7th Landwehr Division (German Empire)

7th Landwehr Division (7. Landwehr-Division)
Active	1915-1919
Country	Württemberg/Germany
Branch	Army
Type	Infantry
Size	Approx. 12,500
Engagements	World War I

The 7th Landwehr Division (7. Landwehr-Division) was a unit of the Prussian/German Army. The division was formed on January 27, 1915 out of two formerly Mixed Landwehr Brigades (55th and the 57th). The division spent the period from its formation to early 1917 on the Western Front, mainly involved in positional warfare in Upper Alsace, after which it went to the Lorraine front. It was transferred to the Eastern Front in the Spring of 1917, where it remained after the 1917 armistice on that front. In 1918, it served on internal security missions in Ukraine, where it was located when World War I ended. Allied intelligence rated the division as a fourth class division. The division was disbanded in 1919, during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I.

The 7th Landwehr Division, like the 55th and 57th Brigades before it, was raised in the Kingdom of Württemberg. As a Landwehr division, it was primarily composed of older soldiers who had already fulfilled their regular and reserve service obligations.

Order of battle on April 1, 1915

The order of battle of the division on April 1, 1915, shortly after its formation, was as follows:

• 51. Landwehr-Infanterie-Brigade:
  • Kgl. Württembergisches Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 119
  • Kgl. Württembergisches Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 123
• Radfahrer-Kompanie Nr. 1
• 52. Landwehr-Infanterie-Brigade:
  • Kgl. Württembergisches Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 121
  • Kgl. Württembergisches Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 126
• Kgl. Württembergische Gebirgs-Kompanie
• 1. Landwehr-Eskadron/XIII. (kgl. württ.) Armeekorps
• 2. Landwehr-Eskadron/XIII. (kgl. württ.) Armeekorps
• Kgl. Württembergisches Landwehr-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 1
• 2. Landwehr-Pionier-Kompanie/XIII. (kgl. württ.) Armeekorps
• 3. Landwehr-Pionier-Kompanie/XIII. (kgl. württ.) Armeekorps

Order of battle on May 8, 1918

Divisions underwent many changes during the war, with regiments moving from division to division, and some being destroyed and rebuilt. The 7th Landwehr Division was triangularized in January 1917, losing the 51st Landwehr Infantry Brigade headquarters and the division's fourth infantry regiment. Other units were swapped out or transferred to other divisions. An artillery command and a divisional signals command were created. The 7th Landwehr Division's order of battle on May 8, 1918 was as follows:

• 52. Landwehr-Infanterie-Brigade
  • Kgl. Württembergisches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 122
  • Kgl. Württembergisches Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 121
  • Kgl. Württembergisches Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 126
  • Kgl. Württembergische Gebirgs-Kompanie
• 1. Eskadron/Ulanen-Regiment König Wilhelm I (2. Württembergisches) Nr. 20
• Artillerie-Kommandeur 149 (from February 16, 1917)
  • Kgl. Württembergisches Landwehr-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 1
• Stab Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 407
  • 2. Landwehr-Pionier-Kompanie/XIII. (kgl. württ.) Armeekorps
  • Minenwerfer-Kompanie Nr. 307
• Divisions-Nachrichten-Kommandeur 507 (from September 12, 1917)

References

• 7.Landwehr-Division (Chronik 1915/1919) - Der erste Weltkrieg
• Hermann Cron et al., Ruhmeshalle unserer alten Armee (Berlin, 1935)
• Hermann Cron, Geschichte des deutschen Heeres im Weltkriege 1914-1918 (Berlin, 1937)
• Günter Wegner, Stellenbesetzung der deutschen Heere 1815-1939. (Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück, 1993), Bd. 1
• Histories of Two Hundred and Fifty-One Divisions of the German Army which Participated in the War (1914-1918), compiled from records of Intelligence section of the General Staff, American Expeditionary Forces, at General Headquarters, Chaumont, France 1919 (1920)