26th Airborne Brigade (Bundeswehr)

26th (Saarland) Airborne Brigade Luftlandebrigade 26 "Saarland"
Formation sign of 26th (Saarland) Airborne Brigade Formation sign
Active	1958-2014
Country	Germany
Allegiance	Bundeswehr
Branch	German Army
Type	Intervention force brigade
Size	~ 3500
Part of
Headquarters	Saarlouis
Nickname(s)	Saarlandbrigade
Engagements	Somalian Civil War Bosnian Civil War Kosovo War Afghanistan War Operation Harekate Yolo I Operation Oqab
Commanders
Commander	Brigadegeneral Eberhard Zorn

26th (Saarland) Airborne Brigade (German: Luftlandebrigade 26 "Saarland") is a formation in the Special Operations Division of the German Army with a strength of about 3,500 men and its brigade headquarters in Saarlouis. The Brigade is also called the Saarland Brigade as almost all its troops are stationed in the federal state of Saarland. Other elements are based in Rhineland-Palatinate. Most of the 26th Airborne Brigade belongs to the intervention forces of the Bundeswehr, and the formation therefore provides the overwhelming proportion of paratroopers and airborne troops for the intervention forces of the Army. The Brigade motto is: Einsatzbereit – jederzeit – weltweit ("Ready for action - anytime - worldwide"). The Brigade greeting is "Glück ab".

The brigade was previously part of the 1st Airborne Division (Bundeswehr) alongside the 25th and 27th Luftlande Brigades.

Commanders

The brigade commanders were (rank on takeover):

No.	Name	Takeover date	Handover date
15	Oberst Eberhard Zorn	14 January 2010	---
14	Oberst Volker Bescht	29 August 2005	14 January 2010
13	Oberst Hans-Werner Fritz	2003	29 August 2005
12	Oberst Manfred Schlenker	(2000)	(2002)
11	Oberst Henning Glawatz	(1996)	(1999)
10	Oberst Hans-Heinrich Dieter	1 April 1994	(1995)
9	Oberst Helmut Harff	1 April 1990	31 March 1994
8	Oberst Fritz Eckert	1 April 1983	31 March 1990
7	Oberst Herbert Hagenbruck	April 1976	31 March 1983
6	Oberst Hans Kubis	September 1973	March 1976
5	Oberst Helmut Liebeskind	October 1970	September 1973
4	Oberst Heinrich Schwiethal	October 1968	September 1970
3	Oberst Karl-Albert Keerl	April 1967	October 1968
2	Oberst Hans-Werner Voss	October 1963	April 1967
1	Oberst Erich Timm	October 1958	September 1963

See also

• Special Operations Division
• German Army Forces Command

Literature

• Sören Sünkler: Die Spezialverbände der Bundeswehr. Stuttgart: Motorbuch Verlag 2007. ISBN 3-613-02592-2
• Sören Sünkler: K-ISOM 1. Ausgabe 2008, Artikel LLBrig. 26, Sept.-Okt. 2008, KOMMANDO- International Special Operations Magazine ISSN 1866-9360.

External links

• Official website of the Brigade
• Federal archive of the Brigade
• Official page of 261 Parachute Battalion
• 3./FschJgBtl 261
• Video at tagesschau.de Report about degrading behaviour in the barracks in Zweibrücken