The Battle of Ölper took place on 1 August 1809 in Ölper, currently a district of the town of Brunswick, as part of the War of the Fifth Coalition. It pitched troops of the Kingdom of Westphalia against the Black Brunswickers under Frederick William, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, but ended in a tactical draw.
Duke Frederick-William and his staff at the Battle of Ölper.
The obelisk commemorating the 1809 Battle of Ölper in the community of Braunschweig-Ölper.
The Brunswick Ducal Field-Corps, commonly known as the Black Brunswickers in English and the Schwarze Schar or Schwarze Legion in German, were a military unit in the Napoleonic Wars. The corps was raised from volunteers by German-born Frederick William, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1771–1815). The Duke was a harsh opponent of Napoleon Bonaparte's occupation of his native Germany. Formed in 1809 when war broke out between the First French Empire and the Austrian Empire, the corps initially comprised a mixed force, around 2,300 strong, of infantry, cavalry and later supporting artillery.
The Brunswick Ducal Corps at the Battle of Halberstadt led by the Black Duke
A statue of Frederick William, located in Braunschweig
Braunschweiger Totenkopf (Brunswick skull) badge
Soldiers of the Leib-Bataillon with their distinctive horse hair plumes.
