The black uniformed Prussian Totenkopfhusaren rode under a silver skull from the 1740s to 1918, and nothing on the European battlefield looked quite like them.
Quick answer. The Prussian Death's Head Hussars were two regiments, the 1st and 2nd Leib Husaren, raised by Frederick the Great in 1741 and 1744. They wore black dolmans and pelisses with white braid and a silver skull on the mirliton or shako. The skull was a memento mori drawn from Baroque funeral iconography, and had no connection to the later use of the symbol by other German formations.
Origins under Frederick the Great
Frederick II came to the Prussian throne in 1740 and spent the next two decades at war. His father had already begun building a hussar arm on the Austrian Hungarian model, but Frederick accelerated it. He wanted fast cavalry able to screen his main army and raid Austrian supply columns. In 1741 the 1st Leib Husaren was raised, and in 1744 the 2nd. Together they were sometimes called the Black Hussars, from the colour of their uniform.
Frederick personally designed the uniform. Black cloth, white braid, red facings on the dolman cuffs and pelisse edging. The headdress was initially a cloth mirliton topped by a plume, with the skull in silver on the front. Later regiments adopted a stiffened shako but kept the badge. Frederick himself appeared in a Death's Head Hussar uniform in later portraits, which fixed the regiment's status as a royal favourite.
The skull explained
The skull is the most misunderstood part of the uniform. In 18th century Lutheran Prussia the skull was a common memento mori, a reminder that the wearer accepted the possibility of death in service. Baroque funeral monuments across Germany featured the same motif. The hussar skull sat above crossed bones and was often accompanied by the motto Vincere aut mori, conquer or die.
The symbol has a complicated afterlife. It was later adopted by the Brunswick Black Band in 1809, by the German Freikorps after 1918 and by Waffen SS units after 1933. None of those adoptions have any direct line of descent from the Prussian Totenkopfhusaren, who were disbanded with the rest of the imperial army in 1918 or 1919. The original badge belongs to a specific Baroque theological context that no longer exists.
Battles and reputation
The regiments fought in the War of the Austrian Succession, the Seven Years War, the Napoleonic Wars, the Austro Prussian War of 1866 and the Franco Prussian War of 1870. The high point came at Rossbach in 1757, when Prussian hussars led by Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz broke the French and imperial army in less than two hours. The Death's Head regiments were also at Zorndorf, Hochkirch and Kunersdorf during the Seven Years War.
In the Napoleonic Wars the Prussian hussar arm struggled against better French light cavalry at Jena and Auerstedt in 1806, but recovered through the reforms of 1807 to 1813. The Death's Head regiments charged at Leipzig in 1813 and at Ligny in 1815.
The late imperial regiments
By 1900 Prussia fielded two full regiments of Totenkopfhusaren, each at squadron strength, headquartered at Danzig Langfuhr and Posen. They were considered elite and recruited heavily from the aristocracy. The last imperial colonel in chief of the 1st Regiment was Field Marshal August von Mackensen, who continued to wear the uniform until his death in 1945, long after the regiment itself had ceased to exist. Mackensen in a Death's Head busby is one of the iconic images of the late Prussian military tradition.
The regiments did not survive the collapse of imperial Germany in 1918. The Weimar Reichsheer absorbed some personnel into mounted units, but the Totenkopfhusaren as a formation ended with the empire.
The uniform in detail
A late period Totenkopfhusar wore a black doeskin dolman with eighteen rows of white cord across the chest, a matching pelisse with white fur edging, white Hungarian breeches, black Hessian boots and a sealskin busby with a white bag and plume. The sabretache was black with the skull in silver thread. Officers wore silver cord in place of white, and silver fur on the pelisse. The combination of jet black cloth and bright silver skull remains one of the most striking uniforms of the 19th century, and a popular choice for reenactors and film costumers today.
Common questions
Who raised the Death's Head Hussars?
Frederick the Great raised the 1st and 2nd Leib Husaren in 1741 and 1744. He personally designed the black uniform with the silver skull.
What does the skull symbolise?
In 18th century Prussia, the skull and crossbones was a Baroque memento mori. It represented acceptance of mortality in service, often paired with the motto Vincere aut mori, conquer or die.
Are they the same as the Waffen SS Totenkopf units?
No. The Prussian Death's Head Hussars were disbanded in 1918 or 1919. Later use of the skull by Freikorps and Waffen SS units has no line of descent from the hussar regiments and comes from a different political and cultural context.
What battles did they fight in?
Rossbach, Zorndorf, Hochkirch and Kunersdorf in the Seven Years War. Jena and Auerstedt in 1806. Leipzig in 1813, Ligny in 1815, and the Austro Prussian and Franco Prussian Wars later.
Can you buy a replica Death's Head Hussar uniform?
Yes. Reenactors and theatrical productions commission full black and silver uniforms. A good tailor will base the pattern on the 1808 or 1842 regulations, which are the two best documented periods.