Cadet corps

A corps of cadets, or cadet corps, is a kind of military school for boys. Initially such schools admitted only sons of the nobility or gentry, but in time many of the schools were opened also to members of other social classes.

The original, Cadets de Gascogne corps was established by King Louis XIII of France for younger sons of Gascon gentry (in the Gascon language, capdets—"little chiefs"). This idea of a school for boys who would later become gentlemen volunteers in the army to offset their lack of patrimony, soon spread, with similar schools being established in other European countries.

Notable cadet-corps schools were created by the "Great Elector" Frederick William I of Brandenburg, in Kolberg, Berlin, and Magdeburg. In 1716 the 1st Kolberg corps of about 70 cadets was relocated to the Royal Prussian Cadet Corps in Berlin. Based at the newly erected Kadettenhaus, it became the main education centre of Prussian Army officers under "Soldier King" Frederick William I. Further cadet schools were established in Stolp (1769), Kulm (1776), Potsdam, and Kalisch (1793). The educational system was largely reorganised by officers like Ernst von Rüchel, Gerhard von Scharnhorst, August Neidhardt von Gneisenau, and Hermann von Boyen in the course of the 19th century Prussian Reforms. In 1878 the Hauptkadettenanstalt moved to Lichterfelde in the southwestern suburbs of Berlin.

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