Austrian Garrison

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Austrian Military Regiment Garrisons within Galicia

Military records can be a useful source of genealogical information. In the context of Galician Poland (1772-1918) many of our male ancestors undertook military service freely while others were obliged to go on active duty for 2 or 3 years followed by perhaps 8-10 years in reserve units. The army kept detailed records on its personnel at all levels and useful information can be gleaned from these. Records for the period up until 1869 were retained in Vienna. Those for later years were forwarded to the successor states and may now be in their archives. While some may have been lost or destroyed it is hoped that many will come to light as archive holdings are reviewed.

The records in the Vienna Kriegsarchiv have been extensively filmed by the LDS and can be traced through the FHL catalogue. However, in order to identify which films may contain relevant information it is crucial to know which regiment the ancestor served in.

One of the ways this may be done is by consulting the Dislokations-Verzeichnis des k. u. k. Heeres und der k. u. k. Marine (Kasperkovitz, Otto) on LDS microfilm 1186632 (Item 1). The Dislokations-Verzeichnis referred to is now believed to be just the location index where regiments were garrisoned, not an index of recruitment locations. For Recruitment districts see Austrian Military Recruitment.

Personal details on soldiers are found in Grundbuchblatter and Foundation books for each regiment. Microfilms of these can be traced in the online catalogue at Familysearch® and most are available for loan through the chain of FHCs. Choose the Author Search option and enter Osterreich Armee followed by the name of the regiment to obtain the appropriate microfilm numbers.

Example: Osterreich Armee Infanterie Regiment 30

It is also possible to write for copies of personal records from years up to 1869 to the Archive in Vienna.

Kriegsarchiv
Nottendorfergasse 2
A-1030 Wien
Austria

To get a broad overview for each unit, short regimental histories (battles, peacetime garrisons, movements, restructuring, senior officers, gallantry awards etc.) can be found in von Wrede's history of the Austrian army and navy (Geschichte der k. und k. Wehrmacht: Die Regimenter, Corps, Branchen und Anstalten von 1618 bis Ende des XIX. Jahrhunderts ) published in German in Vienna. This is a multivolume work and is available on LDS microfilm. LDS film 1186632 has volume 1 which covers foot regiments including the infantry. Most of the other military units are dealt with in volumes 2-4 which are on LDS microfilm 1186633. The final volumes of von Wrede's work were unfortunately never completed.

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