The Ministry of National Defense was the chief administrative arm of the East German National People's Army. The MND was modeled on the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union. The headquarters of the Ministry was in Strausberg near East Berlin. The Guard Regiment Hugo Eberlein provided security and guard services to the Ministry. The Ministry also had its own publishing house,Military publishing house of the German Democratic Republic.
Wolfgang Thonke,was a journalist,graduated military scientist,major general,and was the last Deputy Commanding General (A3) of the National People's Army Air Force in the former German Democratic Republic. He was a military aviator/fighter pilot of “performance level I”with more than 1,500 flight hours.
Günter Voigt,is a military scientist and retired major general,whose last assignment was as Deputy Commander in Chief and Chief of Staff of the Air Forces of the National People's Army in the former East Germany.
Rudolf Dölling was a politician in Czechoslovakia and in East Germany. He later trained for military service and was made a Major-General in the National People's Army of East Germany.
Horst Brünner (1929–2008) was deputy Defense Minister in the East German Council of Ministers and chief of the Central Political Administration of the National People's Army.
Herbert Scheibe was an East German Generaloberst and,between 1967 and 1972,Commanding general of the country's Airforce.
Roland Bauer was a German politician and history academic in the German Democratic Republic.
Arthur Franke was a leading political policeman in East Germany;he became a military officer when the country's army was established in 1956. Three years later he became Chief of Military intelligence of the National People's Army,ending up,in 1974,with the rank of Lieutenant general.
Kurt Hermann Ernst Paul Krüger was an East German politician and diplomat whose career was crowned with an appointment,in 1982,as his country's ambassador to Kabul.
Kurt Wagner was a German soldier and politician who between 1959 and 1967 served as the German Democratic Republic's Deputy Defence Minister.
Karl Linke was an officer in the East German army. Between 1952 and 1957 he was head of the country's Military Intelligence service.
Hermann Weber was a German historian and political scientist. He has been described as "the man who knew everything about the German Democratic Republic".
Konrad Naumann was an East German politician. He built his career;initially,in regional politics,but between 1966 and 1986 he was important nationally as a member of the Central Committee of the country's ruling SED (party). At times,Naumann was the unofficial number two to General Secretary Erich Honecker and seen as his potential successor.
Wolfgang Rauchfuß was a member of the Politburo of East Germany's ruling SED (party). He was also a government minister and deputy chairman of the country's Ministerial Council.
Hans-Joachim "Jochen" Willerding is a former politician (SED) of the German Democratic Republic.
Klaus Wiegand was a major general in the East German People's Army. Between 1987 and 1990 he was in charge of "Military District III" of the German Democratic Republic,headquartered in Leipzig.
Michael Schumann was a German philosophy professor who became an East German advocate for reform and a politician during the build-up to German reunification. He is widely seen as a pioneer of the Party of Democratic Socialism which superseded the Socialist Unity Party in the German Democratic Republic in 1989/90.
Heinrich Dollwetzel was a Major general in East Germany's National People's Army. Prior to the army's foundation,he held several successive high ranks in the country's Kasernierte Volkspolizei.
Horst Stechbarth was an East German politician and high-ranking military officer in the National People's Army,holding the rank of Generaloberst. He was the Chief of the NVA's Landstreitkräfte and the ex officio Deputy Minister of Defense of the GDR. He was also a member of the Politbüro of the Central Committee of the ruling Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED).
Hermann Matern was a German communist politician (KPD) and high ranking functionary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany and statesman in the German Democratic Republic.
Nazi Germany (1941-1945)
East Germany (1952-1989)