Leibgarde der Hartschiere

Hartschiere (singular form: Hartschier) were predominantly members of the Bavarian residence guards before 1918, a historic military branch of the former Duchy and the later Electorate and at last Kingdom of Bavaria.

According to Meyers Konversations-Lexikon, the Germanized word Hartschier originally derived from the Italian word arciere for archer, but it might also be possible that it has Spanish roots, because the Bavarian Duke William IV received a Spanish archer company (Spanish: arqueros) of Charles I of Spain and added Bavarian court bodyguards with notable roots in the deep Middle Ages. On April 13, 1669, Ferdinand Maria transformed this unit to the Hartschier-Garde. The name of the former Austrian equivalent, the k.u.k. Arcièren-Leibgarde, is similar-sounding.

The Bavarian palace guard troop, later called Königlich-Bayerische Leibgarde der Hartschier (L.G.H.), had only ceremonial and no conventional military functions. Relating to military affairs, the Command of the Leibgarde der Hartschiere was directly subordinated to the Army Ministry. By contrast the Leibgarde der Hartschiere by itself was subordinated, concerning civilian and criminal justiciable affairs, to the General Command in Munich like the other military branches. In addition to the Hartschiere, the kings of Bavaria had a royal house regiment from the end of the Napoleonic Wars until the fall of the kingdom after World War I, the so-called Infantry Lifeguards Regiment.

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