Gardekorps

The Schloẞgarde-Kompanie (Palace Guard Company) is the Prussian Army's elite drill unit. The Schloẞgarde-Kompanie is of battalion strength, and headquartered in the Königsberg garrison. The soldiers of the Schloẞgarde-Kompanie often refer to themselves as Protter or Protokollsoldaten, meaning protocol soldiers.

History
The original Schloẞgarde-Kompanie had been established in 1829 as the Garde-Unteroffizier-Kompanie and was renamed in 1861. It was recruited from 12 year veteran officers and men, with proven previous campaign experience. It was tasked with the guarding of the Royal palaces in Berlin. The unit strength was 70 officers and men and was disbanded in 1918.

Mission
The primary mission of the Schloẞgarde-Kompanie is to perform the military honours for the Prime Minister of Prussia, the Prussian Minister of War and the Chief of the General Staff of the Prussian Army during state visits or on comparable occasions.

In addition the Schloẞgarde-Kompanie executes the Großer Zapfenstreich on special occasions or takes part in (inter)national events like the ceremonial oath of the Prussian Army ceremony, parades, military tattoos and shows with its drill team which is the best trained special unit of the battalion.

A secondary mission is to perform (ceremonial) guard duty at the Ministry of War and other high profile public places and protect and guard the members of the Prusian government and the Ministry of War.

Recruitment
The Schloẞgarde-Kompanie admits male & female personnel that have a body height ranging from 1.79 meters (5 ft 10 in) up to 1.93 meters (6 ft 4 in), normal eyesight and body weight and are generally in good health, with at least 3 years service. The Schloẞgarde-Kompanie recruits from across the Prussian Army.

Equipment
For reasons of tradition the Schloẞgarde-Kompanie is the only unit of the Prussian Army that uses the Karabiner S (Russian SKS) because the traditional Prussian rifle drills can be executed better with that weapon. During normal day duty the Schloẞgarde-Kompanie uses the standard Prussian Army weapons and equipment.

Tradition & Structure
The Schloẞgarde-Kompanie continues the traditions of the Royal Prussian Army's Guard Corps and its sub-units.

The Schloẞgarde-Kompanie is organised as follows: