Wolfgang Altenburg (24 June 1928 – 25 January 2023) was a German general. He served as

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

of the German armed forces, 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 ...

, from 1983 to 1986, and as

Chairman of the NATO Military Committee The Chair of the NATO Military Committee (CMC) is the head of the NATO Military Committee, which advises the North Atlantic Council (NAC) on military policy and strategy. The CMC is the senior military spokesperson of the 30-nation alliance and ...

from 1986 to 1989.Nato
/ref>

Biography

Altenburg was born in Schneidemühl,

Posen-West Prussia The Frontier March of Posen-West Prussia (german: Grenzmark Posen-Westpreußen, pl, Marchia Graniczna Poznańsko-Zachodniopruska) was a province of Prussia from 1922 to 1938. Posen-West Prussia was established in 1922 as a province of the Free ...

(today Piła, Poland) and was conscripted as a ''Marinehelfer'' (Navy aide) in 1944 serving at

Heligoland Heligoland (; german: Helgoland, ; Heligolandic Frisian: , , Mooring Frisian: , da, Helgoland) is a small archipelago in the North Sea. A part of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein since 1890, the islands were historically possessions ...

. After the end of

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he completed a professional training in hotel business and volunteered for the Bundeswehr in 1956 at the Artillerytroops.Biography at Bundesministerium der Verteidigung
/ref> Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F066724-0008, Bundestag, Verteidigungsausschuss

Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F066724-0008, Bundestag, Verteidigungsausschuss

He transferred to Bremen-Grohn as Platoon Leader in Artillery regiment 3, 1962 becoming Battery Commander of a (nuclear) Honest John-Battery in Rocket artillery battalion 32 in

Dörverden Dörverden is a municipality in the district of Verden, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Weser, approx. 8 km south of Verden, and 40 km southeast of Bremen. Dörverden belonged to the Prince-Bishopric ...

. Altenburg passed his general staff training at the

Führungsakademie der Bundeswehr ) , established = 15 May 1957(15 October 1810 as ''Prussian Military Academy'') , type = Staff college and senior military academy of the German Armed Forces, the Bundeswehr , endowment = , staff = , faculty = , president = , provost = , principal ...

from 1962 to 1964, was G1-Personal Staff Officer in 6. Panzer grenadier division, G3-General staff officer in the Panzerbrigade 18 and Commanding Officer of Feld artillery battalion 61 in Albersdorf. 1970–71 he was Public Affairs Officer and Personal Assistant of the Chief of Staff German Army (Inspekteur des Heeres), General lieutenant Albert Schnez. He became the Deputy Director of Nuclear Policy Section at

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 ...

in October 1971, when NATO defined the 1969 established "Provisional Political Guidelines for the Tactical Defensive Use of Nuclear Weapons by NATO (PPG's)". He returned to the German

Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philippin ...

in 1973 as an

Oberst ''Oberst'' () is a senior field officer rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, and Norway. The Swedish ...

and Branch Chief Military Policy Affäirs, commanded in 1975–76 the Panzer grenadier brigade 7 (Hamburg). In April 1978 Altenburg became the Director of the Executive Staff of the Federal Forces and in 1979 the German Representative at the

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. In 1981 Altenburg took over the command of the III. Korps at

Koblenz Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman mili ...

and became the Chief of staff of the Federal Forces (Generalinspekteur der Bundeswehr) in 1983, a position he held until 1986. On 1 October 1986, Altenburg became the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee himself. He retired in 1989 and served as chair at several companies. He died on 25 January 2023, at the age of 94.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Altenburg, Wolfgang 1928 births 2023 deaths People from Piła People from Posen-West Prussia Bundeswehr generals Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Commanders of the Legion of Merit Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Grand Crosses of the Order of Christ (Portugal) Bundeswehr Command and Staff College alumni Inspectors General of the Bundeswehr NATO military personnel Generals of the German Army Kriegsmarine personnel of World War II