5th Division ( German Empire ) The 5th Division ( " 5 . Division " ) was a unit of the Prussia n / German Army . It was formed in Crossen in 1816 as a brigade , moved to Frankfurt an der Oder in 1817 , and became the 5th Division on September 5 , 1818 . The headquarters moved to Berlin in 1840 and back to Frankfurt in 1845 . The division was subordinated in peacetime to the III Army Corps ( " III . Armeekorps " ) . The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I . The division was recruited in the Province of Brandenburg . The 10th Brigade of the 5th Division fought in the Second Schleswig War of 1864 , including the key Battle of Dybbøl , or Düppeler Heights . The division then fought in the Austro - Prussian War in 1866 , including the Battle of Königgrätz . In the Franco - Prussian War of 1870 - 71 , the division saw action in the battles of Spicheren , Mars - la - Tour , Gravelotte , Beaune - la - Rolande , Orléans , and Le Mans , and in the Siege of Metz . The division was mobilized as the 5th Infantry Division in August 1914 and sent to the west for the opening campaigns of the war . In 1914 it fought in the Battle of the Marne and the Race to the Sea . It then settled into positional warfare in the trenches along the Somme . It fought in the Battle of the Somme and in the Battle of Verdun in 1916 and in the Second Battle of the Aisne ( also called the Third Battle of Champagne ) in 1917 . In mid - 1917 , it was sent to the Eastern Front in response to the Russian Kerensky Offensive . In October 1917 , the division was transferred to the Italian Front , where it fought in the Battle of Caporetto . It returned to the Western Front in December 1917 , and remained there until war ' s end , participating in the German Spring Offensive and the Allied offensives that followed . Until being bloodied in the offensives of 1918 , the division was rated a first - class division by Allied intelligence . Order of battle in the Franco - Prussian War . During wartime , the 5th Division , like other regular German divisions , was redesignated an infantry division . The organization of the 5th Infantry Division in 1870 at the beginning of the Franco - Prussian War was as follows : Pre - World War I organization . German divisions underwent various organizational changes after the Franco - Prussian War . The 5th Division was no exception , but unlike many divisions , there were no changes in the division ' s core infantry regiments . The organization of the division in 1914 , shortly before the outbreak of World War I , was as follows : Order of battle on mobilization . On mobilization in August 1914 at the beginning of World War I , most divisional cavalry , including brigade headquarters , was withdrawn to form cavalry divisions or split up among divisions as reconnaissance units . Divisions received engineer companies and other support units from their higher headquarters . The 5th Division was again renamed the 5th Infantry Division . Its initial wartime organization was as follows : Late World War I organization . Divisions underwent many changes during the war , with regiments moving from division to division , and some being destroyed and rebuilt . During the war , most divisions became triangular - one infantry brigade with three infantry regiments rather than two infantry brigades of two regiments ( a " square division " ) . An artillery commander replaced the artillery brigade headquarters , the cavalry was further reduced , the engineer contingent was increased , and a divisional signals command was created . The 5th Infantry Division ' s order of battle on March 9 , 1918 was as follows :