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| Border Troops of the German Democratic Republic | |
|---|---|
| Grenztruppen der DDR | |
 | |
| Active | 1 December 1946 – September 1990 |
| Country | East Germany |
| Branch | Ministry of National Defense(1961–1990)
|
| Size | 47,000 |
| Garrison/HQ | Pätz |
| March | Die Grenzerkompanie |
| Commanders | |
| General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party | Abolished |
| Chairman of the National Defense Council | Abolished |
TheBorder Troops of the German Democratic Republic (German:Grenztruppen der DDR) was theborder guard of theGerman Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1946 to 1990.
TheGrenztruppen were the primary force guarding theBerlin Wall and theInner German border, the GDR'sinternational borders betweenWest Berlin andWest Germany respectively. The force belonged to theMinistry of National Defence (MfNV) from 1961, and was aservice branch of theNational People's Army until 1971 when it became directly subordinate to the MfNV. The Border Troops numbered approximately 47,000 personnel at its peak, consisting ofvolunteers andconscripts, the third-largestWarsaw Pact border guard after theSoviet Border Troops andPoland'sBorder Protection Troops.
TheGrenztruppen's main role was preventingRepublikflucht, the illegal migration from the GDR, and were controversially responsible for manydeaths at the Berlin Wall.
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By December 1945, within six months of the end of theSecond World War, each of the fivestates in theSoviet Zone of Occupation had new police forces in clear violation of theYalta andPotsdam agreements[citation needed]. In early January 1946, the nameVolkspolizei (People's Police) was publicly applied to the new police forces in the Soviet Zone, and in August these forces were placed under thecentralized control of the newly created German Administration of the Interior, headed by Erich Reschke. On 1 December 1946, theDeutsche Grenzpolizei (German Border Police) was organized by theSoviet Military Administration in Germany (SMAD) as aparamilitary to defend the borders of the Soviet Zone. The initial 3,000 recruits of theGrenzpolizei were organized and trained fromVolkspolizei resources, and by April 1948 numbered 10,000 personnel before rising to 18,000 in 1950. TheGrenzpolizei were armed and organized like a police force, and were subordinate to the Main Administration of the Border Police and Alert Units of the German Administration of the Interior. The Soviet Zone was formed into theGerman Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany) in October 1949 and led by theSocialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) underSoviet influence. The SED reorganized theGrenzpolizei alongmilitary lines, similar to theUSSR's Border Troops, and briefly transferred them from theMinistry of the Interior (Ministerium des Innern) to theMinistry of State Security (MfS orStasi) from May 1952 to June 1953.
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In 1961, theGrenzpolizei were reorganized as the Border Troops of the GDR (Grenztruppen der DDR) and were moved from the Ministry of the Interior, which oversaw policing, to theMinistry of National Defence (MfNV) which oversaw the military. TheGrenztruppen became the fourthservice branch of theNational People's Army (NVA), the armed forces of the GDR. In 1973 they were separated and became directly subordinate to the MfNV, on grounds of not to be counted inMBFR. While wearing standard NVA uniforms, theGrenztruppen had their own dark greenarm-of-service colour, and their service and dress uniforms bore a greencuff title with white lettering "Grenztruppen der DDR" on the left arm. The vast majority ofGrenztruppen efforts were directed along the GDR's western borders with West Germany and West Berlin, with only about 600 members assigned to guard the GDR's borders withPoland andCzechoslovakia. This continued until the 1980s when the rise of theSolidarity trade union in Poland saw the GDR considerably toughen theGrenztruppen's presence along their border.
On 1 July 1990, the GDR's border control regime along the borders with West Germany and West Berlin was ended. In September 1990, shortly before thereunification of Germany, theGrenztruppen were disbanded; its border patrol duties along united Germany's eastern frontiers were assumed by theBundesgrenzschutz (Federal Border Guard – later theBundespolizei or Federal Police).
For most visitors toEast Berlin and the GDR, including persons who utilized the land transit routes (road and rail) between West Germany andWest Berlin, their exposure to theGrenztruppen der DDR consisted of dealing with the members of the Pass and Control Units (Paß- und Kontrolleinheiten, PKE) who processed travelers passing through the GDR'sGrenzübergangsstellen (border crossing points). Although they woreGrenztruppen uniforms, the members of the PKE were in fact members of the 6th Main Department(Hauptabteilung VI) of theStasi.
The headquarters of theGrenztruppen der DDR was located atBestensee-Pätz (a small village southeast ofBerlin in the present-day state ofBrandenburg), nearKönigs Wusterhausen.
TheGrenzkommando Nord (GKN) [Border Command North], with headquarters atStendal (in the present-day state ofSaxony-Anhalt) was responsible for the northern sector of the East German border. The GKN consisted of five frontier troopsregiments, two training regiments, a helicopterflight and some smaller support units. TheGrenzregiment 25 "Neithardt von Gneisenau" was disbanded in August 1983 and its units dispersed among the other border regiments of the command.
TheGrenzkommando Süd (GKS) [Border Command South], with headquarters atErfurt, guarded the southern border sector. The organizational structure of the GKS was similar to that of the GKN, with six frontier troops regiments, two training regiments, a helicopter flight and some smaller support units.
TheGrenzkommando Mitte (GKM) [Border Command Center], with headquarters at Berlin-Karlshorst, manned the crossing points into West Berlin and guarded the entire border perimeter surrounding West Berlin. The GKM consisted of six frontier troops regiments, two training regiments and some smaller support units. Unlike the Border Commands North and South, which fielded border regimens in full-sized border battalions, the border regiments of the Border Command Center were of reduced strength. They had the same complement of combat support and combat service support units, but the border guards were organized in companies directly subordinated to the regiments. A Border-crossing Security Regiment (theGÜST Sicherungsregiment SiR-26 "Walter Husemann") was disbanded in 1985 and its forces dispersed among the border regiments, as the centralized location made the deployment of security details through the city to the various border crossings around West Berlin difficult. An artillery regiment (theArtillerieregiment AR-26 "Otto Nelte") was formed on March 17, 1971, with the mission to provide artillery support in case a war erupts and the GDR launches an offensive operation to capture West Berlin. It was put under Border Troops command to circumvent the restrictions for military forces in both parts of Berlin and was a source of constant tension between the GDR and its Soviet ally on one hand and West Germany and its western allies on the other. In the final years of its existence the German Democratic Republic sought warming up of its relationship with the Federal Republic of Germany and as one of the signs of goodwill the regiment was transferred to theLand Forces of the National People's Army on November 1, 1985 (becoming theArtillerieregiment-40) and directly subordinated to the Chief of Artillery and Rocket Forces.
TheBorder Brigade to theCzechoslovak People's Republic "Walter Breit" (Grenzbrigade zur CSSR "Walter Breit" (GBr CSSR)) with headquarters atPirna was responsible for the security of the border with Czechoslovakia. It consisted of six battalion-sized units called Border Subsections (Grenzunterabschnitt).
TheBorder Brigade to thePolish People's Republic "Hermann Gartmann" (Grenzbrigade zur VR Polen "Hermann Gartmann" (GBr VRP)) with headquarters at covered the Polish border. It consisted of six battalion-sized units called Border Subsections (Grenzunterabschnitt).
The security of the Baltic coast was within the responsibilities of theVolksmarine. For that reason the 6th Border Brigade Coast"Fiete Schulze" (6. Grenzbrigade Küste "Fiete Schulze", headquartered in Rostock), while administratively part of the Border Troops was operationally subordinated to the naval headquarters atRostock. The Naval Command had an integral staff division, tasked with thecommand-and-control of the brigade. The 6th Border Brigade Coast consisted of twelvemarinebattalions and several boat battalions and companies to guard the GDR's relatively smallcoastline along theBaltic Sea.
In accordance with a June 1989 decision of theNational Defence Council of the GDR, theGrenztruppen der DDR were extensively reorganized, as of 30 November 1989. The personnel strength was reduced by approximately 17%, while the number of headquarters units was reduced from 50 to 24.
In the place of the previous command structure, six border district commands(Grenzbezirkskommandos), 16 border county commands(Grenzkreiskommandos) and two border training centers(Grenzausbildungszentren) were created. TheGrenzbezirkskommandos reported to the national headquarters.
13 Jul 1948-11 Oct 1949: Controlled by the DVdI
12 Oct 1949–1952: Controlled by the MdI
1952-16 Jun 1953: Controlled by the MfS
17 June 1953 – 1955: Controlled by the MdI
1955-28 Feb 1957: Controlled by the MfS
1 Mar 1957-14 Sep 1961: Controlled by the MdI
Sep 1961 -1973: Controlled by the NVA, theGrenzpolizei were reorganized as theKommando der Grenztruppen (KdoGT) der NVA and were moved from the GDR MdI to the GDR Ministry of National Defence (MfNV).
1973 – 1990: Controlled directly by the MfNV. Renamed theGrenztruppen der DDR
1990 – 1994: Controlled by theBundeswehr. The border guards' numbers were rapidly reduced. Half were dismissed within five months of the opening of the border.[1] The border was abandoned and theGrenztruppen were officially abolished on 1 July 1990;[2] all but 2,000 of them were dismissed or transferred to other jobs. TheBundeswehr gave the remaining border guards and other ex-NVA soldiers the task of clearing the border fortifications, which was only completed in 1994. The scale of the task was immense, as not only did the fortifications have to be cleared but hundreds of roads and railway lines had to be rebuilt.[3]
Training forGrenztruppen soldiers was provided by the four training regiments; after the reorganization of 30 November 1989 (see below), the four regiments were consolidated into two training centers. Training fornoncommissioned officers was held at theUnteroffiziersschule der Grenztruppen der DDR "Egon Schultz" inPerleberg. Training for dog handlers was conducted inWilhelmshorst.Grenztruppenofficers and officer candidates were trained at theOffiziershochschule der Grenztruppen der DDR "Rosa Luxemburg" inSuhl (previously located inPlauen).
Border Troop regiments were trained similar to regularinfantry, but were much more lightly equipped than comparable NVA infantry formations, with the heaviest weapon being theRPG-7grenade launcher. To increase their capability to search for persons attempting to flee the GDR, most units hadGerman Shepherd dogs. A regiment consisted of around 1,500 men divided into threebattalions of fourcompanies each. These regiments also had an anti-tankbattery, amortar battery and an engineer company.
Units of theGrenzkommando Mitte were mechanised, withPSzH-IV andFUG armoured vehicles.
The firearms utilized were theMakarov PM as the standard sidearm, MPi-K Rifle (an East German copy of theAK-47),RPK andRPD to name the most utilized weapons by theGrenztruppen. It has also been documented that theRPG-7 andPKM were also used in certain situations if needed.
Undoubtedly the most controversial aspect surrounding theGrenztruppen der DDR concerns those who were killed or wounded while attempting to flee East Germany into the West. Even today, the topic of the "shoot-to-kill order"(Schießbefehl) is quite sensitive in Germany, East and West. According to information released by the "Working Group 13th of August" (Arbeitsgemeinschaft 13. August e.V.)[4] on 13 August 2004, 1,065 persons were killed along the GDR's frontiers and coastline, including 37Grenztruppen soldiers killed during escape attempts. Many more were wounded.
The Berlin Public Prosecution Department estimates that about 270 'proven' deaths on the border were due to acts of violence by GDR border security guards, including deaths caused by mines and automatic firing devices. However, theZentrale Ermittlungsstelle für Regierungs- und Vereinigungskriminalität [de] (ZERV), which existed from 1991 to 2000 as a branch of the Berlin Police, registered 421 suspected cases of killings by armed GDR border guards.[5]
29Grenztruppen died in the line of duty. The first three deaths occurred at the time of the Soviet occupation zone, after the founding of the German Democratic Republic in October 1949 until its end of 1990 were a further 26 border policemen and border soldiers were killed. Of these 29, 20 died on the inner German border, eight at the Berlin Wall and one on the border with Czechoslovakia.
A 2017 study by the Free University of Berlin recorded 24 border guards being killed: nine were shot by people fleeing East Germany, eight in "friendly fire" incidents, three by civilians, three by US patrols and one by a West German border guard.[6]
The list of names of the deceased are below. Only occasional light on the cause of death and killers if known is shed.
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