German word for German or Swiss military formations
Abteilung
(
[ap?ta??l?ŋ]
ⓘ
;
abbrv.
Abt.
) is a
German word
that is often used for
German
or
Swiss
military formations
and depending on its usage could mean
detachment
,
department
or
battalion
; it can also refer to a
military division
. In German, it is used both for military and civilian departments (as in "office department").
In the military of the German Empire, the Weimar Republic and the Wehrmacht (during
World War II
), the term
Abteilung
was generally a
battalion
equivalent in the
armoured
,
cavalry
,
reconnaissance
and
artillery
arms of the
Wehrmacht
and
Waffen-SS
. For example,
Schwere Panzerabteilung
refers to
German heavy tank battalions
. However, when the term was used for large military formations, it generally meant "detachment". For example,
Armee-Abteilung
translates to "army detachment" and
Korpsabteilung
to "corps detachment".
[1]
The German term
Abteilung
is used in the same sense as the Russian term
divizion
(
дивизион
) or the Polish term
dywizjon.
Abteilung in the East German military
[
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]
Both terms are used most often for artillery battalion (field, air defence, coastal) or a flotilla of ships and this was also used in the
National People's Army
(East Germany's military).
Ground Forces
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Examples of the various types of
Abteilungen
in the East German ground forces are found in the
11. Motorisierte Schutzendivision
(11th Motor Rifle Division) and the
7. Panderdivision
(7th Tank Division).
The
11. Motorisierte Schutzendivision
(based in Halle/Saale) consisted of the 16th, 17th and 18th Motor Rifle Regiments, the 11th Tank Regiment, the 11th Artillery Regiment and various combat and service support units. Each MRR had an organic
Artillerieabteilung
, designated by its mother-regiment, like the
Artillerieabteilung/MSR-16
(the field artillery battalion of the 16th MRR). Each
Artillerieabteilung
of an MRR consisted of 3 artillery batteries (in this example the
1., 2.
and the
3. Artilleriebatterie/AA/MSR-16
(1st, 2nd and 3rd Artillery Battery) of 6
2S1 Gvozdika
self-propelled howitzers each, although in some cases the 3rd Battery could be downgraded to a wartime mobilization unit. The
Artillerieregiment 11 "Wilhelm Koenen"
based in Wolfen consisted of the
I.
and the
II. Artillerieabteilung/AR-11
of 3 artillery batteries (2 active, 1 wartime mobilization) of 6
D-30
towed howitzers each and the III. Artillerieabteilung/AR-11 of 3 artillery batteries (all active) of 6
2S3 Akatsiya
self-propelled howitzers each. The division also had a ballistic missile, a multiple rocket launch and an anti-tank
Abteilungen
. The
Raketenabteilung 11 "Magnus Poser"
(ballistic missile battalion) based in Tautenhain included the
1.
and the
2. Raketenbatterie/RA-11
of two
2K6 Luna
(NATO reporting name FROG) ballistic missile launch vehicles each. The
Geschosswerferabteilung 11 "Hermann Falke"
(MRLS battalion) based in Wolfen included the
1., 2.
and
3. Geschosswerferbatterie/GeWA-11
of 6
RM-70 multiple rocket launcher
vehicles each. The
Panzerjagerabteilung 11 "Hermann Vogt"
(
ATGM
battalion) based in Halle included the
1.
Panzerjagerbatterie/PJA-11
of 9 ATGM Konkurs launchers and the
2.
and
3. Panzerjagerbatterie/PJA-11
(1./PJA-11) of 6
MT-12
anti-tank guns each.
The
7. Panzerdivision
(based in Dresden) consisted of the 14th, 15th and 16th Tank Regiments, the 7th Motor Rifle Regiment, the 7th Artillery Regiment and various combat and service support units. The tank regiments did not have organic field artillery. The motor rifle regiment had the
Artillerieabteilung / MSR-7
(artillery battalion of 7th MRR), consisting of the
1., 2.
and the
3. Artilleriebatterie/AA/MSR-7
of 6
2S1
howitzers each. At division level the 7th Artillery Regiment consisted of the
I., II.
and the
III. Artillerieabteilung/AR-7
also of 3 artillery batteries of 6 2S1 howitzers each, with a fourth 2S1
Abteilung
- the
IV. Artillerieabteilung/AR-7
to mobilize in wartime. The
V. Artillerieabteilung/AR-7
was also active in peacetime with 3 artillery batteries of 6
2S3
each. Also part of the division were the separate
Raketenabteilung 7
"Alfred Kurella"
(7th Ballistic Missile Battalion) based in Zeithain and including the
1.
and the
2. Raketenbatterie/RA-7 (1./RA-7)
of 2
OTR-21 Tochka
missile launch vehicles each and the
Geschosswerferabteilung 7 "Ernst Schneller"
(7th Multiple Rocket Launcher Battalion) in Frankenberg/Saale, consisting of the
1., 2.
and the
3. Geschosswerferbatterie/GeWA-7
(MLRS batteries) of 6
RM-70
each. Each East German army division also had two separate medical battalions (sing.
Selbstandige Medizinische Abteilung
) mobilized in wartime.
At the district level the two military districts
Militarbezirk III
and
Militarbezirk V
each had various artillery units. Each MD had a complex artillery reconnaissance
Abteilung
- the
Artillerieaufklarungsabteilung-3
and the
Artillerieaufklarungsabteilung-5
of one optical reconnaissance, one radar measurement, one radio measurement and one meteorological observation battery, both
Abteilungen
to expand into regiments in wartime. Each MD also had a
Geschosswerferabteilung
(MRL battalion) and a
Panzerjagerabteilung
(AT battalion) also to expand into regiments in wartime. An artillery regiment of several Artillerieabteilungen under each MD was to expand into an artillery brigade in wartime. Each military district also had a ballistic missile brigade as the case with the
Militarbezirk V
's
5. Raketenbrigade
"Bruno Leuschner"
based in Demen. The 5. RBr included the
I.
and the
II. Raketenabteilung/5. RBr
(I. RA/5. RBr) with two launch batteries of 2
R-300 ballistic missile launchers
(NATO reporting name Scud) each and the
III. Raketenabteilung/5. RBr
(III. RA/5. RBr) with two launch batteries of 2
R-400 Oka
(NATO reporting name Spider) each. Each military district also had an air defence missile regiment like the 3rd MD's
Fliegerabwehrraketenregiment 3 "Kurt Kresse"
based in Hohenmolsen. The regiment included the
I.
and the
II. Fliegerabwehrraketenabteilung/FRR-3
with 5 air defence missile batteries of 4
2K11 Krug
missile launchers between the two
Abteilungen
. The divisions also had their own air defence missile regiments, but they did not have
Abteilungen
, instead they consisted of directly reporting air defence missile batteries.
Air Force
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The
East German Air Force
and Air Defence also had
Fliegerabwehrraketenregimenter
(air defence missile regiments) consisting of air defence missile
Abteilungen
.
Navy
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In the East German People's Navy the
Kustenraketenregiment 18 "Waldemar Verner"
(18th Coastal Missile Regiment) based in Rovershagen had a peacetime composition of the
I.
and the
II. Kustenraketenabteilung
(coastal missile battalions) and the
1. Fliegerabwehrbatterie
(air defence artillery battery), adding the
III. Kustenraketenabteilung
and the 2
. Fliegerabwehrbatterie
in wartime. Each
Kustenraketenabteilung
had 2
Startbatterien
(launch batteries) of two
4K51 Rubezh
(NATO codename SSC-3 Styx) missile launch vehicles each.
In the fleet of the
Volksmarine
a
Flottille
- the equivalent of an army division consisted of brigades of ships, which were made up of
Abteilungen
of ship. For example the
4. Sicherungsbrigade
(4th Security [Coastal Defence] Brigade) of the
4. Flottille
, based in the Hohe Dune Naval Station in Rostock - Warnemunde consisted of the
2.
and
4.
Kustenschutzschiffsabteilungen
of 4
Parchim-class corvettes
each and the
2.
and
4. Minenabwehrschiffsabteilung
of 6
Kondor-II class
minesweepers each
.
The landing ships of the
1. Flottille
were grouped into the
1. Landungsschiffsbrigade
(1st Landing Ships Brigade), based at Peenemunde Naval Station and consisting of the
1.
and
3. Landungsschiffsabteilung
of 6
Frosch-I landing ships
each.
Abteilung in the Bundeswehr
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The
Bundeswehr
did not reintroduce the
Abteilung
term for field and naval formations, using it only to denote staff, research and education departments. The artillery uses the term
Bataillon
(battalion) and the navy uses
Gruppe
(group) for groupings of small ships of fast attack craft or landing boat size.
See also
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Citations
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]
- ^
Walter Dunn,
Kursk: Hitler's Gamble, 1943
, 1997, p. 61.