Marshal of the German Democratic Republic (german: Marschall der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik), was the highest rank in the
National People's Army of the former
German Democratic Republic (GDR). It was never held and was abolished in 1989.
History
The rank of was established on 25 March 1982 by decree of the (
State Council State Council may refer to:
Government
* State Council of the Republic of Korea, the national cabinet of South Korea, headed by the President
* State Council of the People's Republic of China, the national cabinet and chief administrative autho ...
of the GDR), but never bestowed. The could promote a general to this rank for exceptional military achievement. The rank was an imitation of the supreme
Soviet rank, that of
Marshal of the Soviet Union.
Some believe that this rank would only have been granted in wartime and was created as a result of changes in
Warsaw Pact military planning. During wartime, a was to command an operational
Army group
An army group is a military organization consisting of several field armies, which is self-sufficient for indefinite periods. It is usually responsible for a particular geographic area. An army group is the largest field organization handled by ...
that included all East German forces including
Police and
Stasi
The Ministry for State Security, commonly known as the (),An abbreviation of . was the Intelligence agency, state security service of the East Germany from 1950 to 1990.
The Stasi's function was similar to the KGB, serving as a means of maint ...
troops. Prior to this change all East German forces were under the direct control of the Soviet military command.
In November 1989, the acting
Minister for National Defense, Admiral
Theodor Hoffmann, abolished this rank.
Design
Several designs were considered for the Marshal shoulder board. The final design was a shoulder board 118 mm long and 48 mm wide consisting of interlaced gold and silver cord backed by a red cloth material on which was placed a five-pointed, gilded star with a red ruby in the center. According to Klaus Wather's , 12 pairs of these shoulder boards were made.
Drawings were also made of a Soviet-style "Marshal's star" to be worn on a red neck ribbon but this item was never produced.
Also planned were Marshal rank insignia for the new field uniform. This consisted of a 90 x 60 mm rectangular badge of stone-grey cloth for mounting on the upper uniform sleeve. On this badge was woven a large five-pointed gold colored star with a red center over a 20 mm long horizontal gold bar. For the cap there was an oval badge 50 × 30 mm with the same design as the sleeve insignia.
OF-11 Marschall der DDR.png, Shoulder board
GDR Army Arab OF6-9.svg, Collar patches
Marschall-hat.jpg, Field uniform cap insignia
See also
*
Ranks of the National People's Army
*
Corps colours (NPA)
References
* Klaus H. Feder: ''Marschall der DDR – ein Dienstgrad, den keiner erreichte.'' Militaria, 5/2002
* Klaus Wather: ''Uniformeffekten der bewaffneten Organe der DDR Band II.'' Ecotour, 1994
{{Highest Military Ranks
*
Military ranks of Germany
Military of East Germany
1982 establishments in East Germany
1989 disestablishments in East Germany