Horst Stechbarth (13 April 1925 – 8 June 2016) was an East German politician and high-ranking military officer in the National People's Army (''Nationale Volksarmee''), holding the rank of '' Generaloberst'' (Colonel General). He was the Chief of the NVA's Landstreitkräfte and the ''

ex officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by right ...

'' Deputy Minister of Defense of the GDR. He was also a member of the ''

Politbüro A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contraction ...

'' of the

Central Committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...

of the ruling Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED).

Early life and career

The son of a farmer, he was born in on 13 April 1925 in Tzschecheln, Lower Lusatia, (now Dębinka, Poland). An agricultural assistant by profession, he worked on a farm from 1939 to 1943. He was drafted in 1943 to the Reich Labour Service and joined the Nazi Party the same year. From 1943 to 1945, he was a Panzergrenadier in the 3rd Panzer Division of the Wehrmacht. He served as a sergeant and was a Prisoner of war in the Soviet Union from 1945 to 1948. After his return from captivity he worked on a farm. On 1 March 1949, Stehbarth entered the "Department of the Border Troops" and in the same year he joined the

Free German Youth The Free German Youth (german: Freie Deutsche Jugend; FDJ) is a youth movement in Germany. Formerly, it was the official youth movement of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and the Socialist Unity Party of Germany. The organization was meant ...

, became a member of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) by 1951. From 1959 to 1961, Stechbarth studied at the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR. As a Major General he headed the 5th Military District in Neubrandenburg from 1964 to 1967. In 1972, Stechbarth was promoted to Chief of the Land Forces of the NVA. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the NVA on 1 March 1976, he was promoted to

Colonel General Colonel general is a three- or four-star military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, and was a ra ...

and was appointed to the Central Committee of the SED. On 31 December 1989, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Stechbarth retired, following his allies

Wolfgang Reinhold Wolfgang Reinhold (16 April 1923 - 2 September 2012) was a German Colonel General. He was a Deputy Minister of Defence and, between 1972 and 1989, head of the Kommando LSK/LV (Airforce branch) of the National People's Army in the German Democr ...

and

Horst Brünner Horst Brünner (1929–2008) was deputy Defense Minister in the East Germany, East German Council of Ministers of the GDR, Council of Ministers and chief of the Central Political Administration of the National People's Army. Life The son o ...

. Just weeks earlier, Stechbarth commanded the Republic Day military parade on Karl Marx Allee celebrating the ruby jubilee of the GDR, held in front of National Defense Council Chairman Erich Honecker and Soviet Chairman

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

Later life

He died on 8 June 2016 in his home town of

Schwielowsee Schwielowsee () is a lake in the state of Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated to the south and west of the city of Potsdam. The villages of Caputh, Ferch and Geltow, on the banks of the lake, form the municipality of Schwielowsee. The lake i ...

, a municipality in Brandenburg.''200 Trauergäste in Stahnsdorf'', in: Märkische Allgemeine, 24. Juni 2016, Seite 28

Awards

* Patriotic Order of Merit Silver (1969) * Patriotic Order of Merit Gold (1976) * Patriotic Order of Merit of the NVA (1979) * Scharnhorst Order (1981) * Order of Karl Marx (1984)

Citations

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stechbarth, Horst 1925 births 2016 deaths Recipients of the Scharnhorst Order People from Żary County People from the Province of Brandenburg Colonel generals of the National People's Army (Ground Forces) Members of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany Nazi Party members Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union alumni Reich Labour Service members German Army soldiers of World War II German prisoners of war in World War II held by the Soviet Union