The Kasernierte Volkspolizei ( en, Barracked People's Police) was the precursor to the

National People's Army The National People's Army (german: Nationale Volksarmee, ; NVA ) were the armed forces of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1956 to 1990. The NVA was organized into four branches: the (Ground Forces), the (Navy), the (Air Force) an ...

(NVA) in

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

. Their original headquarters was in

Adlershof Adlershof (, literally "Eagle's Court") is a locality (') in the borough (') Treptow-Köpenick of Berlin, Germany. Adlershof is home to the new City of Science, Technology and Media ( WISTA), located on the southwestern edge of the locality. Hist ...

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivis ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, and from 1954 in

Strausberg Strausberg () is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, located 30 km east of Berlin. With a population of about 27,000 it is the largest town in the district of Märkisch-Oderland. History Strausberg was founded ''circa'' 1240, and in 1333 its firs ...

in modern-day

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...

. They ceased to exist after 1956, having been transformed into the NVA, but are often confused with the later paramilitary police units, the

Volkspolizei-Bereitschaft The ''Volkspolizei-Bereitschaften'' (VPB, German for "People's Police Alert Units") were paramilitary police units of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1955 to 1990. The VPB were barracked units of the ''Volkspolizei'' for ...

. The KVP was tasked with internal security operations since at the time, the

Group of Soviet Forces in Germany The Western Group of Forces (WGF),. previously known as the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany (GSOFG). and the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (GSFG),. were the troops of the Soviet Army in East Germany. The Group of Soviet Occupati ...

was still mandated to provide external defenses for East Germany.

History

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-19400-0127, Berlin, Mai-Demonstration auf dem Marx-Engels-Platz, KVP

In October 1948, the

Soviet Military Administration in Germany The Soviet Military Administration in Germany (russian: Советская военная администрация в Германии, СВАГ; ''Sovyetskaya Voyennaya Administratsiya v Germanii'', SVAG; german: Sowjetische Militäradministrat ...

formed the ''Alert Police'' (''Bereitschaftspolizei''), a force of armed units housed in barracks and trained in military fashion. The force consisted of forty units with 100–250 men each, the units being subordinated to provincial authorities. Many of the officers and men were recruited from among German

POW A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war ...

s held in the Soviet Union. In November 1948, the German Interior Administration (''Deutschen Verwaltung des Innern'', DVdI) took responsibility over the force (and the border troops) and included them in section named ''Hauptabteilung Grenzpolizei und Bereitschaften'' (HA GP/B). By the end of 1948, the force grew to 10,000 men. The section was renamed to ''Verwaltung für Schulung'' (VfS) on 25 August 1949 to ''Hauptverwaltung für Ausbildung'' (HVA) on 15 October 1949 and to ''Kasernierte Volkspolizei'' (KVP) on 1 June 1952. In December 1952, KVP membership had grown to 90,250. The ruling

Socialist Unity Party of Germany The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (german: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, ; SED, ), often known in English as the East German Communist Party, was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR; East German ...

and Soviet officers exercised strict ideological control over the force. In the same year, sea and air units were also included. On 1 March 1956, the KVP units were transformed into the newly established army of East Germany, the NVA, and transferred to the Ministry of National Defence. Soon afterwards, the Ministry of Internal Affairs again formed its own paramilitary forcethe ''Volkspolizei-Bereitschaften''. These were again armed as motorised infantry, with anti-tank weapons and so on, but were primarily employed on internal security and public order duties.

References

{{Authority control Military of East Germany 1948 establishments in Germany National People's Army Military units and formations established in 1948

History

See also

References