The Erich-Weinert-Ensemble was a professional army ensemble of the

National People's Army The National People's Army (, ; NVA ) were the armed forces of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (DDR) from 1956 until 1990. The NVA was organized into four branches: the (Ground Forces), the (Navy), the (Air Force) and the (Bord ...

of the

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

. The ensemble consisted of a male choir, a ballet, an orchestra, a cabaret, soloists, dramaturges, conductors, directors, choreographers and technical and organizational staff. The ensemble was based in Berlin-Biesdorf. The ensemble was named after Erich Weinert, a German communist writer.

History

On 15 July 1950, a folk art ensemble was set up by

Kasernierte Volkspolizei The Kasernierte Volkspolizei () (KVP) was the precursor to the National People's Army (NVA) in East Germany. Their original headquarters was in Adlershof Boroughs and neighborhoods of Berlin, locality in East Berlin, and from 1954 in Strausber ...

. It was handed over to the NVA in 1956, where it was renamed the Erich-Weinert-Ensemble. The ensemble made a name for itself both locally and internationally due to the diversity of its repertoire, the cultivation of the traditions of the German folk song and military songs. The ensemble toured the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. In 1989, the ensemble was transferred to the

Bundeswehr The (, ''Federal Defence'') are the armed forces of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. The is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part consists of the four armed forces: Germ ...

and was spun off on June 30, 1991, by order of the German Bundestag. The ensemble was financed by the Federal Defense Ministry of Germany until 1994.

References

{{Authority control East German musical groups German military bands Musical groups established in 1950 1950 establishments in East Germany National People's Army