The 11th Hussar Regiment, initially called the 2nd Westphalian Regiment, was a notable cavalry unit of the Royal Prussian Army and the

German Imperial Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the leadership of Kingdom o ...

. It was established in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

in December 1807 and originally bore the name of 2nd Royal Westphalian Hussar Regiment. It was a continuation of an earlier unit, the Chevau-légers Uhlan Regiment of the

Duchy of Berg Berg () was a state—originally a county, later a duchy—in the Rhineland of Germany. Its capital was Düsseldorf. It existed as a distinct political entity from the early 12th to the 19th centuries. It was a member state of the Holy Roman Emp ...

formed by

Joachim Murat Joachim Murat ( , also ; ; ; 25 March 1767 – 13 October 1815) was a French Army officer and statesman who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Under the French Empire he received the military titles of Marshal of the ...

earlier during the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

. In 1906 the regiment gained the nickname of "Dancing Hussars of

Krefeld Krefeld ( , ; ), also spelled Crefeld until 1925 (though the spelling was still being used in British papers throughout the Second World War), is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, its c ...

" () after

Emperor Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as the Hohenzollern dynasty's ...

personally ordered the regiment to relocate from Düsseldorf to Krebs following that city's aristocracy's complaints that there were not enough bachelors to dance at the balls. Thereupon the Emperor promised to send appropriate dancers. What was at first thought of as a joke, was later the same day confirmed by General

Moritz von Bissing Moritz Ferdinand Freiherr von Bissing (30 January 1844 – 18 April 1917) was a German officer from Prussia. Life and pre-WWI army career Bissing was born at Ober Bellmannsdorf in the Province of Silesia. He was the son of Moritz von Bissing ...

, the commanding officer of the 7th Army Corps. The regiment took part in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

as part of the 9th Cavalry Division. Initially at the Western Front, in late 1914 it was moved to the Eastern Front where it remained for the rest of the conflict (mostly in the region of

Polesie Polesia, also called Polissia, Polesie, or Polesye, is a natural (geographic) and historical region in Eastern Europe within the East European Plain, including the Belarus–Ukraine border region and part of eastern Poland. This region shoul ...

). Dismounted in 1916, the regiment was disbanded along with the rest of the division in early March 1918.

References

* Hussar regiments of the Prussian Army {{Germany-mil-unit-stub

See also

References