back and front, but turned up on both sides. The edge of the brim was edged with black, lacquered calfskin.
On the left side of the brim was a rearward sloping pocket made of hat felt for attaching the hackle. The hat badge - made of gilt metal - depicted a hunting horn. In the space within the coil, a Tyrolean eagle (heraldic animal) was attached in the case of the Kaiserjäger, or the battalion number in the case of the Feldjäger. They were made of silver-coloured nickel silver. The badge was attached above the hackle pocket, so that the eagle or the number slanted in the same direction as the pocket. The plume was in the shape of a cock's tail tied to a 1.5-mm-thick piece of steel wire. The length of the plume was 29 cm. The plume was inserted into the pocket on the hat, so that the feathers hung down in an arc towards the back.
The infantry field cap was used in the field.
The tunic of the Jäger - for soldiers and officers - corresponded in cut to that of the infantry. The soldiers' coat of pike-grey cloth had epaulettes, shoulder patches, collar and cuffs of grass-green colour. The buttons of all Jäger units were yellow and marked with the battalion number.
The Jäger jackets were the same colour as the coat. Their arm of service was indicated by their grass-green parolis. The rest of their equipment was no different from that of the line infantry.

## Units

In 1914 there were 29 independent Feldjäger battalions and one Bosnian-Herzegovinian Feldjäger Battalion.
* k.u.k. Feldjäger Battalion No. 1
    Formed: 1808 – XIV Army Corps – 8th Infantry Division – 16th Infantry Brigade
    Nationalities: 62 % Germans – 36 % Czechs – 2 % other
    Battalion language: Czech, German
    Garrison: Tione di Trento
    Recruiting district: Theresienstadt
    Commandant: Lieutenant Colonel Richard von Vittorelli
* k.u.k. Feldjäger Battalion No. 2
    Formed: 1808 – XIV Army Corps – 8th Infantry Division – 122nd Infantry Brigade
    Nationalities: 74 % Czechs – 26 % Germans
    Battalion language: Czech, German
    Garrison: Lienz
    Recruiting district and reinforcement cadre: Hradec Králové
    Commandant: Lieutenant Colonel Hugo Mayer
* k.u.k. Feldjäger Battalion No. 3
    vakant
* k.u.k. Feldjäger Battalion No. 4
    Formed: 1808 – XIV Army Corps – 3rd Infantry Division – 6th Infantry Brigade
    Nationalities: 77 % Poles – 23 % other
    Battalion language: Polish
    Garrison: Braunau
    Recruiting district and reinforcement cadre: Rzeszów
    Commandant: Lieutenant Colonel Felix Schultz
* k.u.k. Feldjäger Battalion No. 5
    Formed: 1808 – III Army Corps – 6th Infantry Division – 12nd Infantry Brigade
    Nationalities: 39 % Germans – 25 % Czechs – 25 % Poles – 11 % other
    Battalion language: Czech, German, Polish
    Garrison: Tarvis
    Recruiting district and reinforcement cadre: Olomouc
    Commandant: Lieutenant Colonel Carl Pöscheck
* k.u.k. Feldjäger Battalion No. 6
    Formed: 1808 – XIV Army Corps – 8th Infantry Division – 122nd Infantry Brigade
    Nationalities: 69 % Czechs – 30 % Germans – 1 % other
    Battalion language: Czech, German
    Recruiting district and reinforcement cadre: Plzeň
    Garrison: Sillian
    Commandant: Lieutenant Colonel Franz Kahler
* k.u.k. Feldjäger Battalion No. 7
    Formed: 1808 – III Army Corps – 28th Infantry Division – 94th Infantry Brigade
    Nationalities: 85 % Slovenes – 15 % other
    Battalion language: Slovenian
    Recruiting district and reinforcement cadre: Laibach
    Garrison: Canale
    Commandant: Lieutenant Colonel Wilhelm Staufer
* k.u.k. Feldjäger Battalion No. 8
* k.u.k. Feldjäger Battalion No. 9
* k.u.k. Feldjäger Battalion "Kopal" No. 10
    Formed: 1813 – XIV Army Corps – 8th Infantry Division – 15th Infantry Brigade
    Nationalities: 98 % Germans – 2 % other
    Battalion language: German
    Recruiting district and reinforcement cadre: Sankt Pölten
    Garrison: Vigo di Fassa
    Commandant: Lieutenant Colonel Oswald Eccher von Eccho, Edler v. Marienberg
* k.u.k. Feldjäger Battalion No. 11
    Formed: 1813 – III Army Corps – 28th Infantry Division – 56th Infantry Brigade
    Nationalities: 52 % Germans – 44 % Hungarians – 4 % other
    Battalion language: German, Hungarian
    Recruiting district and reinforcement cadre: Győr
    Garrison: Gradisca
    Commandant: Lieutenant Colonel Norbert Frass
* k.u.k. Feldjäger Battalion No. 12
    Formed: 1813 – XIV Army Corps – 8th Infantry Division – 15th Infantry Brigade
    Nationalities: 67 % Czechs – 32 % Germans – 1 % other
    Battalion language: Czech, German
    Recruiting district and reinforcement cadre: Mladá Boleslav
    Garrison: Innsbruck
    Commandant: Lieutenant Colonel Dante Bontadi
* k.u.k. Feldjäger Battalion No. 13
    Formed: 1849 – XIV Army Corps – 8th Infantry Division – 15th Infantry Brigade
    Nationalities: 47 % Poles – 36 % Ruthenians – 17 % other
    Battalion language: Polish
    Recruiting district and reinforcement cadre: Kraków
    Garrison: Cavalese
    Commandant: Lieutenant Colonel Ludwig Ritter von Stampfer
* k.u.k. Feldjäger Battalion No. 14
    Formed: 1914 – XIV Army Corps – 8th Infantry Division – 16th Infantry Brigade
    Nationalities: 47 % Ruthenians – 43 % Poles – 1 % other
    Battalion language: Polish
    Recruiting district and reinforcement cadre: Przemyśl
    Garrison: Mezzolombardo
    Commandant: Major Alfred von Hankenstein
* k.u.k. Feldjäger Battalion No. 15
    vakant
* k.u.k. Feldjäger Battalion No. 16
    Formed: 1849 – XIV Army Corps – 8th Infantry Division – 16th Infantry Brigade
    Nationalities: 56 % Germans – 34 % Czechs – 10 % other
    Battalion language: Czech, German
    Recruiting district and reinforcement cadre: Opava
    Garrison: Levico
    Commandant: Major Karl Lerch
* k.u.k. Feldjäger Battalion No. 17
    Formed: 1849 – III Army Corps – 6th Infantry Division – 12nd Infantry Brigade
    Nationalities: 63 % Czechs – 36 % Germans – 1 % other
    Battalion language: Czech, German
    Recruiting district and reinforcement cadre: Brno
    Garrison: Judenburg
    Commandant: Major Rudolf Dückelmann
* k.u.k. Feldjäger Battalion No. 18
    Formed: 1914 – XIV Army Corps – 8th Infantry Division – 16th Infantry Brigade
    Nationalities: 59 % Ruthenians – 31 % Poles – 10 % other
    Battalion language: Polish
    Recruiting district and reinforcement cadre: Lemberg
    Garrison: Trient
    Commandant: Lieutenant Colonel Maximilian Lauer
* k.u.k. Feldjäger Battalion No. 19
    Formed: 1849 – III Army Corps – 6th Infantry Division – 12nd Infantry Brigade
    Nationalities: 58 % Slovaks – 32 % Hungarians – 10 % other
    Battalion language: Slovak, Hungarian
    Recruiting district and reinforcement cadre: Komorn
    Garrison: Klagenfurt
    Commandant: Major Ernst Mathes
* k.u.k. Feldjäger Battalion No. 20
    Formed: 1849 – III Army Corps – 28th Infantry Division – 56th Infantry Brigade
    Nationalities: 58 % Slovenes – 31 % Trientines/Triestines – 21 % other
    Battalion language: Slovenian, Italian
    Recruiting district and reinforcement cadre: Triest
    Garrison: Kremaun
    Commandant: Lieutenant Colonel Franz Schöbinger
* k.u.k. Feldjäger Battalion No. 21
    Formed: 1849 – III Army Corps – 6th Infantry Division – 11st Infantry Brigade
    Nationalities: 98 % Germans 2 % other
    Battalion language: German
    Recruiting district: Vienna
    Garrison: Mitrovica
    Commandant: Lieutenant Colonel Johann Haas
* k.u.k. Feldjäger Battalion No. 22
    Formed: 1849 – XIV Army Corps – 8th Infantry Division – 16th Infantry Brigade
    Nationalities: 70 % Germans – 28 % Czechs – 2 % other
    Battalion language: German, Czech
    Recruiting district and reinforcement cadre: Eger (Bohemia)
    Garrison: Borgo Valsugana
    Commandant: Lieutenant Colonel Wenzel Ort
* k.u.k. Feldjäger Battalion No. 23
    Formed: 1849 – VII Army Corps – 34th Infantry Division – 68th Infantry Brigade
    Nationalities: 68 % Romanians – 28 % Hungarians – 4 % other
    Battalion language: Romanian, Hungarian
    Recruiting district and reinforcement cadre: Marosvásárhely
    Garrison: Pančevo
    Commandant: Major Theodor Althoff
* k.u.k. Feldjäger Battalion No. 24
    Formed: 1849 – III Army Corps – 28th Infantry Division – 55th Infantry Brigade
    Nationalities: 86 % Hungarians – 14 % other
    Battalion language: Hungarian
    Recruiting district and reinforcement cadre: Budapest
    Garrison: Rovigno (one coy. in Parenzo)
    Commandant: Lieutenant Colonel Emmerich Gerö
* k.u.k. Feldjäger Battalion No. 25
    Formed: 1849 – II Army Corps – 25th Infantry Division – 49th Infantry Brigade
    Nationalities: 75 % Czechs – 22 % Germans – 3 % other
    Battalion language: Czech, German
    Recruiting district and reinforcement cadre: Brno
    Garrison: Vienna (Schönbrunner Schloßkaserne / two companies at the Mauerkaserne barracks)
    Commandant: Lieutenant Colonel Arnold Barwick
* k.u.k. Feldjäger Battalion No. 26
    vakant
* k.u.k. Feldjäger Battalion No. 27
    Formed: 1914 – XIV Army Corps – 8th Infantry Division – 121st Infantry Brigade
    Nationalities: 54 % Romanians – 27 % Ruthenians – 19 % other
    Battalion language: Romanian, Polish
    Recruiting district and reinforcement cadre: Czernowitz
    Garrison: Hall in Tirol
    Commandant: Major Friedrich Nürnberger
* k.u.k. Feldjäger Battalion No. 28
    Formed: 1859 – VII Army Corps – 34th Infantry Division – 68th Infantry Brigade
    Nationalities: 73 % Romanians – 27 % other
    Battalion language: Romanian
    Recruiting district: Arad
    Garrison: Kevévara
    Commandant: Lieutenant Colonel Augustin Dorotka von Ehrenwall
* k.u.k. Feldjäger Battalion No. 29
    Formed: 1859 – III Army Corps – 28th Infantry Division – 56th Infantry Brigade
    Nationalities: 29 % Hungarians – 67 % Slovaks – 4 % sonstige
    Battalion language: Hungarian, Slovak
    Recruiting district and reinforcement cadre: Losoncz
    Garrison: Monfalcone
    Commandant: Lieutenant Colonel Desiderius Farkas
* k. u. k. Feldjäger Battalion No. 30
    Formed: 1859 – XIV Army Corps – 3rd Infantry Division – 6th Infantry Brigade
    Nationalities: 70 % Ruthenians – 30 % other
    Battalion language: Polish
    Recruiting district and reinforcement cadre: Stanislav
    Garrison: Steyr
    Commandant: Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Jungl
* k.u.k. Feldjäger Battalion No. 31
    Formed: 1859 – XIII Army Corps – 7th Infantry Division – 14th Infantry Brigade
    Nationalities: 95 % Croats – 5 % other
    Battalion language: Croatian
    Recruiting district and reinforcement cadre: Zagreb
    Garrison: Bruck an der Mur
    Commandant: Lieutenant Colonel Eduard Hospodarž
* k.u.k. Feldjäger Battalion No. 32
    Formed: 1859 – XI Army Corps – 30th Infantry Division – 60th Infantry Brigade
    Nationalities: 74 % Slovaks – 26 % other
    Battalion language: Slovak
    Recruiting district and reinforcement cadre: Prešov
    Garrison: Trembowla
    Commandant: Lieutenant Colonel Carl Strohmer

## ORBAT
### Peace establishment

26 officers, 390 men, 20 horse
* Battalion staff
* 4 field companies
* 1 Jäger machine gun division
* Reinforcement company cadre with augmentation magazine (training)

### War establishment

26 officers, 1,100 men, 70 horse
* Battalion staff
* 4 field companies
* 1 Jäger machine gun division
* Wagon train
* Reinforcement companies (in the home garrison)

## Sources

* Austrian State Archives / War Archives in Vienna

## Footnotes

* ↑ The buttons were not actually yellow, but were made of zinc sheet covered with tombac - so they were actually gold coloured

## Literature

* Peter Fichtenbauer, Christian Ortner: Die Geschichte der österreichischen Armee von Maria Theresia bis zur Gegenwart in Essays und bildlichen Darstellungen, Verlag Militaria, Vienna, 2015, ISBN 978-3-902526-71-7
* Johann C. Allmayer-Beck, Erich Lessing: Die K.u.k. Armee. 1848–1914. Verlag Bertelsmann, Munich, 1974, ISBN 3-570-07287-8.
* 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 – Publisher: Seidel & Sohn Vienna, 1914
* Hauptmann V. Pech: Heerwesen-Tabellen Lehr- und Lernbehelf für Militärerziehungs- und Bildungsanstalten sowie Reserveoffiziersschulen, Prague, 1915
* Stefan Rest: Des Kaisers Rock im ersten Weltkrieg. Verlag Militaria, Vienna, 2002, ISBN 3-9501642-0-0