Association of German Paratroopers

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Bund Deutscher Fallschirmjäger eV
(BDF)
purpose Association of paratroopers and airborne soldiers from the Bundeswehr, the former Wehrmacht and friends and supporters of the airborne troops
Chair: Lieutenant General a. D. Hans-Werner Fritz
Establishment date: 1949
Number of members: 3,150
Seat : Munich
Website: www.fschjgbund.de

The Bund Deutscher Fallschirmjäger eV (BDF) is a community of paratroopers of the German armed forces, airborne soldiers and members of the specialized forces of the Bundeswehr as well as reservists of these forces and their relatives, friends and sponsors. Despite its own self-image of representing the paratroopers of all German armed forces, no traditional associations or comradeships of paratroopers of the former National People's Army of the GDR were accepted into the association. The BDF is a member of the European Paratrooper Union UEP

history

In 1949, around 230 former paratroopers met for the first time in Wesel / Nordheide and founded the paratrooper tracing service and a comrade relief organization. This laid the foundation for the Association of German Paratroopers. Local and traditional associations were founded. Around 6,000 people gathered at the first federal meeting in Braunschweig in 1951 . The first focal points of the work of the federal government were the tracing service for missing persons, helping comrades and looking after widows and orphans. The Kameradenhilfswerk provided paratroopers of the former Wehrmacht , who lived in the Eastern Zone and the former GDR after the Second World War , with "Paratrooper CARE packages ".

Reconciliation with the former war opponents became a new focus of the work of the federal government in the 1950s. Paratroopers from France, Italy, Spain and the USA were welcomed at the federal meeting in Freiburg in 1959. The Bastogne Peace Bell, donated by the paratroopers, is an example of this reconciliation.

In 1957 the paratroopers of the Bundeswehr were deployed. Members of the former parachute troops of the Wehrmacht took part in leadership positions in order to set up and train the new airborne troops.

At the other federal meetings, the paratroopers of the Bundeswehr opened up. This was followed by the establishment of local comradeships and traditional associations, which mainly consisted of paratroopers from the Bundeswehr. The founding of the European Paratrooper Union UEP was largely supported by the Bund Deutscher Fallschirmjäger. In 1999 the Association of Polish Paratroopers was incorporated into the UEP when the federal government established contact. Since then, a delegation of Polish paratroopers has attended the federal meeting.

aims

  • Support of soldiers and units of the active paratroopers, airborne as well as special and specialized forces
  • Supervision of soldiers and reservists, especially when deployed abroad
  • Care for the bereaved of fallen, missing and deceased comrades
  • Help in emergencies from the "Hilfswerk Colonel General Student "
  • Collaboration in investigating the fate of missing persons
  • Promotion of international understanding to maintain world peace
  • Participation in the construction and maintenance of military cemeteries, memorials and memorials
  • Collaboration on the history of the German paratrooper and airborne troops and special forces as well as support for the establishment and operation of a paratrooper museum
  • Promotion of parachuting and other military training and further education measures as well as competitions
  • Promote understanding and cohesion between the generations
  • Promotion of European cooperation and the growing together of Europe, especially within the framework of the European Paratrooper Union
  • Support of security policy information work
  • Support of the further development of the airborne and paratrooper troops as well as the special and specialized forces in the national, European and alliance framework
  • Support of recruiting for the Bundeswehr
  • Maintaining comradeship with one another and with members of friendly and affiliated associations

The association is committed to the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany . It is independent, non-partisan and non-denominational. His association newspaper "Der Deutsche Fallschirmjäger" provides information on current events, speaks of the history of the military and reports from the active troops.

structure

The association is divided into national comradeships and local comradeships. There are also traditional associations for certain former airborne units / associations and local comradeships. Paratroopers, veterans, active and reservists meet in these regional subdivisions.

President of the BDF

  • 1951–1951 Herbert Luckner
  • 1952–1954 Kurt Student , Colonel General a. D. the parachute troops of the Wehrmacht
  • 1954–1955 Arnold von Roon, Major a. D. the parachute troops of the Wehrmacht
  • 1955–1956 Walter Gericke , officer of the parachute force of the Wehrmacht, later retired major general. D. in the 1st Airborne Division of the Bundeswehr
  • 1956–1976 Jakob Schmieden
  • 1976–1980 Oswald Finzel, Major a. D. the parachute troops of the Wehrmacht
  • 1980–1988 Rudolf Witzig , officer of the Wehrmacht airborne pioneers, later Colonel a. D. and Commander of the Pioneer Battalion 7 of the Bundeswehr
  • 1988–1996 Karl-Heinz Sander, Lieutenant Colonel ret. D. the Bundeswehr and honorary president of the "L'Union Europeenne des Parachutistes"
  • 1996–2000 Fritz Eckert , retired Brigadier General D. the Bundeswehr
  • 2000-2004 Heinz Bliss
  • 2004–2017 Georg Bernhardt, retired major general D. the Bundeswehr
  • 2017-present Hans-Werner Fritz , Lieutenant General ret. D. the Bundeswehr

Memberships and cooperations

The Bund Deutscher Fallschirmjäger eV is also a member of the Bund der Deutschen Infanterie eV, the Kuratorium Ehrenmal des Deutschen Heeres and the Bundeswehr Social Work . He is also on the Advisory Board for Reservist Work at the VdRBw . He maintains connections and partnerships with paratroopers from other nations and is a member of the European Paratrooper Union UEP

Since January 2015 there has been a cooperation with the paratrooper interest group .

Members newspaper

The German Paratrooper appears in six issues a year and provides information about events in the club and the airborne troops. He reports u. a. over three major topics:

  • Current / news / opinions
  • Basics / history
  • Reports from the comradeships

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jürgen Rosenthal: GenLt a. D. Fritz replaces GenMaj a. D. Georg Bernhardt resigns as President BDF . In: Hardthöhenkurier :: ONLINE :: | The magazine for soldiers and defense technology . ( hardthoehenkurier.de [accessed on April 3, 2017]).