The 71st Reserve Infantry Regiment had one battalion each from Saxe-Meiningen, Prussian Saxony and the Electorate of Hesse.

The 82nd Reserve Infantry Regiment had one battalion each from Prussian Saxony, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

Divisional cavalry, artillery and pioneer troops came from Prussian Saxony and the Electorate of Hesse.

It fought in the opening campaigns against the Belgian Army and the British Expeditionary Force, including the Battle of Mons, and pursued the Allies during the Great Retreat, culminating in the First Battle of the Marne.

After 1st Marne, the division held the line between the Aisne and the Oise until the Autumn of 1915, when it went to the Champagne region.