Landsturm

Landsturm 

the category of reserve military manpower third in line to be called up and the auxiliary units formed from them in wartime in Prussia, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Switzerland during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

It first appeared in the Austrian Tirol in 1809. It was created in Prussia in 1813 and included all men from 15 to 60 years of age capable of bearing arms and not serving in the army or the landwehr. According to a German law of 1888 the landsturm included all males from 17 to 45 years of age liable to military service but not in active service. In Austria-Hungary the landsturm included all those from 19 to 42 years of age. By a law of 1935 fascist Germany enrolled in the landsturm all those 45 to 55 years of age with military obligations. The category of landsturm has been preserved in Switzerland.