Maximilian Bayer Maximilian Bayer ( 11 May 1872 in Karlsruhe – 25 October 1917 in Nomeny ) was the founder of Scouting in Germany , along with Alexander Lion . During World War I , he built the 27th Royal Prussian Jäger Battalion , later the core of the Finnish army . Life . Bayer was the first of two children born to Major General Stephan Bayer ( 1816 – 1893 ) and his second wife , Julie Henoch ( 1839 – 1888 ) . During his early life the family moved often between Italy and Germany , living in Pisa , Florence , Bagni di Lucca , Viareggio , Baden - Baden and Gotha . While living in Baden - Baden , the nine year old Bayer suffered from a severe case of diphtheria of the eye . The family moved to Italy again between 1883 and 1886 , and it was during this time living in Capri and Venice that he became familiar with Italian language and culture . In 1887 , at the age of 14 , he continued his family ' s military tradition by enrolling as a cadet in a Berlin military academy . His mother died the next year . Bayer graduated from the school - the main military academy for the Prussian army - as a second lieutenant in 1891 . Bayer continued his career in the Prussian army and volunteered during the Herero and Namaqua Genocide in German South West Africa in 1904 . He returned to Germany in 1905 after contracting typhoid fever and experiencing heart troubles . Upon his recovery , he embarked on a popular lecture tour in Germany on the topic of the colonial war in Africa . He also published several books about his experiences under the pseudonym " Jonk Steffen . " Bayer was killed by a sniper during World War I on Germany ' s Western Front . His remains were not identified until 6 months later and he was originally buried in the soldier ' s cemetery in Metz . In 1926 , Bayer ' s remains were moved to his family ' s burial place in the main cemetery in Mannheim . Founding of the German scouting movement . In late 1908 , Bayer met Alexander Lion at a meeting of the German Colonial Society . Lion had served as a medical officer during the war in German South West Africa . At the time , Lion had been in correspondence with Lord Baden - Powell , the founder of the worldwide scouting movement , and was devoting much of his free time to the establishment of scouting in Germany . Bayer agreed to work with Lion to edit and publish a German translation of Baden - Powell ' s " Scouting for Boys . " The book was first published as " Das Pfadfinderbuch " ( The Scout Book ) in May 1909 . On 20 January 1909 , the first German scout troop , " Jugendsport in Wald und Feld " ( Youth Sport in Woods and Fields ) was formed in Berlin . Its first chairman was the well respected General Counsel Georg Baschwitz . Bayer was elected to the board . There was much opposition to the organization , however . Lion , Bayer , and their colleagues were faced with opposition from military , civilian , and church leaders , who objected to scouting on the grounds that it was anti - patriotic . Opponents observed that scouting originated in England , which was one of Germany ' s greatest political rivals at the time . A wave of attacks in the press followed shortly thereafter , in March 1909 , and the founders of the organization faced social exclusion over their participation in scouting . As a result of these pressures , Bayer resigned from the organization in May of that same year and his name was removed from the title page of later editions of " Das Pfadfinderbuch " . However , Bayer had contributed much essential material to the book , including the sections on nature , scouting techniques , and patriotism . When the German Scout Association ( DPB ) was founded in 1911 , Bayer was elected " First Reich Field Master , " a post which he would hold until his death . He also took an unpaid leave that year due to ongoing heart problems and to devote himself to the design of the German scouting movement . In May , the second edition of the Scout Book was published . This version , which again featured Bayer ' s name on the title page , was a completely revised edition . In an attempt to find compromise with scouting ' s many critics , it distanced itself from much of Baden - Powell ' s original thought . The book was to become the model for the first German scouts . In the spring of 1912 Emmerich Teuber , founder of the Vienna Boy Scouts Corps , visited Bayer in Berlin . Teuber was disappointed , however , that Bayer ' s efforts to establish scouting in Germany had been met by such massive resistance . It appeared that the only viable compromise would be a unilateral pre - military youth training . Between October and November 1912 , Bayer , Lion and Carl Freiherr von Seckendorff were subject to attack from General von Jacobi , who accused them of , amongst other things , lacking in support for their country , King and religion . Jacobi created an anti - Semitic cartoon lampooning Lion , playing on Lion ' s Jewish birth , changing " Jungensport in Feld und Wald " ( youth sports in field and forest ) to " " Judensport " in Wald und Feld " ( Jews ' sports in forest and field ) , and calling Scouting supporter General Baschwitz a " vain Jewish man " . In February 1912 , Bayer , Lion , and von Seckendorff assisted Elise von Hopffgarten in authoring " Pfadfinderbuch für junge Mädchen " ( A Scout Book for Girls ) . In its effort to make young women more independent , it was free from patriotic or religious sentiment , and contained references to the women ' s movement .