8th Division (German Empire)

8th Division (8. Division); in 1870-71 and from August 2, 1914, 8th Infantry Division (8. Infanterie-Division)
Active1818–1919
CountryPrussia/Germany
BranchArmy
TypeInfantry (in peacetime included cavalry)
SizeApprox. 15,000
Part ofIV. Army Corps (IV. Armeekorps)
Garrison/HQErfurt (1818–1901), Halle an der Saale (1901–1919)
EngagementsAustro-Prussian War: Königgrätz

Franco-Prussian War: Beaumont, Sedan, Paris

World War I: 1st Marne, Race to the Sea, Somme, Battle of Delville Wood, German spring offensive, Lys
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Maximilian von Prittwitz, Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg

The 8th Division (8. Division) was a unit of the Prussian/German Army.[1] It was formed in Erfurt in November 1816 as a brigade and became a division on September 5, 1818.[2] The division was subordinated in peacetime to the IV Army Corps (IV. Armeekorps).[3] The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I. The division was recruited primarily in the Province of Saxony, also known as Prussian Saxony and the smaller states of the German Empire around Prussian Saxony.

  1. ^ From the late 1800s, the Prussian Army was effectively the German Army, as during the period of German unification (1866-1871) the states of the German Empire entered into conventions with Prussia regarding their armies and only the Bavarian Army remained fully autonomous.
  2. ^ Günter Wegner, Stellenbesetzung der deutschen Heere 1815-1939. (Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück, 1993), Bd. 1, p.100; Claus von Bredow, bearb., Historische Rang- und Stammliste des deuschen Heeres (1905), pp.359-60
  3. ^ Wegner, p. 51.