Title - History and photographs of the 169th (8th Baden) Infantry Regiment
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The short history of the regiment on this page is courtesy of Hr. Thorsten Mietzner of Lahr who owns the copyright and who kindly allowed me to provide this translation into English. More recently, John K. Rieth has written an excellent and detailed English-language history.

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New!  The above photographs, taken on field exercises in 1913, are by kind courtesy of John Rieth, grandson of Hornist Albert Rieth who was wounded with 9.Kompanie, III.Bataillon, I.R.169 early in 1915. Left: Albert is seated dead centre, second on the right of the second man standing.  Click to enlarge left; right: Albert is kneeling, second from right in the middle row.  Click to enlarge right

In 1898, the 169th (Baden) Infantry Regiment was the first military unit to be deployed to Lahr. It formed part of XIV Army Corps in which it belonged to the 29th Infantry Division (from 1915, the 52nd Infantry Division) and 84 Infantry Brigade (from 1915, 104 Infantry Brigade). The regimental headquarters, as well as the 1st and 2nd battalions of the regiment, was stationed in Lahr while the 3rd battalion was based from 1913 in Villingen.

Photograph of 5.Kompanie, I.R.169

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Above: Photograph of 5.Kompanie, II.Bataillon, I.R.169, taken just weeks before 1st July 1916. II.Bataillonskommandeur Hauptmann Schellig is on horseback. Kompanieführer Leutnant Barck (k.i.a. Autumn 1918) is fifth from the left in the third row from the front (surrounded by his Feldwebels). Gefreiter Jakob Maier is standing second from the left on the back row. Photograph by kind courtesy of Jakob's grandson, Hardy Huber.

The regiment had been formed in April 1897 from the 4th battalions of the 109th (Baden) Grenadier Life-Guards Regiment, the 110th Grenadier Regiment and the 25th and 111th infantry regiments, and on 1 October 1898 moved in to new barracks (today, the Industriehof). The peacetime establishment at Lahr amounted to 1,256 men and 160 N.C.O.s as well as (1910) 39 officers. Almost half of the men and about twenty-one per cent of the officers originated from Baden. In September 1913, a machine-gun company, consisting of fifty-seven men and ten N.C.O.s, was attached to the regiment.

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Above: 5.Kompanie group at Lahr in the Autumn of 1915. Gefreiter Jakob Maier is standing at the far right. Photograph by kind courtesy of Hardy Huber.  Click to enlarge Above: Wounded men of 5.Kompanie. Gefreiter Jakob Maier - who suffered a gunshot wound through the left hand on 1st July 1916 - is seated third from right on the front row. Photograph by kind courtesy of Hardy Huber.  Click to enlarge

At the outbreak of war in August 1914, the Lahr battalions were redeployed to the Western Front, while a reserve battalion was formed in Lahr for recruiting and training replacements. Among other locations, the regiment served in 1915 at Serre, in 1916 on the Somme, in 1917 in Haut-Rhin and Champagne, and in 1918 in numerous other places on the Western Front.

Infantry of I.R.169

Above left: trench at Serre held by 5.Kompanie, II.Bataillon, I.R.169; above right: infantry from I.R.169, very possibly in trenches at Serre. Photographs by kind courtesy of Hardy Huber and Brett Butterworth (@drakegoodman).

Of the regiment’s total of 440 officers and about 22,100 NCOs and men, 117 officers and 3,296 other ranks fell in the First World War (including the missing). The unit was demobilised between the end of the war and January 1919.

Photograph of Minenwerfer Kompanie 169

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Above: Photograph of Minenwerfer Kompanie 169, 10th September 1918. Franze Albert Triebel (inset), holder of the Iron Cross II and I, is in the upper left of the group. Photograph by kind courtesy of Mike Johnston.

In 1928, a so-called cenotaph in the form of a larger-than-life lion was dedicated to the regiment in Bahnhofplatz but was demolished in 1974 for the construction of Federal Highway 415.

IR 169 monument at Lahr

Above: Monument to the 169th (8th Baden) Infantry Regiment at Lahr, demolished in 1974 to make way for a road.

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