Ministry of National Defense

This article explains the authority of the GDR. For other so-called ministries see Ministry of Defense .

Ministry for National Defense of the GDR - MfNV -
position	Ministry
Consist	January 18, 1956 to October 2, 1990
Headquarters	Strausberg

The Ministry for National Defense ( MfNV ) was a ministry in the Council of Ministers of the GDR .

The Ministry of National Defense was created by the "Law Establishing the National People's Army and Ministry of National Defense" of January 18, 1956. The paramilitary units previously known as the Barracked People's Police were now taken over directly into the army. By taking over these troops, an immediate strength of over 100,000 soldiers could be established. On March 1, 1956, all areas of the National People's Army (NVA) should be operational. This day was celebrated from 1957 as "Day of the National People's Army". In January 1962, in the East , the military introduced.

The seat of the ministry was in Strausberg North near Berlin in the Struzberg barracks (today von Hardenberg barracks) . The guard regiment Hugo Eberlein was responsible for guarding all service objects in Strausberg and outside .

From spring 1990 until its dissolution in the course of reunification, the ministry was called the Ministry of Disarmament and Defense with the abbreviation MfAuV .

The ministry also ran the state military publishing house .

Tasks and structure of the ministry

The Ministry was the central state organ of the GDR's Council of Ministers in the field of defense. However, its competencies were limited in practice, since the Politburo of the Central Committee of the SED reserved all important decisions. Its resolutions were implemented by the National Defense Council of the GDR and the Ministry. The ministry was responsible de jure for the management of the National People's Army as well as the planning, coordination, organization and implementation of national defense . It was responsible for both the military and civil areas. At the head of the ministry was the Minister of National Defense. Below this was a main staff for the narrow military area as well as various administrations and departments. The main political administration of the NVA, which was subordinate to the Central Committee of the SED or the Secretary General , was also located in the ministry.

The main staff included subdivisions such as the operational administrations (responsible for operational plans), reconnaissance (responsible for obtaining information about foreign armed forces), military substitutes as a higher-level authority for military district and military district commands. The ministry was also responsible for the branches of the armed forces. These were headed by a head of administration and were responsible for training and arming the respective branch of service. The use of the associations, on the other hand, was ordered by the chiefs of the military districts who report directly to the minister. The management of the Ministry used the main intelligence center of the Ministry of National Defense and an Operational Command Center as instruments of guidance .

In addition, the Ministry was responsible for the administration of the Military Prosecutor's Office, the Society for Sports and Technology and the Friedrich Engels Military Academy . The address of the Ministry of National Defense was (1960) Berlin-Niederschöneweide, Schnellerstraße 1/4.

Minister 1956–1990

No.	image	Surname	Life dates	Political party	Beginning of the term of office	Term expires
Minister for National Defense
1		Willi Stoph	1914-1999	SED	March 1, 1956	July 14, 1960
2		Heinz Hoffmann	1910-1985	SED	July 14, 1960	2nd December 1985
3		Heinz Keßler	1920-2017	SED	3rd December 1985	November 18, 1989
4th		Theodor Hoffmann	1935-2018	SED	November 18, 1989	March 18, 1990
Minister for Disarmament and Defense
5		Rainer Eppelmann	* 1943	THERE	April 12, 1990	October 2, 1990

Organization of the Ministry

The following governing bodies were subordinate to the Ministry of National Defense:

Land Forces Command

→ Main article : Command of land forces

The Land Forces Command (KdoLaSK) was created on December 1, 1972 as a command body for the land forces . The seat was in Wildpark-West near Potsdam .

Air Force / Air Defense Command

→ Main article : Command LSK / LV

The predecessors of the LSK / LV command of the NVA Air Force were the Air Force Administration and Air Defense Administration, created in 1956 . A year later, the previously independent administrations were combined to form the joint LSK / LV command based in Strausberg .

Heads of the LSK / LV command

• Colonel General Herbert Scheibe (1967–1972)

People's Navy Command

The Volksmarine Command (KdoVM), based in Rostock- Gehlsdorf, emerged from the administration of the naval forces . It was created in the spring of 1957. After the award of the title "People's Navy" on November 3, 1960, the command was renamed Command People's Navy.

Chiefs of the Naval Forces / People's Navy Command

• Rear Admiral Felix Scheffler March 1, 1956 to December 31, 1956; as commander of naval forces
• Vice Admiral Waldemar Verner January 1, 1957 to July 31, 1959; as commander of naval forces
• Rear Admiral Wilhelm Ehm August 1, 1959 to July 31, 1961 / February 25, 1963 to November 30, 1987
• Rear Admiral Heinz Neukirchen August 1, 1961 to February 24, 1963; entrusted with the leadership
• Vice Admiral Theodor Hoffmann December 1, 1987 to November 17, 1989
• Vice Admiral Hendrik Born December 11, 1989 to October 2, 1990

Border troops command of the GDR

After the subordination of the German border police to the Ministry of National Defense on September 15, 1961, the units were designated as border troops of the GDR . The command of the border troops (KdoGT) was based in Pätz .

Heads of the GDR Border Troops Command

• Colonel General Erich Peter September 15, 1961 to July 31, 1979
• Colonel General Klaus-Dieter Baumgarten August 1, 1979 to December 31, 1989
• Major General Dieter Teichmann January 1, 1990 to September 30, 1990

Central Administration of Civil Defense

Head of the Central Administration of Civil Defense

• Colonel General Fritz Peter December 1, 1976 to April 30, 1990

The governing bodies in the ministry also included the main staff , the main political administration and the areas of rear services as well as technology and armament.

Main staff

Chiefs of the Chief Staff

• Lieutenant General Vincenz Müller March 1, 1956 to March 1, 1958
• Lieutenant General Heinz Hoffmann March 1, 1958 to July 1, 1960
• Major General Sigfrid Riedel July 1, 1960 to March 15, 1967
• Colonel General Heinz Keßler March 15, 1967 to January 10, 1979
• Colonel General Fritz Streletz January 10, 1979 to December 31, 1989
• Lieutenant General Manfred Graetz January 1, 1990 to September 15, 1990
• Major General Michael Schlothauer September 15, 1990 to October 2, 1990

Political Headquarters

Heads of the Main Political Administration

• Major General Friedrich Dickel March 1, 1956 to August 24, 1956
• Colonel Gottfried Grünberg August 25, 1956 to November 27, 1957
• Major General Rudolf Dölling November 28, 1957 to July 31, 1959
• Admiral Waldemar Verner August 1, 1959 to December 31, 1978
• Colonel General Heinz Keßler January 10, 1979 to December 2, 1985
• Colonel General Horst Brünner December 10, 1985 to December 31, 1989

Technology and armament

Heads of technology and armament

• Colonel Erwin Freyer March 1, 1956 to May 1, 1957
• Major General Rudolf Menzel May 1, 1957 to October 14, 1959
• Major General Friedrich Dickel October 15, 1959 to November 14, 1963
• Colonel General Werner Fleißner February 1, 1964 to December 27, 1985
• Colonel General Joachim Goldbach February 1, 1986 to April 18, 1990

Rear Services area

Heads of Rear Services

• Major General Walter Allenstein March 1, 1956 to September 15, 1972
• Lieutenant General Helmut Poppe September 15, 1972 to July 26, 1979
• Lieutenant General Joachim Goldbach October 16, 1979 to January 31, 1986
• Lieutenant General Manfred Graetz February 1, 1986 to December 31, 1989
• Vice Admiral Hans Hofmann January 1, 1990 to April 18, 1990

As a rule, the heads of the commandos and other management bodies were also deputies to the Minister for National Defense.

The MfNV has so-called secret agreements with almost all other ministries in the GDR. This agreement marked the prominent position of the NVA. The content of these agreements was the preferential treatment of the army in the distribution of food, driving on and using forests and open spaces in the GDR.

Subordinate associations, units, units and facilities

• Main news center of the Ministry of National Defense
• Motor vehicle regiment 2
• Friedrich Engels Military Academy
• Military Political College Wilhelm Pieck
• Guard regiment Friedrich Engels
• Guard regiment Hugo Eberlein

literature

• Christian Adam , Martin Erdmann (ed.): Restricted areas in the GDR. An atlas of locations of the Ministry of State Security (MfS), the Ministry of the Interior (MdI), the Ministry of National Defense (MfNV) and the Group of Soviet Armed Forces in Germany (GSSD) (= BF . 34). Developed by Horst Henkel and Wolfgang Scholz, Federal Commissioner for Stasi Records, Berlin 2015, ISBN 978-3-942130-77-6 .
• Klaus Naumann (Ed.): NVA - Claim and Reality. Mittler, Hamburg / Berlin / Bonn 1996, ISBN 3-8132-0506-1 .
• Klaus Froh, Rüdiger Wenzke : The generals and admirals of the NVA. A biographical manual. 4th edition. Ch. Links, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-86153-209-3
• GDR manual , vol. 2. 3rd edition. Federal Ministry for Internal German Relations , Cologne 1985, p. 908
• Hans-Werner Deim, Hans-Georg Kampe, Joachim Kampe, Wolfgang Schubert: The military security of the GDR in the Cold War . Projekt + Verlag Dr Erwin Meißler, Hönow 2008, ISBN 978-3-932566-80-6

Individual evidence

1. ^ The German military system - German Democratic Republic 1949 - 1990 ( Memento from January 16, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) , article on the homepage of the German Federal Archives
2. ^ GDR manual , Vol. 2. 3rd edition. Federal Ministry for Internal German Relations , Cologne 1985, p. 908
3. ^ Handbook for Customs Service (GDR) - Office for Customs and Control of Goods Movement; Verlag Die Wirtschaft Berlin (1960); Permit number 195/133/60

Coordinates: 52 ° 35 ′ 27 "  N , 13 ° 55 ′ 11"  E