[1] The division was formed on mobilization of the German Army in August 1914[2] as part of I Royal Bavarian Reserve Corps.
The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I.
The 5th Bavarian Reserve Division fought in the opening phases of the war in the Battle of the Frontiers.
It remained in the Somme and Aisne area until January 1917, when it went into 1st Army reserve to rest and refit.
The division ended the war fighting against the American Meuse-Argonne Offensive.