The Military History Research Office () was an office of the ''

Bundeswehr The (, ''Federal Defence'') are the armed forces of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. The is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part consists of the four armed forces: Germ ...

'' located at

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Following a reorganisation in 2013, MGFA was consolidated with the to become the Center for Military History and Social Sciences of the ''Bundeswehr''. Also, it has been placed under the command of the Center of Leadership Culture of the Bundeswehr.

Mission

The Military History Research Institute was the central federal institution in Germany for all questions about German military history. Its mission included empirical, archive-based research in accordance with the accepted rules and standards of general

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods used by historians in developing history as an academic discipline. By extension, the term ":wikt:historiography, historiography" is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiog ...

. It was a member of the network of historical research institutions of the Federal Republic of Germany outside universities. The institute fostered the cooperation with a large number of research institutes in Germany and abroad and contributed to topical debates among experts in military history.

Museums

Three military history museums are under the administrative and technical command of the MGFA. These are the '' Militärhistorische Museum der Bundeswehr'' in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

which is in command of the '' Luftwaffenmuseum der Bundeswehr'' at the former

RAF Gatow Royal Air Force Gatow, or more commonly RAF Gatow, was a British Royal Air Force station (military airbase) in the district of Gatow in south-western Berlin, west of the Havel river, in the borough of Spandau. It was the home for the only kn ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, and the

Königstein Fortress Königstein Fortress (), the "Saxony, Saxon Bastille", is a hilltop fortress near Dresden, in Saxon Switzerland, Germany, above the town of Königstein, Saxony, Königstein on the left bank of the River Elbe. It is one of the largest hilltop for ...

Timeline

* 1956: Directive to establish the Military History Research Agency on 1 January 1957. * 1957: The Military History Research Agency is established in Langenau near Ulm. Colonel Dr. Hans Meier-Welcker, the head of the Military Research Branch in the Federal Ministry of Defense, is also appointed Director of the Research Agency. * 1958: The History Research Agency renamed 'Military History Research Institute' (MGFA). Colonel Dr. Hans Meier-Welcker appointed Director of the MGFA. The institute was relocated to

Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

* 1964: Colonel Dr. Wolfgang von Groote is appointed Director of the MGFA. * 1976: The first issues of the periodical ''Militärgeschichtliche Mitteilungen'' (MGM) were published. * 1968: Professor

Andreas Hillgruber Andreas Fritz Hillgruber (18 January 1925 – 8 May 1989) was a Conservatism, conservative German historian who was influential as a military and diplomatic historian who played a leading role in the ''Historikerstreit'' of the 1980s. In his contr ...

appointed the first Chief Historian of the MGFA. * 1969: The Historic Museum in

Rastatt Rastatt () is a town with a Baroque core, District of Rastatt, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located in the Upper Rhine Plain on the Murg river, above its junction with the Rhine and has a population of around 51,000 (2022). Rastatt was an ...

renamed 'Wehrgeschichtliches Museum der

' and came under the control of the MGFA. Colonel Dr. appointed Director of the MGFA. * 1970: Dr. Rainer Wohlfeil is appointed Chief Historian of the MGFA. In the same year he is succeeded by Dr.

Manfred Messerschmidt Manfred Messerschmidt (1 October 1926 – 19 December 2022) was a German historian who specialised in the history of Nazi Germany and World War II. He was the longtime research director at the Military History Research Office (MGFA) who concei ...

. * 1972: Navy Captain Dr. Friedrich Forstmeier is appointed Director of the MGFA. * 1975: ''Militärgeschichtliche Mitteilungen'' is for the first time supplemented by the international bibliography ''War and Society Newsletter''. * 1976: Colonel Dr. Othmar Hackl appointed Director of the MGFA. * 1979: The first volume of the series ''

Germany and the Second World War ''Germany and the Second World War'' () is a 12,000-page, 13-volume work published by the Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt (DVA), that has taken academics from the military history centre of the German armed forces 30 years to finish. Contents ''German ...

'' is published in German under the heading Reasons and Preconditions of German War Politics. This is the 150th publication of the Institute. * 1984: Opening of the traveling exhibition 'Rebellion of Conscience' in the Federal Diet. * 1985: Colonel Dr. Günter Roth appointed Director of the MGFA. * 1989:

Wilhelm Deist __NOTOC__ Wilhelm Deist (1931–2003) was a German historian and author who specialised in the European history of 19th and 20th with an emphasis on the history of World War I. Deist was senior historian at the Military History Research Office ( ...

appointed Chief Historian of the MGFA. * 1990: Visit of the director of the Soviet Military History Institute, Senior General Professor

Dmitri Volkogonov Dmitri Antonovich Volkogonov (; 22 March 1928 – 6 December 1995) was a Soviet and Russian historian and colonel general who was head of the Soviet military's psychological warfare department. After research in secret Soviet archives (both be ...

. Visit of the former Commander-in-Chief of the Warsaw Pact Forces, Marshal of the Soviet Union,

Viktor Kulikov Viktor Georgiyevich Kulikov (; 5 July 1921 – 28 May 2013) was the Warsaw Pact commander-in-chief from 1977 to 1989. He was awarded the rank of the Marshal of the Soviet Union on 14 January 1977. Kulikov was born into a peasant family and jo ...

. The former Military History Institute (MGI) and the former Army Museum of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) are integrated into the technical chain of command of the MGFA, and the latter becomes the Military History Museum of the Bundeswehr. * 1991: The periodical ''Militärgeschichtliche Beihefte'' is for the first time published under the new name Militärgeschichte (Military History). First official visit of an MGFA delegation to the Military History Institute of the Polish Armed Forces in Warsaw. * 1992: The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Bundeswehr, General

Klaus Naumann Klaus Naumann (born 25 May 1939) is a retired German General, who served as Chief of Staff of the Bundeswehr, the German armed forces, from 1991 to 1996, and as Chairman of the NATO Military Committee from 1996 to 1999, succeeding the British ...

, visits the MGFA and announces the relocation of the institute to

. * 1994: Prof. Hans-Erich Volkmann succeeded Dr Deist and is appointed Director of Research. The Federal Minister of Defense, Dr

Volker Rühe Volker Rühe (born 25 September 1942) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He served as German Defence minister from 1 April 1992, succeeding Gerhard Stoltenberg during the first government of a reunified Germany in ...

, introduces and presents the MGFA in ´

. The official residence of the MGFA is the 'Villa Ingenheim' in Zeppelinstrasse. * 1995: The MGFA library is opened to the public. Navy Captain Dr. Werner Rahn is appointed Director of the MGFA. * 1996: The Federal Minister of Defense, Dr.

, and the Vice-President of the Potsdam University, Professor Bärbel Kirsch, establish a chair for military history. Appointed to this chair is Professor Bernhard R. Kroener. Professor Daniel Proektor presents the Russian edition of the book World War II. Analyses, Characteristic Features, Research Results in the embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Moscow. * 1997: Visit of the MGFA director, Navy Captain Dr. Werner Rahn, and of Dr. Bruno Thoss in Beijing. Colonel Friedhelm Klein is appointed Director of the MGFA. * 1998: Opening of the exhibition 'Rebellion of Conscience' in St. Paul's Cathedral in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. Handover of the keys of the restored Villa Ingenheim. Working visit of the MGFA director, Colonel Friedhelm Klein, in

Beijing, China Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. * 1999: Dr. Klaus von Dohnanyi presented the conference paper compilation under the heading 'The Wehrmacht. Myth and Reality'. Working visit of the head of the Research Division, Professor Hans-Erich Volkmann, in the German Historic Institute (DHI) in

Warsaw, Poland Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at 1.86 million residents within a grea ...

. * 2001: Navy Captain Dr. Jörg Duppler, is appointed Director of the MGFA. * 2003: Prof.

Beatrice Heuser Beatrice Heuser (born 15 March 1961 in Bangkok) is an historian and political scientist. She held the chair of International Relations at the University of Glasgow until autumn 2024. Life Heuser has a B.A. in History from Bedford College (London) ...

, formerly Professor of International and Strategic Studies at the

Department of War Studies, King's College London The Department of War Studies (DWS) is an academic department in the School of Security Studies within the Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy at King's College London in London, United Kingdom. Senior government officials, members of t ...

, was appointed Director of Research. * 2004: Oberst Hans Ehlert was appointed Director of the MGFA

Reorganisation

Effective as of January 2013, MGFA was reorganized and consolidated with the German Army Social Sciences Studies Center ( to become the Center for Military History and Social Sciences of the German Army (''Zentrum für Militärgeschichte und Sozialwissenschaften der Bundeswehr'', ZMS-Bw) in Potsdam. As of 26 November 2013, the web addresses www.mgfa.de and zmsbw.de direct to the same site.

External links

Official website in German
Militärgeschichtliches Forschungsamt
{{Authority control 1957 establishments in West Germany 2013 disestablishments in Germany Military historiography Historiography of Germany Military history of Germany History organisations based in Germany Naval history of Germany Bundeswehr Military research of Germany