In the Order of 31 July 1920 for the Reduction of the Army (to comply with the upper limits on the size of the military contained in the
Treaty of Versailles), it was determined that in every
Wehrkreis (
military district) a division would be established by 1 October 1920. The 5th Division was formed out of the
Reichswehr's 11 and 13th Brigades, both of the former
Übergangsheer (Transition Army). It consisted of 3 infantry regiments: the 13th (Württemberger) Infantry Regiment, the 14th (Baden) Infantry Regiment, and the 15th Infantry Regiment. It also included an artillery regiment, an engineering battalion, a signals battalion, a transportation battalion, and a medical battalion. It was subordinated to
Gruppenkommando 2. The commander of
Wehrkreis V was simultaneously the commander of the 5th Division. For the leadership of the troops, an
Infanterieführer and an
Artillerieführer were appointed, both subordinated to the commander of the division. In the course of the expansion of the army in 1934, the divisional staff was transferred and renamed to the
Generalkommando of the
V Army Corps. ==Divisional commanders==