The Federal Ministry of Defence (German: Bundesministerium der Verteidigung, pronounced [ˈbʊndəsminɪsˌteːʁiʊmdeːɐ̯fɐˈtaɪdɪɡʊŋ] ⓘ; abbreviated BMVg) is a top-level federal agency, headed by the Federal Minister of Defence as a member of the Cabinet of Germany. The ministry is headquartered at the Hardthöhe barracks itself located at the Hardthöhe district in Bonn and has a second office in the Bendlerblock building in Berlin, which is occasionally used as a metonym to denote the entire Ministry.

According to Article 65a of the German Constitution (Grundgesetz), the Federal Minister of Defence is Commander-in-chief of the Bundeswehr, the German armed forces, with around 260,953 active soldiers and civilians. Article 115b decrees that in the state of defence, declared by the Bundestag with consent of the Bundesrat, the command in chief passes to the Chancellor. The ministry currently has approximately 2,000 employees.

Organization

On April 1, 2012, the Federal Ministry of Defence (DEU MOD) changes its organization to the following general structure:

Senior Management Level

  • Federal Minister of Defence (acts as High Commander of the German armed forces in peacetime) 2 Parliamentary Secretaries of State 2 Secretaries of State
  • subordinated to the Senior Management Support Office Press & Information Office Politics Directorate

Directorates

  • Secretary of State #1 Equipment Directorate (lost the Cyber & IT branch in 2016) Cyber & IT Directorate (founded 2016)
  • Secretary of State #2 Financial & Controlling Directorate Personnel Directorate Infrastructure, Antipollution & Administrative Services Directorate Legal Directorate
  • Inspector General of the Bundeswehr Plans & Policies Directorate Strategy & Operations Directorate Armed Forces Command & Control Directorate

Departments of the Federal armed forces

The Bundeswehr is divided into a military part (armed forces or Streitkräfte) and a civil part with the armed forces administration (Wehrverwaltung) and consists of 11 Departments/Services:

Directly subordinated Offices & Agencies

  • Armed Forces Operational Command (Einsatzführungskommando der Bundeswehr)
  • Office for Military Aviation (Luftfahrtamt der Bundeswehr)
  • Office for Plans & Policies (Planungsamt der Bundeswehr)
  • Command & Control Academy (Führungsakademie der Bundeswehr)
  • Center of Leadership Culture (Zentrum Innere Führung)
  • Military Counter-intelligence Service (Bundesamt für den Militärischen Abschirmdienst)

History

19th century

From the Unification of Germany in 1871 until the end of World War I, the German Empire did not have a national Ministry of War. Rather, the larger German states (such as the kingdoms of Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony and Württemberg), insisting on their autonomy, each had their own war ministry. According to the military agreements the Prussian minister-president Otto von Bismarck had forged with the South German states on the eve of the Franco-Prussian War, the major states were also responsible for the defence of the smaller states. However, the Imperial Navy from 1889 was overseen by a federal department, the Imperial Naval Office.

Weimar and Nazi Germany

Bendlerblock, Berlin-Tiergarten, secondary seat since 1993

After the war and the German Revolution of 1918–19, the Weimar Constitution provided for a unified, national ministry of defence, which was created largely from the Prussian Ministry of War and the Imperial Naval Office. The Ministry of the Reichswehr was established in October 1919, and had its seat in the Bendlerblock building.

In the context of the Treaty of Versailles and the "Law for the Creation of a provisional Reichswehr" of March 1919, the Reichspräsident became the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, whilst the Reich Minister of Defence exercised military authority. Only in the Free State of Prussia did military authority remain with the State Minister of War. After the Weimar Constitution came into force, the remaining war ministries in the states of Bavaria, Saxony, Württemberg and Prussia were abolished and military authority was concentrated in the Reich Minister of Defence. Command was exercised respectively by the Chief of the Heeresleitung (Army Command) and the Chief of the Marineleitung (Navy Command, see Reichsmarine). In 1929 a third office was established: the Ministerial Office, whose Chief functioned as the political representative of the Minister. The role of the General Staff was filled by the Truppenamt.

The Social Democratic politician Gustav Noske became the first Minister of Defence of Germany. After the Nazi Machtergreifung, when the Reichswehr was recreated as the Wehrmacht in 1935, the ministry was renamed Reichskriegsministerium (Reich Ministry of War); also, the Heeresleitung became the Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH), the Marineleitung became the Oberkommando der Marine (OKM) and the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe (OKL) was newly created. The Ministeramt (Ministerial Office) was renamed the Wehrmachtsamt.

In 1938, following the Blomberg-Fritsch Affair, Hitler himself exercised the functions of the Reich War Minister. The Wehrmachtsamt was turned into the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW; High Command of the Armed Forces), which formally existed until the end of World War II. The High Command was not a government ministry, but a military command, however.

Post-WW2

After World War II, West Germany started with preparations for rearmament (Wiederbewaffnung) in 1950, as ordered by Chancellor Konrad Adenauer. After the outbreak of the Korean War, the United States called for a West German contribution to the defence of Western Europe (against the Soviet Union). Initially Gerhard Graf von Schwerin, a former Wehrmacht General, advised the Chancellor on these issues and led the preparations, but after Count Schwerin had talked to the press about his work, he was replaced by Theodor Blank, who was appointed as "Special Representative" of the Chancellor. As the rearmament plans met with harsh opposition by a wide circle within the West German population and contradicted the occupation statute, the government office responsible for the rearmament acted secretly, unofficially known as Amt Blank. By 1955, the number of employees had surpassed 1,300. On 7 June 1955 the office became the Ministry of Defence, or Bundesministerium für Verteidigung in German. The Bundeswehr was established and Germany joined the NATO the same year. In 1956, Germany reintroduced conscription, and the German military force quickly became the largest conventional military force in Western Europe. To confirm the ministry's importance, it was renamed Bundesministerium der Verteidigung on 30 December 1961, similar to the German names of the "classic" ministries of Finance, the Interior and Justice — though the federal minister is still denoted as Bundesminister für Verteidigung in Article 65a of the German Constitution.

Until 1960, the ministry had its seat in the Ermekeil barracks in Bonn. From 1960 onwards, it was moved to a new building complex at Hardthöhe.

Post-reunification

After German reunification, the Bendlerblock, former seat of its Weimar Republic predecessor, became the secondary seat of the ministry in 1993. The German military has become increasingly engaged in international operations since the early 1990s, and saw combat in the 1999 Kosovo War.

21st century

Map of Resolute Support Mission that documents the partition of responsibilities between allies: TAAC – Capital, TAAC – North, TAAC – South, TAAC – East, TAAC – West

Until the Fall of Kabul in August 2021, Germany deployed for nearly 20 years its armed forces in Afghanistan as part of the International Security Assistance Force (2001-2015) and later the Resolute Support Mission (2015-2021). German forces withdrew on 29 June.

List of Federal Ministers of Defence (since 1955)

Political Party: CDU/CSU SPD

Name (Born-Died)PortraitPartyTerm of OfficeDurationChancellor (Cabinet)
Federal Minister for Defence (1955–1961) Federal Minister of Defence (1961–present)
1Theodor Blank (1905–1972)CDU7 June 195516 October 19561 year, 131 daysAdenauer (II)
2Franz Josef Strauß (1915–1988)CSU16 October 19569 January 19636 years, 85 daysAdenauer (II • III • IV)
3Kai-Uwe von Hassel (1913–1997)CDU9 January 19631 December 19663 years, 326 daysErhard (I • II)
4Gerhard Schröder (1910–1989)CDU1 December 196621 October 19692 years, 324 daysKiesinger (cabinet)
5Helmut Schmidt (1918–2015)SPD22 October 19697 July 19722 years, 259 daysBrandt (I)
6Georg Leber (1920–2012)SPD7 July 197216 February 19785 years, 224 daysBrandt (I • II) Schmidt (I • II)
7Hans Apel (1932–2011)SPD17 February 19781 October 19824 years, 226 daysSchmidt (II • III)
8Manfred Wörner (1934–1994)CDU4 October 198218 May 19885 years, 227 daysKohl (I • II • III)
9Rupert Scholz (born 1937)CDU18 May 198821 April 1989338 daysKohl (III)
10Gerhard Stoltenberg (1928–2001)CDU21 April 198931 March 19922 years, 345 daysKohl (III • IV)
11Volker Rühe (born 1942)CDU1 April 199226 October 19986 years, 208 daysKohl (IV • V)
12Rudolf Scharping (born 1947)SPD27 October 199819 July 20023 years, 265 daysSchröder (I)
13Peter Struck (1943–2012)SPD19 July 200222 November 20053 years, 126 daysSchröder (I • II)
14Franz Josef Jung (born 1949)CDU22 November 200528 October 20093 years, 340 daysMerkel (I)
15Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg (born 1971)CSU28 October 20093 March 20111 year, 126 daysMerkel (II)
16Thomas de Maizière (born 1954)CDU3 March 201117 December 20132 years, 289 days
17Ursula von der Leyen (born 1958)CDU17 December 201317 July 20195 years, 212 daysMerkel (III • IV)
18Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (born 1962)CDU17 July 20198 December 20212 years, 144 daysMerkel (IV)
19Christine Lambrecht (born 1965)SPD8 December 202119 January 20231 year, 42 daysScholz (cabinet)
20Boris Pistorius (born 1960)SPD19 January 2023Incumbent3 years, 88 days
Merz (cabinet)

See also

External links

  • (in German and English)