Inspector General of the Bundeswehr
The Inspector General of the Bundeswehr (German: Generalinspekteur der Bundeswehr, GenInspBw), also translated as Chief of Staff of the Federal Armed Forces, is the highest-ranking military post held by a commissioned officer in the Bundeswehr, the present-day armed forces of Germany.
All Inspectors General have been of the rank of a (four-star) general or admiral, and they head the Führungsstab der Streitkräfte, the German Defence Staff within the Federal Ministry of Defence, and is the direct military advisor to the Federal Minister of Defence who is the peacetime holder of the supreme command authority (German: Inhaber der Befehls- und Kommandogewalt).
Subordinate to the Inspector General are the commanders of the branches of the Bundeswehr, the Inspector of the Army, Inspector of the Air Force, and Inspector of the Navy, and the commanders of the Joint Support Service and Joint Medical Service.
Title and translations
While official translations of the position include "Chief of Staff" and variations of this term, the German term "Generalinspekteur" – "Inspector General" – was specifically created to avoid the term of "Generalstabschef" ("Chief of General Staff") deemed historically compromised. When the Bundeswehr was created in 1955, many traditional military terms were considered inappropriate after the German Wehrmacht's conduct in World War II. Therefore, Federal German Bundeswehr has no "General Staff", but the "Army Command" ("Kommando Heer").
List of officeholders
| No. | Portrait | Name | Branch | Term began | Term ended | Minister |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | General Adolf Heusinger (1897–1982) | Army | 1 June 1957 | 31 March 1961 | Franz Josef Strauß |
| 2 |  | General Friedrich Foertsch (1900–1976) | Army | 1 April 1961 | 31 December 1963 | Franz Josef Strauß Kai-Uwe von Hassel |
| 3 |  | General Heinz Trettner (1907–2006) | Army | 1 January 1964 | 25 August 1966 | Kai-Uwe von Hassel |
| 4 |  | General Ulrich de Maizière (1912–2006) | Army | 25 August 1966 | 31 March 1972 | Kai-Uwe von Hassel Gerhard Schröder Helmut Schmidt |
| 5 |  | Admiral Armin Zimmermann (1917–1976) | Navy | 1 April 1972 | 30 November 1976 | Georg Leber |
| 6 |  | General Harald Wust (1921–2010) | Air Force | 21 December 1976 | 11 December 1978 | Georg Leber |
| 7 |  | General Jürgen Brandt (1922–2003) | Army | 12 December 1978 | 31 March 1983 | Hans Apel Manfred Wörner |
| 8 |  | General Wolfgang Altenburg (born 1928) | Army | 1 April 1983 | 30 September 1986 | Manfred Wörner |
| 9 |  | Admiral Dieter Wellershoff (1933–2005) | Navy | 1 October 1986 | 30 September 1991 | Manfred Wörner Rupert Scholz Gerhard Stoltenberg |
| 10 |  | General Klaus Naumann (born 1939) | Army | 1 October 1991 | 8 February 1996 | Gerhard Stoltenberg Volker Rühe |
| 11 | | General Hartmut Bagger (born 1938) | Army | 8 February 1996 | 31 March 1999 | Volker Rühe Rudolf Scharping |
| 12 | | General Hans-Peter von Kirchbach (born 1941) | Army | 1 April 1999 | 30 June 2000 | Rudolf Scharping |
| 13 |  | General Harald Kujat (born 1942) | Air Force | 1 July 2000 | 30 June 2002 | Rudolf Scharping |
| 14 |  | General Wolfgang Schneiderhan (born 1946) | Army | 1 July 2002 | 26 November 2009 | Rudolf Scharping Peter Struck Franz Josef Jung Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg |
| - | | Lieutenant General Johann-Georg Dora (acting) (born 1948) | Air Force | 27 November 2009 | 21 January 2010 | Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg |
| 15 |  | General Volker Wieker (born 1954) | Army | 21 January 2010 | Incumbent | Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg Thomas de Maizière Ursula von der Leyen |
See also
- Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff - US counterpart
- Chief of the Defence Staff (France) - French counterpart
- Chief of the Defence Staff (United Kingdom) - British counterpart
- Chief of the General Staff (Russia) - Russian counterpart
External links
- List of Chiefs of Staff, Bundeswehr with personal data and photo (Official website of the Bundeswehr)
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