Recruitment locality index

The recruitment locality index specifies when & where military units were recruiting in different areas of the Austrian monarchy. The following table was extracted from the charts: Uebersicht der Werb-(Ergänzungs-) Bezirks - Eintheilung von 1781 bis 1889 found in book of Alphons Wrede: Geschicht des K. und K. Wehrmacht Vol. 1. Data for the years 1898 & 1909 were compiled from recruitment maps from those years.

Infantry Recruitment districts on the Czech territory at the beginning of the 20th century

Recruitment districts were established as part of Maria Theresia's military reforms in 1770, along with census enumerations and house numbering. Originally they were demarcated to cover several parishes but, especially in the 18th century, the boundaries changed many times. By the mid-1800s, the recruitment districts were more or less stabilized, enough so that they gave shape to new political districts that were established in 1850 after the downfall of feudalism. One recruitment district comprised several political units. The map above, which reflects the situation at the beginning of the 20th century, shows which political districts were contained within the recruitment district boundaries. Using the database below, one can look up the village of an ancestor and determine to which political district it belonged, or use a filter to find which villages were included in a particular political district. Using the recruitment locality index, you can determine which regiment the inhabitants of a village most probably served, providing they were in the infantry, which was the most common assignment. This tool is helpful from the 1880s till 1918, when the boundaries of the political districts were more or less consistent. For older times this can only provide a suggestion of where to look. 

In addition to the infantry, Czech recruits could also be assigned to Field Jägers, Dragoons, Uhlans, and other specialized regiments. Once you manage to identify the unit where your ancestor served, you can find more information like where the garrisons were stationed, the ethnic composition of the troops, and the history on the following page. 

Database of villages and towns and and their relation to the historical political district and current district. 

Place:  Political district:  Current district:  Search Options: \nDefault Search \nExact Search \nBegins With...

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