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Wolfgang Altenburg

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German general (1928–2023)

Wolfgang Altenburg
Altenburg in 1983
Born	(1928-06-24)24 June 1928 Schneidemühl,Posen-West Prussia,Prussia,Germany (today Piła, Poland)
Died	25 January 2023(2023-01-25) (aged 94)
Allegiance	Nazi Germany West Germany
Years of service	1944–1945 1956–1989
Rank	General
Awards	Grand Cross with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Commander of the Legion of Merit (US) Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (Italy)

Wolfgang Altenburg (24 June 1928 – 25 January 2023)^[1] was a German general. He served asChief of Staff of the German armed forces, theBundeswehr, from 1983 to 1986, and asChairman of the NATO Military Committee from 1986 to 1989.^[2]

Biography

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Altenburg was born inSchneidemühl,Posen-West Prussia (today Piła, Poland) and was conscripted as aMarinehelfer (Navy aide) in 1944 serving atHeligoland. After the end ofWorld War II he completed a professional training in hotel business and volunteered for the Bundeswehr in 1956 at the Artillerytroops.^[3]

Altenburg talking to members of the Bundestag, 1983.

He transferred to Bremen-Grohn as Platoon Leader in Artillery regiment 3, 1962 becoming Battery Commander of a (nuclear) Honest John-Battery in Rocket artillery battalion 32 inDörverden.Altenburg passed his general staff training at theFührungsakademie der Bundeswehr from 1962 to 1964, was G1-Personal Staff Officer in 6. Panzer grenadier division, G3-General staff officer in the Panzerbrigade 18 and Commanding Officer of Feld artillery battalion 61 in Albersdorf. 1970–71 he was Public Affairs Officer and Personal Assistant of the Chief of Staff German Army (Inspekteur des Heeres), General lieutenant Albert Schnez. He became the Deputy Director of Nuclear Policy Section atSHAPE in October 1971, when NATO defined the 1969 established "Provisional Political Guidelines for the Tactical Defensive Use of Nuclear Weapons by NATO (PPG's)".

He returned to the GermanDepartment of Defense in 1973 as anOberst and Branch Chief Military Policy Affäirs, commanded in 1975–76 the Panzer grenadier brigade 7 (Hamburg). In April 1978 Altenburg became the Director of the Executive Staff of the Federal Forces and in 1979 the German Representative at theChairman of the NATO Military Committee inBrussels. In 1981 Altenburg took over the command of the III. Korps atKoblenz and became the Chief of staff of the Federal Forces (Generalinspekteur der Bundeswehr) in 1983, a position he held until 1986. On 1 October 1986, Altenburg became the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee himself.^[3] He retired in 1989 and served as chair at several companies. He died on 25 January 2023, at the age of 94.

References

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External links

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Military offices
Preceded by Cor de Jager	Chairman of the NATO Military Committee 1986–1989	Succeeded by Vigleik Eide
Preceded by GeneralJürgen Brandt	Chief of Staff of the Federal Armed Forces 1 April 1983 – 30 September 1986	Succeeded by AdmiralDieter Wellershoff
Preceded by GeneralleutnantPaul-Georg Kleffel	Commanding General,III Corps (Bundeswehr) 1 October 1968 – 30 September 1972	Succeeded by GeneralleutnantHans-Joachim Mack

v t e Inspectors general of theBundeswehr
Adolf Heusinger Friedrich Foertsch Heinrich Trettner Ulrich de Maizière Armin Zimmermann Harald Wust Jürgen Brandt Wolfgang Altenburg Dieter Wellershoff Klaus Naumann Hartmut Bagger Hans-Peter von Kirchbach Harald Kujat Wolfgang Schneiderhan Volker Wieker Eberhard Zorn Carsten Breuer

v t e Chair of the NATO Military Committee
1949–1951Omar Bradley 1951–1952Etienne Baele 1952–1953Charles Foulkes 1953–1954E. J. C. Quistgaard 1954–1955Augustin Guillaume 1955–1956Stylianos Pallis 1956–1957Giuseppe Mancinelli 1957–1958B. R. P. F. Hasselman 1958–1959Bjarne Øen 1959–1960J. A. Beleza Ferraz 1960Rüştü Erdelhun 1960–1961Louis Mountbatten 1961–1962Lyman Lemnitzer 1962–1963C. P. de Cumont 1963–1964Adolf Heusinger 1964–1968C. P. de Cumont 1968–1971Nigel Henderson 1971–1974Johannes Steinhoff 1974–1977Peter Hill-Norton 1977–1980H. F. Zeiner-Gundersen 1980–1983Robert Hilborn Falls 1983–1986Cornelis de Jager 1986–1989Wolfgang Altenburg 1989–1993Vigleik Eide 1993–1996Richard Vincent 1996–1999Klaus Naumann 1999–2002Guido Venturoni 2002–2005Harald Kujat 2005–2008Ray Henault 2008–2011Giampaolo Di Paola 2011–2015Knud Bartels 2015–2018Petr Pavel 2018–2021Stuart Peach 2021–Rob Bauer

Chair of the NATO Military Committee