Detachment Brandenstein () was a unit of the

Imperial German 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 ...

commanded by Otto von Brandenstein that fought for the White Finns during the

Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War was a civil war in Finland in 1918 fought for the leadership and control of the country between Whites (Finland), White Finland and the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic (Red Finland) during the country's transition fr ...

. The 3,000 man unit was assembled in

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

and landed at

Loviisa Loviisa (; ; formerly Degerby) is a town in Finland, located on the southern coast of the country. Loviisa is situated in the eastern part of the Uusimaa region. The population of Loviisa is approximately , while the Loviisa sub-region, sub-regi ...

on 7 April 1918. Its assigned mission was to control Eastern Uusimaa to cut the Red Finns' railway connections between

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

and Viipuri. The major operation for Detachment Brandenstein was the Battle of Lahti from 19 April to 1 May. The Detachment Brandenstein was attached to the Baltic Sea Division.

References

*Arimo, Reino (1995): ''Saksalaisten sotilaallinen toiminta Suomessa 1918'' . * Military units and formations of Germany in World War I Military units and formations of the Finnish Civil War German expatriates in Finland {{Germany-mil-unit-stub