page_title: Jäger (infantry)
section_title: Imperial Germany
hierarchical_section_title: Jäger (infantry) / Prior to First World War / Imperial Germany
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Königlich Bayerisches Jägerbataillon Nr. 2 Aschaffenburg. Oberjäger, feldmarschmäßig, um 1910 English: Royal Bavarian Jäger batallion No. 2 Aschaffenburg. Oberjäger (Corporal) in battle dress round about 1910
context_page_description: Jäger is a German military term that originally referred to light infantry, but has come to have wider usage.
  While it may be literally translated as "hunter", in German-speaking states during the early modern era, the term Jäger was used to describe skirmishers, scouts, sharpshooters and runners. Jäger came to denote light infantrymen whose civilian occupations made them well-suited to patrolling and skirmishing, on an individual and independent basis, rather than as part of military unit.
  While Jäger often continued to carry its original connotations, the word's usage and derivatives broadened over time. For instance, Feldjäger was the name given by the Prussian Army to scouts and runners. During the 20th century, Jäger became the German word for fighter aircraft, while Panzerjäger was the name adopted for tank destroyers. Conversely, in the modern German army, Feldjäger is the name given to military police.
  Jäger, in its original sense of light infantry, is usually translated into English as:
  "rifleman" or "Rifles" and;
  "ranger".
  In English Jäger is often written as jaeger or anglicised as jager to avoid the umlaut.
context_section_description: Best known were the German Jäger units who were distinguished by their peace-time wear of dark green tunics and shakos (in contrast to the dark blue tunics and spiked helmets of most German infantry).
  In the peacetime Prussian Army, the main component of the Imperial German Army, there were one Imperial Guard Jäger battalion, the Garde-Jäger-Bataillon, and twelve Jäger battalions of the line. One Jäger battalion, the Großherzoglich Mecklenburgisches Jäger-Bataillon Nr. 14, was from the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Another, Westfälisches Jäger-Bataillon Nr. 7, known as the "Bückeburg Jägers", was raised in the Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe, whose capital was Bückeburg. The other ten were from Prussian lands. In addition, another Prussian Guard unit, the Guards Rifles Battalion, though not designated Jäger, was a Jäger formation. Its origins were in a French chasseur battalion of the Napoleonic era, and its troops wore the shako and green tunic of the Jäger battalions.
  The army of the Kingdom of Saxony added two Jäger battalions, which were included in the Imperial German Army order of battle as Kgl. Sächsisches 1. Jäger-Bataillon Nr. 12 and Kgl. Sächsisches 2. Jäger-Bataillon Nr. 13. The Saxon Jäger had a number of dress distinctions – notably tunics of a darker green than the Prussian colour, black facings instead of red and a black buffalo-hair plume buckled to the side of the shako. The autonomous Royal Bavarian Army provided a further two Jäger battalions, Kgl. Bayerisches 1. Jäger-Bataillon and Kgl. Bayerisches 2. Jäger-Bataillon, who wore the light blue of Bavarian infantry with green facings.
  On mobilization in August 1914, each of these Prussian, Saxon and Bavarian Jäger battalions raised a reserve Jäger battalion. In September 1914, an additional twelve reserve Jäger battalions were raised (ten Prussian and two Saxon). In May 1915, the German Army began joining the Jäger battalions to form Jäger regiments, and in late 1917, the Deutsche Jäger-Division was formed.
  During the early stages of World War I, the German Jäger maintained their traditional role as skirmishers and scouts, often in conjunction with cavalry units. With the advent of trench warfare, they were committed to an ordinary infantry role, integrated into divisions and lost their status as independent units. Cyclist Jäger served in the Balkan and Russian theatres of war, while Wurttemberg and Bavaria raised Ski-Jäger during the winter of 1914–15. Another specialist formation was the Jäger Storm Companies, serving as trench raiders during 1917–1918.
caption: Royal Bavarian Jäger Battalion No. 2 Aschaffenburg. Oberjäger, field marching order, around 1910
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