8.Kompagnie,
Infanterie - Regiment Nr. 459

Welcome and thank you for you interest in our unique reenactment and living history group, 8 Kompagnie, Infanterie Regiment Nr. 459 (IR459). 8K/IR459 is a World War One reenacting and Living History Group that allows collectors and historical interpreters to come together and explore the "Art of Trench Warfare."

We have been in existance for 10 years and have been considered to be one of the more authentic units in the Central Powers in the Great War Association (GWA). We have been known to "jump" outside that normal reenacting box that has made reenacting as we know it as "stale." Because of this we try to bring the smallest attention to authenticity and pay attention to the smallest detail. We also and most importantly, have been bringing the FUN back into reenacting but at the same time, we try to "do it right" and instill in others a drive to do the same! We participate in two annual living history & tactical events that are hosted at the Great War Association's Battlefield in Newville, PA. Also participate in Military Through The Ages, a timeline "juried" living history at Jamestown Museum in Williamsburg and a couple other smaller events along the East Coast.

Our Membership in IR459 is open to all males, 18 years of age or older.

Before taking our tour of Great War reenacting, we ask you to sign our guest book! We like to know who's been visiting us and besides if you want more information about our exciting hobby it helps us to contact you!

View Our Guestbook       Sign Our Guestbook

This website has been designed to allow the novice German Recruit as well as the seasoned Great War Veteran to learn everything there is about becoming a German World War I reenactor.

So please read on my friends!

Who Are We?

The membership of 8.K/IR459 are part of a larger parent organization, known as the Great War Association (GWA). The GWA strives to honor the original participants of the First World War through battle reenactments and educational activities.

Our membership experiences many of the sights and sounds of the 20th Century's most horrible conflict. This occurs at the Caesar Krauss Great War Memorial Site near Newville, PA., which has an authentically recreated a portion of the Western Front as it may have appeared, circa 1916-1918.

Our battle reenactments take place within systems of opposing trenches complete with a crater pocked No-Man's Land. There are also belts of barbed wire, which are used to protect the sandbagged front line trenches, and are punctuated by bunkers with functioning machine-guns. Behind the main lines are many supporting and communication trenches, which are connected to underground dugouts, where the officers plan attacks and counterattacks and where the common soldiers eat, rest and ponder their survival.

As a member of the 459th, our goal is to try and accurately portray the common infantryman in the Imperial German Army, 1916 to 1918. We accomplish this by accurately recreating his appearance, but we also carefully research and demonstrate the details of his daily life, his duties, and his occasional enjoyments at the front.

From the moment you arrive at an event you will be submerged in the Great War. From the clothing you wear, to the food you eat, to the trenches you fight in - nothing is out of place!

It is often said that by others that ...World War One reenacting is, "The Reenactor's Reenactment!"