The Federal Ministry of Defence (, ; abbreviated BMVg) is a top-level federal agency, headed by the Federal Minister of Defence as a member of the

Cabinet of Germany The Federal Government (, ; abbr. BReg) is the chief executive body of the Federal Republic of Germany and exercises executive power at the federal level. It consists of the Federal Chancellor and the Federal Ministers. The fundamentals o ...

. The ministry is headquartered at the Hardthöhe barracks itself located at the

Hardthöhe Hardthöhe is a district at the western edge of Bonn, Germany. The districts contains mostly the headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Defense (BMVg) since 1960 and ''Hardthöhe'' is the synonym for the German Political command structures. Th ...

district in

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

and has a second office in the ''

Bendlerblock The Bendlerblock () is a building complex in the Tiergarten (Berlin), Tiergarten district of Berlin, Germany, located on Stauffenbergstraße (formerly named ''Bendlerstraße''). Erected in 1914 as headquarters of several Imperial German Navy (''Ka ...

'' building in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, which is occasionally used as a

metonym Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something associated with that thing or concept. For example, the word "wikt:suit, suit" may refer to a person from groups commonly wearing business attire, such ...

to denote the entire Ministry. According to Article 65a of the

German Constitution The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany () is the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany. The West German Constitution was approved in Bonn on 8 May 1949 and came into effect on 23 May after having been approved by the oc ...

(''Grundgesetz)'', the Federal Minister of Defence is Commander-in-chief of the , the German armed forces, with around 260,953 active soldiers and civilians. Article 115b decrees that in the

state of defence The state of defence (, ) is the constitutional state of emergency in Germany if the country is "under attack by armed force or imminently threatened with such an attack". Established by a constitutional amendment in 1968 during the Cold War, this ...

, declared by the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

with consent of the Bundesrat, the command in chief passes to the

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

. 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: *Armed Forces **

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

(Heer) **

German Navy The German Navy (, ) is part of the unified (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Marine'' (German Navy) became the official ...

(Marine) **

German Air Force The German Air Force (, ) is the aerial warfare branch of the , the armed forces of Germany. The German Air Force (as part of the ) was founded in 1956 during the era of the Cold War as the aerial warfare branch of the armed forces of West Ger ...

(Luftwaffe) **

Bundeswehr Joint Medical Service The Joint Medical Service (, ''short form:'' Zentraler Sanitätsdienst, ) is a part of the ''Bundeswehr'', the armed forces of Germany and serves all three armed services (Army, Navy and Air Force, as well as the Cyber and Information Domain ...

(Zentraler Sanitätsdienst) ** Joint Support Service (Streitkräftebasis) including the

Center for Military History and Social Sciences of the Bundeswehr The Bundeswehr Centre of Military History and Social Sciences (''Zentrum für Militärgeschichte und Sozialwissenschaften der Bundeswehr'', abbreviated as ZMSBw) is a German research institution focused on military history and social sciences. Lo ...

** Cyber- and Information Domain Service (Cyber- und Informationsraum)(founded in 2017 from parts of the Joint Support Service) *Armed Forces Administration **Personnel Management (Personal) **Information Technology & In-Service Management (Ausrüstung, Informationstechnologie und Nutzung) **Infrastructure, Antipollution & Administrative Services (Infrastruktur, Umweltschutz und Dienstleistungen) **Judicature (Recht) **Military Chaplaincy (Militärseelsorge)

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 The unification of Germany (, ) was a process of building the first nation-state for Germans with federalism, federal features based on the concept of Lesser Germany (one without Habsburgs' multi-ethnic Austria or its German-speaking part). I ...

in 1871 until the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

did not have a national

Ministry of War Ministry of War may refer to: * Ministry of War (imperial China) ( 600–1912) * Chinese Republic Ministry of War (1912–1946) * Ministry of War (Kingdom of Bavaria) (1808–1919) * Ministry of War (Brazil) (1815–1999) * Ministry of War (Esto ...

. Rather, the larger German states (such as the kingdoms of

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

and

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

), insisting on their autonomy, each had their own war ministry. According to the military agreements the Prussian minister-president

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (; born ''Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck''; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898) was a German statesman and diplomat who oversaw the unification of Germany and served as ...

had forged with the South German states on the eve of the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

, 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

After the war and the

German Revolution of 1918–19 German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, the

Weimar Constitution The Constitution of the German Reich (), usually known as the Weimar Constitution (), was the constitution that governed Germany during the Weimar Republic era. The constitution created a federal semi-presidential republic with a parliament whose ...

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 The Ministry of the Reichswehr () was the defence ministry of Germany from 1919 to 1938 during the Weimar Republic and early Nazi Germany periods. It was responsible for the '' Reichswehr'' under the leadership of the Minister of Defence and base ...

was established in October 1919, and had its seat in the

building. In the context of the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...

and the "Law for the Creation of a provisional

Reichswehr ''Reichswehr'' (; ) was the official name of the German armed forces during the Weimar Republic and the first two years of Nazi Germany. After Germany was defeated in World War I, the Imperial German Army () was dissolved in order to be reshaped ...

" 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 The Free State of Prussia (, ) was one of the States of the Weimar Republic, constituent states of Weimar Republic, Germany from 1918 to 1947. The successor to the Kingdom of Prussia after the defeat of the German Empire in World War I, it cont ...

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 ( ; ) is a German word whose meaning is analogous to the English word " realm". The terms and are respectively used in German in reference to empires and kingdoms. In English usage, the term " Reich" often refers to Nazi Germany, also ca ...

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 The () was the name of the German Navy during the Weimar Republic and first two years of Nazi Germany. It was the naval branch of the , existing from 1919 to 1935. In 1935, it became known as the ''Kriegsmarine'' (War Navy), a branch of the '' ...

''). 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 Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

politician

Gustav Noske Gustav Noske (9 July 1868 – 30 November 1946) was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). He served as the first Minister of Defence (''Reichswehrminister'') of the Weimar Republic between 1919 and 1920. Noske was known for u ...

became the first Minister of Defence of Germany. After the Nazi ''

Machtergreifung The rise to power of Adolf Hitler, dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919, when Hitler joined the '' Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (DAP; German Workers' Party). He quickly rose t ...

'', when the ''Reichswehr'' was recreated as the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

in 1935, the ministry was renamed ''Reichskriegsministerium'' (Reich Ministry of War); also, the ''Heeresleitung'' became the

Oberkommando des Heeres The (; abbreviated OKH) was the high command of the Army of Nazi Germany. It was founded in 1935 as part of Adolf Hitler's rearmament of Germany. OKH was ''de facto'' the most important unit within the German war planning until the defeat ...

(OKH), the ''Marineleitung'' became the

Oberkommando der Marine The (; abbreviated OKM) was the high command and the highest administrative and command authority of the ''Kriegsmarine'', a branch of the ''Wehrmacht''. It was officially formed from the ''Marineleitung'' ("Naval Command") of the ''Reichswe ...

(OKM) and the

Oberkommando der Luftwaffe The (; abbreviated OKL) was the high command of the air force () of Nazi Germany. History The was organized in a large and diverse structure led by Reich minister and supreme commander of the Air force () Hermann Göring. Through the Mini ...

(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 The (; abbreviated OKW

ː kaːˈve The colon alphabetic letter is used in a number of languages and phonetic transcription systems, for vowel length in Americanist Phonetic Notation, for the vowels and in a number of languages of Papua New Guinea, and for grammatical tone in s ...

Armed Forces High Command) was the Command (military formation), supreme military command and control Staff (military), staff of Nazi Germany during World War II, that was directly subordinated to Adolf ...

(OKW; High Command of the Armed Forces), which formally existed until the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The High Command was not a government ministry, but a military command, however.

Post-WW2

After World War II,

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

started with preparations for rearmament (''

Wiederbewaffnung West German rearmament () began in the decades after World War II. Fears of another rise of German militarism caused the new military to operate within an alliance framework, under NATO command. The events led to the establishment of the ''Bund ...

'') in 1950, as ordered by Chancellor

Konrad Adenauer Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a German statesman and politician who served as the first Chancellor of Germany, chancellor of West Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the first leader of th ...

.David R. Snyder, "Arming the ''Bundesmarine'': The United States and the Build-Up of the German Federal Navy, 1950-1960." The Journal of Military History, Vol. 66, No. 2 (Apr. 2002), pp. 477-500. After the outbreak of the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

called for a West German contribution to the defence of Western Europe (against 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 ...

). 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 Theodor Anton Blank (19 September 1905 – 14 May 1972) was a German politician of the CDU. He was one of the founders of the CDU in 1945. Blank was born in Elz an der Lahn. He was the third of ten children of a carpenter. His family was R ...

, 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 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 ...

was established and Germany joined the

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

the same year. In 1956, Germany reintroduced

conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...

, 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 Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...

, the Interior and

Justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

— 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 German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...

, 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 The Kosovo War (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Косовски рат, Kosovski rat) was an armed conflict in Kosovo that lasted from 28 February 1998 until 11 June 1999. It ...

21st century

Until the Fall of Kabul in August 2021, Germany deployed for nearly 20 years its armed forces in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

as part of the

International Security Assistance Force The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386, Resolution 1386 ac ...

(2001-2015) and later the

Resolute Support Mission Resolute Support Mission (RSM) or Operation Resolute Support was a NATO-led multinational mission in Afghanistan. It began on 1 January 2015 as the successor to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which was completed on 28 Dece ...

(2015-2021). German forces withdrew on 29 June.

List of Federal Ministers of Defence (since 1955)

Political Party:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Federal Ministry Of Defence (Germany) Bundeswehr

Defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Ministries established in 1955 1955 establishments in West Germany

Organization

Senior Management Level

Directorates

Departments of the Federal armed forces

Directly subordinated Offices & Agencies

History

19th century

Weimar and Nazi Germany

Post-WW2

Post-reunification

21st century

List of Federal Ministers of Defence (since 1955)

See also

References

External links