Jordan, Alexander Die deutschen Gebirgstruppen im Ersten Weltkrieg

Geschichte, Uniformierung und Ausrüstung von 1914 bis 1918
The book describes the development, functioning and operations of the German mountain troops in the First World War in a comprehensive manner. In addition to the hitherto largely unexplored history of the first snowshoe units, the campaigns in the Dolomites in 1915 and on the Isonzo in 1917 form a particular focus of the account. Eyewitnesses also have their say again and again, providing vivid insights into everyday life in the mountain war.

With more than 500 pages, this fundamental work also documents details on the uniforms and equipment of the mountain troops. Hundreds of contemporary photographs, maps and original objects from the collections of the Bavarian Army Museum in Ingolstadt and the Museum of Military History in Rastatt, some of which have never been exhibited, illustrate the presentation.
Equipped with a detailed annotation apparatus and bibliography, it opens up a wealth of further research opportunities. The extensive document appendix also bundles a large amount of information and data on various mountain formations and thus supplements the text section. Details of the formation and composition of important units are listed here.

The First World War marked the birth of the German mountain troops. Deployed on all fronts, the mountain units developed into specialised units for high alpine warfare, which then as now placed special demands on the soldiers. During the First World War, for example, German ski soldiers provided close and long-range reconnaissance in the wintry Vosges Mountains, later mountain artillerymen positioned their guns at dizzying heights in the Dolomites and in the impassable terrain of the Romanian Carpathian Mountains, fighter battalions and pack animal columns stayed close to the enemy where no one else could. The versatile mountain soldiers defy not only the enemy, but also the adversities of nature, which take their toll with extreme cold, avalanches and falling rocks.