Admiral Rainer Feist (12 April 1945 – 19 May 2007) was an officer in the

German Navy The German Navy (, ) is the navy of Germany and part of the unified ''Bundeswehr'' (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Mari ...

until his retirement in 2004.

Military career

Feist was born in

Cuxhaven Cuxhaven (; ) is an independent town and seat of the Cuxhaven district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town includes the northernmost point of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the shore of the North Sea at the mouth of the Elbe River. Cuxhaven has ...

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

. He enlisted in the

Bundeswehr The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...

in 1966 as an officer cadet and graduated from

Naval Academy Mürwik A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It include ...

in 1968. After that he served on board

fast attack craft A fast attack craft (FAC) is a small, fast, agile, offensive, often affordable warship armed with anti-ship missiles, gun or torpedoes. FACs are usually operated in close proximity to land as they lack both the seakeeping and all-round defensive ...

and

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

s. From 1974 he was trained as an antisubmarine warfare officer, and later undertook the admiral staff course at the Bundeswehr Command and Staff College in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. In 1979 Feist became the commanding officer of the guided-missile fast attack craft ''Greif''. From then on Feist served as assistant branch chief of "Politico-Military Affairs" at the

German Ministry of Defence The Federal Ministry of Defence (german: Bundesministerium der Verteidigung, ), abbreviated BMVg, is a top-level Federal agency (Germany), federal agency, headed by the Federal Minister of Defence as a member of the Cabinet of Germany. The mini ...

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

(1981–1983) and as branch chief of "Planning" at the Allied Command Baltic Approaches (BALTAP) in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

(1984–1987). He commanded the 2nd Fast Attack Craft Squadron based in

Olpenitz Olpenitz (Danish: Olpenæs) is a part of the town Kappeln in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, at the mouth of the Schlei firth to the Baltic Sea. From 1964 until 2006, Olpenitz was the site of one of three major naval bases of the German Navy in the Ba ...

between 1987 and 1990 and was instructor at the Bundeswehr Command and Staff College, which was followed by a service run at the Armed Forces Staff, Federal Ministry of Defence in Bonn as branch chief of "Politico-Military Affairs". Further assignments led Feist to

SHAPE A shape or figure is a graphics, graphical representation of an object or its external boundary, outline, or external Surface (mathematics), surface, as opposed to other properties such as color, Surface texture, texture, or material type. A pl ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, the German Fleet Command in

Glücksburg Glücksburg (; da, Lyksborg) is a small town northeast of Flensburg in the district Schleswig-Flensburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany and is the northernmost town in Germany. It is situated on the south side of the Flensborg Fjord, an inlet ...

, and the Military District Command I,

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...

. Feist was promoted to the rank of vice admiral in October 2000, when he became vice chief of defence and commissioner for reserve affairs in the Bundeswehr. Feist was promoted to the rank of

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

(four stars) in 2002, thus becoming the highest-ranking officer in the German Navy, and he was appointed

Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe The Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) is the commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Allied Command Operations (ACO) and head of ACO's headquarters, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE). The commander is ...

(DSACEUR). He held that position until 2004. In addition, he was named operation commander for the European Union-led mission, Operation Concordia, to the

Republic of Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

in February 2003. Feist was retired from active duty by Federal Minister for Defence, Peter Struck, on 15 September 2004. A

Großer Zapfenstreich The ("Grand Tattoo", "Beating Retreat") is a military ceremony performed in Germany and Austria. It is similar to the military tattoo ceremony performed in English-speaking countries, and is the most important ceremonial act executed by the Ger ...

was held in recognition of his service. Feist died in

Timmendorfer Strand Timmendorfer Strand (Timmendorf Beach) is a municipality in the district of Ostholstein, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the Bay of Lübeck (Baltic Sea), approximately northwest of Lübeck, and southeast of Eutin. Notable Pe ...

due to cancer. He is survived by his wife Heidi and two sons.

External links

Official biographie of NATO
{{DEFAULTSORT:Feist, Rainer 1945 births 2007 deaths People from Cuxhaven Admirals of the German Navy Deaths from cancer in Germany NATO military personnel Deputy Chief of Staff of the Federal Armed Forces 21st-century German military personnel