Inspector General of the German People's Police

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The Inspector General of the German People's Police was a rank which corresponded to the rank of Lieutenant General and was used until July 14, 1957 and again since May 1, 1990. From July 16, 1958 to April 30, 1990, this rank was Lieutenant General of the VP. For members of central offices in the Ministry of the Interior , the addition of “the VP” was omitted from 1961.

1949-1957

The German Administration of the Interior (DVdI) was formed in July 1946 on the orders of the SMAD . Its task was to coordinate and centralize the police organization in the Soviet Zone . The Main Border Police / Readiness Department (HA GP / B) was established on July 13, 1948; from November 1948 the KVP and the border police were subordinate to her. The rank of Inspector General was held by the President and Vice-Presidents (e.g. Erich Mielke from 1946 to 1949) of the German Interior Administration, from 1949 also the Chief of the German People's Police Kurt Fischer and from 1950 his successor Karl Maron in this office . In addition, the heads of various departments in the German Administration of the Interior also had the rank of chief inspector, e.g. E.g. the head of the administration for training Wilhelm Zaisser , the head of the German border police Hermann Gartmann , the head of the HV for training Wilhelm Zaisser, the head of the HV air police Heinz Keßler , the head of the HV sea police Waldemar Verner and the head of the KVP Heinz Hoffmann as well as the deputy and head of the political administration Rudolf Dölling .

On January 1, 1949, uniform ranks and badges were introduced for the police with regard to the planned centralization of the police in the Soviet Zone, which initially applied to the main administration for training (HVA) and the border police and from June 1, 1949 to 1957 identical to those of the German People's Police. The ranks of the top officers in the general rank were named Chief Inspector and General Inspector. The barracked units of the People's Police (KVP) changed these names as early as 1952. On August 27, 1952, Interior Minister Willi Stoph had issued Order No. 9/1952 on the introduction of new rank designations and badges in the KVP (Land), the VP-See and the VP-Luft. Thus, from October 1, 1952, members of the KVP were awarded military ranks. The People's Police followed on July 15, 1957.

Since 1990

With effect from May 1, 1990 and based on the Law Gazette of the German Democratic Republic of March 6, 1990, the ranks of the People's Police were abolished and replaced by official designations that were based on those of the "founding years of the GDR". These designations were retained in individual federal states until 1992. As a rule, the old shoulder pieces were carried on until October 3, 1990. The shoulder pieces that were specially produced for the time of reunification, which were based on those of the old federal states, were only issued in small numbers. The former Minister of the Interior and Chief of the German People's Police, Lothar Ahrendt , was reassessed from Lieutenant General to Inspector General on May 1, 1990, and the same happened for the former Deputy Minister of the Interior Karl-Heinz Schmalfuß .

Shoulder pieces 1949–1957 (1960)

The shoulder pieces consisted of two four-arch braided gold-colored round cords with an intervening silver flat cord on a dark green cloth base. Four-pointed, silver-plated metal stars with a side length of approx. 15 mm were used as grade stars. These were arranged in the middle or one behind the other. These grade stars remained valid until 1960, after which five-pointed, silver-plated grade stars with a side length of 20 mm were used.

  • Shoulder piece of an inspector general of the DVP (1949–1954)

  • Shoulder piece of an Inspector General of the DVP (1954–1960, from 1957 Lieutenant General)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Klaus Walther: Uniform effects of the armed organs of the GDR. Special catalog. Volume I: Ministry of the Interior 1949-1990. Berlin: ecotour 1992. S. 188 f.
  2. ^ Klaus Walther: Uniform effects of the armed organs of the GDR. Special catalog. Volume I: Ministry of the Interior 1949-1990. Berlin: ecotour 1992. p. 189.
  3. ↑ See: Klaus Froh, Rüdiger Wenzke: The Generals and Admirals of the NVA. A biographical manual. Augsburg: Bechtermünz 2003. p. 227.
  4. ↑ See: Klaus Froh, Rüdiger Wenzke: The Generals and Admirals of the NVA. A biographical manual. Augsburg: Bechtermünz 2003. p. 230.
  5. ↑ See: Klaus Froh, Rüdiger Wenzke: The Generals and Admirals of the NVA. A biographical manual. Augsburg: Bechtermünz 2003. P. 228 ff.
  6. ↑ Dieter Schulze: The great book of the German People's Police. Berlin: Berolina 2013. p. 216.
  7. ^ Klaus Walther: Uniform effects of the armed organs of the GDR. Special catalog. Volume I: Ministry of the Interior 1949-1990. Berlin: ecotour 1992. p. 187.
  8. ↑ Torsten Diedrich , Rüdiger Wenzke : The camouflaged army. History of the barracked people's police of the GDR 1952-1956. Berlin: Ch. Links 2003. S. 180.
  9. ↑ Gerhard Sälter: border police. Conformity, refusal and repression in the border police and the border troops of the GDR 1952-1965. Berlin: Ch. Links 2009. P. 73.
  10. ↑ Announcement on rank designations in the German People's Police and in the fire brigade and penal authorities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of February 22, 1990, published in the Law Gazette of the German Democratic Republic of March 6, 1990 (Part 1 No. 12). P. 91 f.
  11. ↑ See: http://news.dkp.suhail.uberspace.de/2015/06/interview-mit-dem-letzt-chef-der-deutschen-volkspolizei-der-ddr/
  12. ↑ http://www.polizeilada.de/html/landespolizei.html
  13. ↑ http://www.polizeilada.de/html/wendezeit.html
  14. ^ Klaus Walther: Uniform effects of the armed organs of the GDR. Special catalog. Volume I: Ministry of the Interior 1949-1990. Berlin: ecotour 1992. p. 16.
  15. ^ Klaus Walther: Uniform effects of the armed organs of the GDR. Special catalog. Volume I: Ministry of the Interior 1949-1990. Berlin: ecotour 1992. p. 132.