The ''Deutsche Volkspolizei'' (DVP,
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
for "German People's Police"), commonly known as the ''Volkspolizei'' or VoPo, was the national
police force of the
German Democratic Republic
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
(East Germany) from 1945 to 1990. The Volkspolizei was a highly-
centralized
Centralisation or centralization (see spelling differences) is the process by which the activities of an organisation, particularly those regarding planning and decision-making, framing strategy and policies become concentrated within a partic ...
agency responsible for most civilian
law enforcement
Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term ...
in East Germany, maintaining 257,500 personnel at its peak.
History
The ''Volkspolizei'' was effectively founded in June 1945 when 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 ...
(SVAG) established central police forces in the regions of
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
it occupied following after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
.
[Thomas Lindenberger, ‘The German People's Police (1945 - 1990)’, in Hans Ehlert and Rüdiger Wenzke (ed.) ‘In the service of the party - Handbook of Armed Organs of the GDR’ (Berlin, 1998) pp. 98-100]
The SVAG approved the arming of
community
A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, villag ...
-level police forces on 31 October 1945, but nevertheless remained a non-militarised force, and by 1946 the ''Volkspolizei'' comprised some 22,000 personnel.
The police force experienced several challenges at this time: the proportion of non-trained personnel between 65 and 95% undermined its professionalism and
turnover
Turnover or turn over may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
*''Turn Over'', a 1988 live album by Japanese band Show-Ya
* Turnover (band), an American rock band
*"Turnover", a song on Fugazi's 1990 album '' Repeater''
*''Turnover'', a Japane ...
rates of personnel were initially as high as 50%, affecting the stability of the workforce. By 1948, ''Volkspolizei'' membership had increased to approximately 65,000, but there were still issues of political unreliability and insufficient professional
aptitude, which prompted a purge of 10,000 from the force in 1949; as a consequence, 86% of its membership were now members of 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 Germ ...
.
It was formally referred to as the ''Deutsche Volkspolizei'' ("German People's Police") from May 1949 onward, three months before the GDR's founding.
Organization
Main administration
With the founding of the GDR in 1949, the Volkspolizei was subordinated to the Ministry of the Interior. The Volkspolizei was divided into various individual branches and specialised forces:
[Mary Fulbrook, 'Anatomy of a Dictatorship: Inside the GDR 1949-1989' (Oxford, 1995) pp. 46]
* Criminal Investigation Department (''Hauptabteilung
Kriminalpolizei'')
* Railway Police Department (''Hauptabteilung
Transportpolizei'')
* Registration Department (''Hauptabteilung Pass- und Meldewesen'')
* Traffic Police Department (''Hauptabteilung
Verkehrspolizei'')
* Uniformed Police Department (''Hauptabteilung
Schutzpolizei'')
* Fire Department (''Hauptabteilung
Feuerwehr'')
In addition to these units, the Volkspolizei also comprised the paramilitary
Kasernierte Volkspolizei (KVP, people's police in barracks), from which the
National People's Army (NVA) was formed in 1956.
Following this, the
Volkspolizei-Bereitschaft became the main paramilitary riot and anti-insurgency unit in the GDR.
Regional commands
*
Berlin
Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...
Presidium
A presidium or praesidium is a council of executive officers in some political deliberative assembly, assemblies that collectively administers its business, either alongside an individual President (government title), president or in place of one ...
of the People's Police (''Präsidium der Volkspolizei'')
** Eight police
inspectorates (''Volkspolizei-Inspektionen'')
**
River Police Inspectorate (''Wasserschutzpolizei-Inspektion'')
* Fourteen district commands—one per
East German District, excluding
Karl Marx Stadt.
* Area Command of the Volkpolizei in Karl-Marx-Stadt (today
Chemnitz) to protect the state enterprise of
Wismut AG
SAG/SDAG Wismut was a uranium mining company in East Germany during the time of the Cold War. It produced a total of 230,400 tonnes of uranium between 1947 and 1990 and made East Germany the fourth largest producer of uranium ore in the world ...
.
Leadership
; Minister of the Interior (''Minister des Innern'')
*
Karl Steinhoff
Karl Steinhoff (November 24, 1892 – July 19, 1981) was a Minister-president (''Ministerpräsident'') of the German state (''Land'') of Brandenburg, then part of East Germany, and later served as East Germany's Minister of the Interior.
Biog ...
(1949–52)
*
Willi Stoph
Wilhelm Stoph (9 July 1914 – 13 April 1999) was a German politician. He served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1964 to 1973, and again from 1976 until 1989. H ...
(1952–55)
; Chief of the German Volkpolizei (''Chef der deutschen Volkspolizei'')
*
Kurt Fischer Kurt Fischer is the name of:
* Kurt Fischer (politician) (1900–1950), German politician
* Kurt Joachim Fischer (1911–1979), German journalist, film critic, and screenwriter
* Kurt Rudolf Fischer (1922–2014), Jewish-Austrian philosopher
* Kur ...
(1949–50)
*
Karl Maron (1950–55)
[
; Minister of the Interior and Head of the German People's Police (''Minister des Innern und Chef der deutschen Volkspolizei'')
* Karl Maron (1955–63)
* Friedrich Dickel (1963–1989)
* Lothar Ahrendt (1989)
]
Function and effectiveness
The function of the Volkspolzei changed over time. During the late 1940s and early 1950s, the Volkspolizei can be regarded as the nucleus of all other armed state institutions of the GDR
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 ...
.[Thomas Lindenberger, 'Creating State Socialist Governance', in Konrad Hugo Jarausch (ed.) 'Dictatorship as Experience: Towards a Socio-Cultural History of the ]GDR
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 ...
' (Oxford, 1999) pp. 127-128 It was the first institution of the East German state, from which other organisations such as the Stasi and the National People's Army originated, both at the institutional and personnel level. Over time, however, it increasingly became but one agency within the GDR
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 ...
's extensive security bureaucracy.
In terms of general policing duties, the Volkspolizei dealt with criminal activity as conventionally understood, such as theft, murder, and so on, but also performed duties including border protection, passport and identity controls, transport control, and the protection of sensitive buildings and areas, each of which were carried out by specialised departments. A critical part of the Volkspolizei was its grass-roots policing, introduced from 1952, whereby every GDR
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 ...
citizen had their own "section commissioner" (Abschnittsbevollmächtigte, ABV). Within their section, the ABV was responsible for all policing affairs regardless of branch or speciality in that area; in total, approximately 5,000 ABV positions were created all over the republic in order to cover an average of 4,000 inhabitants per section. Following the Uprising of 1953 in East Germany
The East German uprising of 1953 (german: Volksaufstand vom 17. Juni 1953 ) was an uprising that occurred in East Germany from 16 to 17 June 1953. It began with a strike action by construction workers in East Berlin on 16 June against ...
, the number of sections and ABVs almost doubled. The purpose of the ABV was to establish and cultivate a "close connection" with their section's population, in order to fulfil conventional policing duties, as well as enable the party to penetrate society at the very moment of the construction of socialism through state power.
Police functions were also extended beyond the official, paid forces through organisations such as Combat Groups of the Working Class (Kampfgruppen der Arbeiterklasse, KdA), organised units within factories and workplaces numbering around 400,000.
The effectiveness of the Volkspolizei was questioned following the Uprising of 1953. The leaders of the SED and the Volkspolizei interpreted the response by the GDR
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 ...
's security apparatus as a debacle. Police stations and court houses were attacked, and throughout the disturbances sections of the Volkspolizei were effectively paralysed, with some personnel even joining the protesters. A central party report on 18 June 1953 concluded that: "A stop must be put to the general phenomenon on June 17, that people merely observed, withdrew, or allowed themselves to be ignored or disarmed." This failure by Volkspolizei personnel to engage in confrontation was another serious concern.
In response to the failings of the police response greater coordination between the Stasi, the Volkspolizei and the National People's Army was implemented.[Mary Fulbrook, 'Anatomy of a Dictatorship: Inside the ]GDR
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 ...
1949-1989' (Oxford, 1995) pp. 53 All three organisations cooperated under the local, regional, and central leaderships of the party, under the overall control of the National Defence Council. The failure by different agencies to cooperate was believed to have been partly responsible for the escalation of the June Uprising. In response, therefore, more effective coordination was instituted to ensure the rapid suppression of potential unrest and in moments of crisis, such as during August 1961 and August 1968. The efficiency of these forces and the close cooperation between state and party organs was a key factor in maintaining the outward semblance of stability from 1953 to 1989.
Membership
Recruitment and training
Recruitment to the Volkspolizei required at least ten years of education, vocational training (see education in East Germany), military service, and a history of political loyalty.
Upon joining, a recruit would take a five-month course at the Police Academy (''VP-Schule''). The schedule contained political education, police law, criminal law and procedures, and military-style fitness training. Afterwards the recruit completed a 6-month practical internship
An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and gover ...
.
The reasons Volkspolizei officers gave for joining the force were a desire to work with people, idealism
In philosophy, the term idealism identifies and describes metaphysics, metaphysical perspectives which assert that reality is indistinguishable and inseparable from perception and understanding; that reality is a mental construct closely con ...
, family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
tradition, belief in the system and the wish to serve one's country.
From 1962, the Volkspolizei had its own school in Berlin-Biesdorf which trained around 3,500 officers up to 1989. There were several other schools. The ''Kasernierten Einheiten'' (barracks units) had their own training facilities. Officers were initially trained in the army ground forces, from 1963 at the Officers' school and from 1971 to the officers' school in Dresden-Wilder Mann.
* Fachschule des MdI "Heinrich Rau" - College of MdI "Heinrich Rau", Radebeul
* Fachschule des MdI, „ Wilhelm Pieck “ - College of the MdI, "Wilhelm Pieck", Aschersleben
* Hochschule der VP — University of the VP, Berlin-Biesdorf (Cecilienstraße)
* Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin /Sektion Kriminalistik — Humboldt University Berlin / Criminalistics Section
* Offiziershochschule Bereitschaften "Artur Becker", Dresden (Officer school for standby units, "Artur Becker", Dresden (now the headquarters of the State Criminal Office Saxony)
* Schule für Abschnittsbevollmächtigte (school for the section represented), Wolfen
* Schule des Nachrichtenwesens (School of Communication), Dommitzsch
* Spezialschule des MdI für Diensthundewesen — Special School for service dogs, Pretzsch (Elbe)
* Spezialschule des MdI für medizinische Dienste (im Bezirk Magdeburg ) - Special School of medical services (in the district of Magdeburg)
* Transportpolizei-Schule (Transport Police School), Halle (Saale)
Halle (Saale), or simply Halle (; from the 15th to the 17th century: ''Hall in Sachsen''; until the beginning of the 20th century: ''Halle an der Saale'' ; from 1965 to 1995: ''Halle/Saale'') is the largest city of the German state of Saxony-An ...
* Verkehrspolizei-Schule "Hans Beimler" (Traffic Police School), Magdeburg
Magdeburg (; nds, label= Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river.
Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Mag ...
* VP-Schule "Ernst Thälmann", Neustrelitz (since 1984 central service similar school)
The Volkspolizei had approximately 80,000 full-time police officers and 177,500 volunteers.
With the accession of East Germany to the Federal Republic
A federal republic is a federation of Federated state, states with a republican form of government. At its core, the literal meaning of the word republic when used to reference a form of government means: "a country that is governed by elected r ...
on 3 October 1990, authority over the police went to the newly created federal jurisdiction. About forty percent of the Volkspolizei employees had to leave the service.
Oath
The official oath that all Volkspolizei officers swore was:[ Die Deutsche Volkspolizei (DVP)]
Uniforms
With the exception of the , whose grey-green uniforms follow the style of the East German 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) a ...
( - NVA), all services wore the same basic uniform adopted in 1956 when it was officially established. There were various kinds of uniforms, worn according to the work or social situation and differing in material for summer or winter wear. Most uniforms — service, semi-dress, and parade — are gray-green but the transport police wore dark blue. The better quality and texture of the cloth in officers' uniforms distinguished them from the uniforms of enlisted personnel. The field and service uniforms became normal attire in garrison and for most other duty activities.
The basic categories of uniforms were field, service, semi-dress, and parade.
Field uniforms () were for only the Kasernierte Volkspolizei. The field uniform consisted of the NVA's service uniform. The uniform was worn with a field cap, service cap, or steel helmet; high black boots; and a leather belt with vertical web shoulder suspenders. In the winter, a quilted stone-grey padded suit without a camouflage pattern is worn over the service uniform. The winter uniform also includes a fur pile cap or a steel helmet, boots, knitted grey gloves, belt, and suspenders.
The service uniform () was a summer service uniform for officers with a bloused jacket, worn without a shirt, trousers, and a visored service cap. The winter service uniform featured a jacket had four large patch pockets with button-down tabs, worn with a black belt, the service cap, breeches, shirt, tie, belt, and high boots are provided for officers and NCOs. For winter, there also is a long, heavy, belted overcoat.
The semi-dress uniform (), except in details, was the same for all ranks and was worn on off-duty or off-post occasions. It included the service cap, jacket, long trousers, and black low-quarter shoes. The single-breasted jacket was worn without a belt, with a white or grey-green shirt and a green tie. Officers were allowed to wear the jacket with a white shirt. During periods of warm summer weather, either the shirt and tie or the jacket may be omitted. For a while a double-breasted jacket could be worn as optional wear by officers and warrant officers.
The parade uniform () for officers was the semi-dress jacket worn with all awards and decorations, breeches and riding boots, steel helmet or police shako () from 1950 to the late 1960s, white shirt, green neck-tie, and a ceremonial dagger on the left side, fastened to a silver-grey parade belt. Officers in guards of honour carry sabres. In winter, overcoat, scarf, and gloves were worn.
The type of work uniform () worn was governed by seasonal considerations and weather. Generally, reconditioned items of service clothing; field, semi-dress and winter padded uniforms; some dyed black, were issued for all types of fatigue and maintenance details. Coveralls are also used by the lower ranks, especially heavy vehicle and flying personnel. Officers in technical branches supervising fatigue details wear a laboratory-style smock.
Other types of uniforms existed. High-ranking officers occasionally wore white uniforms, or at least a white jacket, and staff officers were supplied with staff service uniforms. Women had their own uniforms consisting of jackets, skirts or slacks, blouses, caps, boots or pumps, and other appropriate items in accordance with the season and the occasion. Traffic police, motorcyclists, armoured vehicle personnel, and others have special items of apparel.
Volkspolizei uniform initially had green , but later reverted to white except for the transport police who wore blue. The uniform of the Kasernierte Volkspolizei is distinguished from that of the NVA ground force and Air Defence Force by a green armband with large silver letters identifying the wearer's affiliation.
Ranks
;Officers
;Other ranks
Equipment
To see full list clic
Here
File:Volkspolizei Wartburg 2009-06-07.jpg, Volkspolizei Wartburg
The Wartburg () is a castle originally built in the Middle Ages. It is situated on a precipice of to the southwest of and overlooking the town of Eisenach, in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It was the home of St. Elisabeth of Hungary, the ...
File:Berlin.Trabant_001.JPG, Volkspolizei Trabant 601
File:Volkspolizei_Automobil_von_vorn_2009-06-07.jpg, Moskvitch 408
File:Bundesarchiv_B_145_Bild-F089036-0029,_Köthen,_Polizei-PKW_Wartburg,_Lada,_Barkas.jpg, Wartburg 353, Lada 1200, and Barkas (In Bundespolizei markings)
File:DDR_police_car_01.jpg, Lada 1500
File:IFA_G5_Koffer_Volkspolizei.jpg, IFA G5
The IFA G5 is an East German three-axle truck produced by IFA from 1952 to 1964.
History
The IFA G5 series was produced in the VEB Kraftfahrzeugwerk "Ernst Grube", Werdau. The plant was part of the ''IFA'' combine and succeeded the Schumann wor ...
truckbus
File:Fotothek_df_ps_0006249_Häfen.jpg, Police Boats
File:Barkas_B_1000_Volkspolizei.jpg, Barkas B 1000
The Barkas B 1000 is a forward control panel van made by the East German manufacturer VEB Barkas-Werke in Chemnitz
Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the German state of Saxony after Leipzig and ...
s
File:SonderKFZ1Nutzfahrzeugmuseum.JPG, Garant 30k SK-1
File:Volkspolizei_and_Volksarmee_Robur_LO_2002_trucks_at_the_Technik-Museum_P%C3%BCtnitz.jpg, Robur LO 2002 trucks
File:Bundesarchiv Bild 173-1282, Berlin, Brandenburger Tor, Wasserwerfer.jpg, IFA G5 based SK-2
The IFA G5 is an East German three-axle truck produced by IFA from 1952 to 1964.
History
The IFA G5 series was produced in the VEB Kraftfahrzeugwerk "Ernst Grube", Werdau. The plant was part of the ''IFA'' combine and succeeded the Schumann work ...
at the Brandenburg Gate
The Brandenburg Gate (german: Brandenburger Tor ) is an 18th-century neoclassical monument in Berlin, built on the orders of Prussian king Frederick William II after restoring the Orangist power by suppressing the Dutch popular unrest. One ...
during the building of the Berlin Wall.
See also
* Diensteinheit IX
* Eastern Bloc politics
Eastern Bloc politics followed the Red Army's occupation of much of Central and Eastern Europe at the end of World War II and the Soviet Union's installation of Soviet-controlled Marxist–Leninist governments in the region that would be later cal ...
* Kasernierte Volkspolizei
* Stasi
Notes
References
External links
Official Site of the German Police
* ttp://www.johnchivers.com/Academic/BrandenburgPolice.htm The Democratisation of the Police (With Reference to the Brandenburg Police) by John Chiversbr> IG Deutsche Volkspolizei
in German
Volkspolizei page, at ''www.polizeiautos.de''
The Band of the Volkspolizei
{{Authority control
Defunct law enforcement agencies of East Germany
Law enforcement in East Germany
Government of East Germany
Eastern Bloc
Government agencies established in 1946
1990 disestablishments in Germany
German words and phrases
Government agencies disestablished in 1990
Volkspolizei