The division was recruited in the formerly independent Electorate of Hesse (Kurhessen), which had been incorporated into Prussia after the Austro-Prussian War, in the Principality of Waldeck, and in the Thuringian states.
[5] In World War I, again as the 22nd Infantry Division, it fought initially on the Western Front, including in the Battle of Liège.
Allied intelligence noted that the division had good morale, but in 1918 rated it third class, albeit better on the defensive.
With the creation of the 38th Division, most Thuringian elements were transferred to the new division and replaced with the Electorate of Hesse units (the 167th Upper Alsatian Infantry Regiment, despite its name, was recruited in the Electorate of Hesse and Prussian Saxony).
Divisions received engineer companies and other support units from their higher headquarters.