The Military History Research Office (german: Militärgeschichtliches Forschungsamt, MGFA) is an office of 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 ...

'' located at

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream o ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Following a reorganisation in 2013, MGFA was consolidated with the to become the Center for Military History and Social Sciences 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 of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians ha ...

. 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: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

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 k ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, and the

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

Timeline

* 1956: Directive to establish the Military History Research Agency on 1 January 1957. * 1957: The Military History Research Agency is established in

Langenau Langenau is a town in the district of Alb-Donau in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It is situated 14 km northeast of Ulm. Transport Langenau is located directly on the Autobahn A7 and near the A8 Public transport is guaranteed by the Do ...

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 * 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 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 controversial book ...

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 50,000 (2011). Rastatt was a ...

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. * 1972: Navy Captain Dr.

Friedrich Forstmeier Friedrich may refer to: Names *Friedrich (surname), people with the surname ''Friedrich'' *Friedrich (given name) Friedrich is a German given name and the origin of the English Frederick. People with the name include: Arts * Friedrich Gorens ...

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 Othmar, also spelled Otmar or Ottmar, is a masculine German given name, derived from the Germanic name ''Audamar'', from the elements ''aud'' "wealth, prosperity" and ''mar'' "fame". Notable people with the name include: * Saint Othmar *Othmar A ...

appointed Director of the MGFA. * 1979: The first volume of the series ''

Germany and the Second World War ''Germany and the Second World War'' (german: Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg) 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 ...

'' 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 Gunter or Günter may refer to: * Gunter rig, a type of rig used in sailing, especially in small boats * Gunter Annex, Alabama, a United States Air Force installation * Gunter, Texas, city in the United States People Surname * Chris Gunter ...

appointed Director of the MGFA. * 1989: Wilhelm Deist 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 (russian: Дми́трий Анто́нович Волкого́нов; 22 March 1928 – 6 December 1995) was a Soviet and Russian historian and colonel general who was head of the Soviet military's psychological warf ...

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

Viktor Kulikov Viktor Georgiyevich Kulikov (russian: Виктор Георгиевич Куликов; 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 Jan ...

. 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 in Munich) 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 ...

, 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 i ...

, 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, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

. Handover of the keys of the restored Villa Ingenheim. Working visit of the MGFA director, Colonel Friedhelm Klein, in Beijing, China. * 1999: Dr.

Klaus von Dohnanyi Klaus von Dohnanyi (born 23 June 1928) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). He served as mayor of Hamburg between 1981 and 1988. Early life and career Dohnanyi was born in Hamburg, the son of Christine von Dohnanyi and ...

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. * 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 holds the chair of International Relations at the University of Glasgow. Heuser has a B.A. in History from Bedford College, a M.A. in International Hi ...

, formerly Professor of International and Strategic Studies at the Department of War Studies, King's College London, 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 Military historiography Historiography of Germany Military history of Germany History organisations based in Germany Naval history of Germany Bundeswehr Military research of Germany