Maß- und Rangierbücher des Ersten Infanterieregiments Kurfürst und seiner Vorgänger (1814, 1816) are official military registers documenting the organization, personnel, and service structure of the Erstes Infanterieregiment “Kurfürst” and its predecessor formations in the early post-Napoleonic period.
These records belong to the administrative traditions of the Electorate of Hesse (Kurfürstentum Hessen), which was restored after the fall of the Napoleonic system in 1813–1814. They reflect the reconstitution of Hessian military forces following the dissolution of the Kingdom of Westphalia.
A central function of the Maß- und Rangierbücher (literally “measurement and ranking books”) is to provide detailed rolls of officers and enlisted men, including rank assignments, company organization, service status, and internal regimental structure. They served as both administrative tools and official documentation of military hierarchy.
The volumes from 1814 and 1816 are particularly significant because they capture the transition from wartime disruption to peacetime reorganization, documenting how Hessian regiments were reassembled, renumbered, and reintegrated into restored state military systems after the Napoleonic Wars.
They also preserve information on predecessor units, linking older Hessian formations with newly reorganized regiments. This reflects the 19th-century German practice of maintaining institutional continuity (Stammtruppenprinzip) across political upheavals.
