The 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade (german: Panzergrenadierbrigade 1) in Hildesheim was a formation in the Bundeswehr, which was subordinated to the 1st Armoured Division in Hanover. The Brigade was disbanded on 31 December 2007. During its lifetime the Brigade was stationed between the

Lüneburg Heath Lüneburg Heath (german: Lüneburger Heide) is a large area of heath, geest, and woodland in the northeastern part of the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. It forms part of the hinterland for the cities of Hamburg, Hanover and Bremen a ...

, Harz Mountains, the Solling hills and the River Weser.

Formation sign

The formation sign displays the white ''

Sachsenross The Saxon Steed (german: link=no, Sachsenross, Niedersachsenross, Welfenross, Westfalenpferd; ; Low Saxon: ''Witte Peerd'') is a heraldic motif associated with the German provinces of Lower Saxony and Westphalia, and the Dutch region of Twent ...

'' or Saxon steed on a red background within a yellow and white shield. The steed recalls the

Welf Welf is a Germanic first name that may refer to: *Welf (father of Judith), 9th century Frankish count, father-in-law of Louis the Pious *Welf I, d. bef. 876, count of Alpgau and Linzgau *Welf II, Count of Swabia, died 1030, supposed descendant of W ...

dukes and the Kingdom of Hanover. The original Saxon tribal emblem was adopted in 1235 by the Welf dukes, the Dukes of Brunswick and Lüneburg, as an additional coat of arms. Through the amalgamation of part of the Lüneburg-Brunswick region with the Principality, later Kingdom, of Hanover the Saxon steed appeared in 1705 on the

escutcheon Escutcheon may refer to: * Escutcheon (heraldry), a shield or shield-shaped emblem, displaying a coat of arms * Escutcheon (furniture), a metal plate that surrounds a keyhole or lock cylinder on a door * (in medicine) the distribution of pubic ha ...

of the kingdom's coat of arms surrounded by the main yellow and white shield. On the foundation of the state of Lower Saxony in 1952 the Saxon steed on a red field became the coat of arms of the state. The white border of the coat of arms, in embroidery shown as a white cord - represents the usual heraldic custom of the German Army: white borders were always the formation signs of the "first" brigades in a division. The superior division as well as the other two brigades in the division traditionally bore an identical formation sign apart from the white border. On the disbandment of the Brigade the sign continued to be worn by Panzerlehrbrigade 9, which gave up its old sign in 2006. The white border remains.

Composition 2007

In 2007, just before disbanding the brigade was organised as: * Headquarters Company ''Stabskompanie'', in Hildesheim * 33rd Tank Battalion * 421st Panzergrenadier Battalion * 10th Armoured Engineer Company * 15th Armoured Artillery Battalion * 803rd Armoured Engineer Battalion * 141st Logistics Battalion

Commanders

The brigade commanders were (rank on taking over):

External links

Website of the Brigade

Bundeswehr.de: ''Panzergrenadierbrigade 1 verabschiedet sich aus Hildesheim.''

Website of Hildesheim armour

Traditionsverband Panzerbataillon 14, Hildesheim

Website of the former PzArtBtl 15

Website of Panzerjaegerkompanie 10
{{Authority control Brigades of the Bundeswehr Infantry brigades of Germany History of Hildesheim Military units and formations established in 1958 Military units and formations disestablished in 2007 1958 establishments in Germany