Marshal of the German Democratic Republic

Marshal of the German Democratic Republic (Template:Langx), was the highest rank in the National People's Army of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR). It was never held and was abolished in 1989.

History

The rank of was established on 25 March 1982 by decree of the (State Council of the GDR), but never bestowed. The could promote a general to this rank for exceptional military achievement. The rank was an imitation of the supreme Soviet rank, that of Marshal of the Soviet Union.

Some believe that this rank would only have been granted in wartime and was created as a result of changes in Warsaw Pact military planning. During wartime, a was to command an operational army group that included all East German forces including Police and Stasi troops. Prior to this change, all East German forces were under the direct control of the Soviet military command.

In November 1989, the acting Minister for National Defense, Admiral Theodor Hoffmann, abolished this rank.

Design

Several designs were considered for the Marshal shoulder board. The final design was a shoulder board 118 mm long and 48 mm wide consisting of interlaced gold and silver cord backed by a red cloth material on which was placed a five-pointed, gilded star with a red ruby in the center. According to Klaus Wather's , 12 pairs of these shoulder boards were made.

Drawings were also made of a Soviet-style "Marshal's star" to be worn on a red neck ribbon but this item was never produced.

Also planned were Marshal rank insignia for the new field uniform. This consisted of a 90 x 60 mm rectangular badge of stone-grey cloth for mounting on the upper uniform sleeve. On this badge was woven a large five-pointed gold colored star with a red center over a 20 mm long horizontal gold bar. For the cap there was an oval badge 50 × 30 mm with the same design as the sleeve insignia.

• Shoulder board
  Shoulder board
• Collar patches
  Collar patches
• Field uniform cap insignia
  Field uniform cap insignia

See also

• Military ranks of East Germany
• Corps colours (NPA)

References

• Klaus H. Feder: Marschall der DDR – ein Dienstgrad, den keiner erreichte. Militaria, 5/2002
• Klaus Wather: Uniformeffekten der bewaffneten Organe der DDR Band II. Ecotour, 1994