Norwegian Germany Brigade
Norwegian Germany Brigade (Norwegian: Tysklandsbrigaden ) is the name for the Norwegian army units that were in Germany as part of the Allied occupation forces after the Second World War . She was stationed in the British zone of occupation from 1947 to 1953 and assigned to the British Army of the Rhine .
History of origin
In the final phase of the Second World War, the Norwegian government-in-exile under Johan Nygaardsvold (1879–1952) negotiated with the British government in London over arms deliveries for the Norwegian armed forces after the war. For their part, the British took up a suggestion that had already been submitted in 1943 that the Norwegian armed forces should take part in the occupation of Germany in a division of around 12,000 men. The Norwegian government-in-exile approved the British proposal in principle in March 1945, but saw the required number of divisions as being beyond its capabilities. After further negotiations, on August 24, 1946 the Storting agreed to send a brigade with an upper limit of 4,400 officers and soldiers to Germany.
After gaining independence in 1905 , it was the first time Norway had sent forces abroad in peacetime. As a result, a large number of Norwegian conscripts spent half of their military service - i.e. six months - in Germany during this time . Their training continued here. The Norwegian soldiers were deployed under the motto “For peace in Germany”. The Germany Brigade was under Norwegian administration, training and jurisdiction. But it was subordinated to British command as an independent unit under the leadership of a Norwegian major general. The necessary military equipment for the mission was provided by the British.
Working time
The Germany Brigade was stationed in contingents that changed every six months. These were made up of various units of the army. Combined in the brigade, the contingents were given their own three-digit number. This was made up of the year of the mission (first and second digit) and the consecutive number of the contingent (digit 1 or 2 in third digit). Brigade 521, for example, was the first contingent in 1952.
The deployment of the Germany Brigade began in January 1947 with its stationing on the edge of the Harz Mountains southeast of Hanover when it was placed under the British 5th Division. Norwegian garrisons were moved to Braunschweig , Goslar , Northeim , Holzminden , Höxter , Göttingen and Bad Gandersheim . The headquarters were in Northeim until February 1948, after which the location was given up. The operating time was initially limited to March 1, 1949. When international tensions grew in 1948 and the “ Cold War ” began, the British demanded an extension of the deployment time. The Norwegian government feared that the Germany brigade in the border area with the Soviet occupation zone could possibly be drawn into armed conflict between the great powers. She insisted on her relocation to Schleswig-Holstein because from there the armed forces could more easily be returned to Norway in a conflict situation via the ports on the North Sea and Baltic Sea . The headquarters was set up in Rendsburg . For example, Norwegian soldiers took over the news school and the Grenzland barracks from the British in Flensburg .
From a Norwegian point of view, a historical aspect also played a role. Schleswig-Holstein had been ruled by the Danish kings before 1814 during the personal union Denmark-Norway . After the establishment of NATO , the brigade initially became part of the NATO armed forces , which were supposed to defend Schleswig-Holstein and Jutland . In 1953, NATO decided to withdraw the Germany Brigade from Schleswig-Holstein and place it under the NATO command in Northern Norway as a newly formed brigade . The final parade took place on April 11, 1953. A total of around 50,000 men served in the Germany Brigade until 1953.
Relationship to the German population
For the handling of the Norwegian soldiers with the German civilian population, strict rules initially applied. There should be a brotherhood be avoided with the Germans, because there was a great distrust of Germany in the Norwegian population. Among other things, this led to a widespread public debate in Norway in 1947 as to whether the permitted sale of condoms to members of the Germany Brigade in their canteens should not be banned again. Around 400,000 Norwegians signed a letter of protest to put an end to the alleged "rampant" hustle and bustle of the soldiers. Attending German cinemas or dance events was not welcome. The regulations were later liberalized because the Norwegian soldiers were also confronted to a large extent with the privations of the German population. With the aim of being able to better help needy Germans, contacts with them were made easier. Many members of the Germany Brigade later developed into friends of Germany and became involved in Norwegian-German cooperation . The best known among them were the ministers of state Kåre Willoch and Odvar Nordli, as well as the former chief of the Norwegian armed forces, General Fredrik Bull-Hansen .
Web links
literature
- Tom Kristiansen (Ed.): Tyslandsbrigaden: Fra Okkupasjon til samarbeid. (The Norwegian German Brigade. From occupation to cooperation.) Oslo 1998.
- Klaus Bumann, Christian Lehwald (ed.): 100 years of history of the Northeim barracks. Self-published, Northeim 2012, p. 66f. DNB 1021954357 .
- Fritz Petrick: Norway - From the beginning to the present. Verlag Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg 2002, ISBN 3-7917-1784-7 .
- Katharina Pohl: To Germany for Peace: Tysklandsbrigaden. In: A hundred years of German-Norwegian encounters - not just salmon and sausages. Berliner Wissenschaftsverlag 2005, ISBN 3-8305-1073-X .
- Norway and Germany. Published by the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs 1999, ISBN 82-7177-577-4