Kaiserjäger

The Kaiserjäger (officially designated by the Imperial and Royal (k.u.k.) military administration as the Tiroler Jäger-Regimenter or "Tyrolean Rifle Regiments"), were formed in 1895 as four normal infantry regiments within the Common Army of Austria-Hungary. Despite the name "Tirol" in its title its members were not just recruited from the crown land of Tyrol (including Vorarlberg) but also from other parts of the monarchy. The regiments were disbanded in 1918 with the end of the k.u.k. monarchy. The word Jäger (meaning "hunter" or "huntsman") is a characteristic term used for light infantry or light infantrymen in a German-speaking context. The first standing troops in the Tyrol were the native Tyrolese soldiers of the Tyrolean State Battalion (Tiroler Landbataillon) formed in 1703. This was superseded in 1745 by the Tyrolean Field and State Regiment (Tiroler Feld- und Landregiment), which was given the status and prerogatives of an imperial regiment and went under the regimental number 46. Due to the political situation during the Napoleonic era, the regiment was permanently stationed in Veneto – still Austrian at that time – in 1801, which is why it lost its original name. As its successor in Tyrol, the 64th Tyrolean Rifles (Tiroler Jägerregiment Nr. 64) was established, based on a Tyrolean rifle corps and the battalion of Kurz'schen Jäger ("Kurz's Rifles"). When Tyrol fell to the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1805, the name Tyrolean Rifles was withdrawn. After the return of Tyrol to the Austrian Empire in 1814, the reorganization of a Tyrolean rifle corps was immediately begun. Initially it consisted of one battalion, but was later expanded to three. The inhaber of the Rifles was Feldmarschall-Leutnant Franz Philipp Fenner von Fenneberg (1762–1824), which resulted in the contemporary title of Fennerjäger. In spring 1815, Emperor Francis I directed the establishment of a Kaiser-Jäger-Regiment of four battalions and 16 companies. The formation of this regiment began on 16 Jan 1816.