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Inspector General of the Bundeswehr

Highest-ranking military position in the modern German military

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Inspector General of the Bundeswehr
Generalinspekteur der Bundeswehr (German)
Flag of the Inspector General
Incumbent General Carsten Breuer [de] since 17 March 2023
Federal Ministry of Defence
Abbreviation	IGBW
Member of	Ministry of Defence Executive Group
Reports to	Federal Minister of Defence
Precursor	Oberkommando der Wehrmacht
Formation	1 June 1957
First holder	General Adolf Heusinger
Deputy	Deputy Inspector General of the Bundeswehr
Website	Official Website

The Inspector General of the Bundeswehr (German: Generalinspekteur der Bundeswehr, GenInspBw), is the highest-ranking military position held by a commissioned officer on active duty in the Bundeswehr, the present-day armed forces of Germany.

All Inspectors General have been of the rank of a (four-star) generaloradmiral, and they head the Führungsstab der Streitkräfte, the German Defence Staff within the Federal Ministry of Defence, and is the direct military advisor to the Federal Minister of Defence who, in peacetime according to the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, is the default holder of the supreme command authority (German: Inhaber der Befehls- und Kommandogewalt) to ensure civilian control of the military.

The Inspector General is responsible for the overall military defense concept of the Bundeswehr, including the overall planning, preparation, as well as assessment of the whole Bundeswehr operations. ^[1] Subordinate to the Inspector General are the commanders of the branches of the Bundeswehr, the Inspector of the Army, Inspector of the Air Force, and Inspector of the Navy, and the commanders of the Joint Support Service and Joint Medical Service.

Title and translations[edit]

While official translations of the position is "Chief of Defence",^[2] the German term "Generalinspekteur" – "Inspector General" – was specifically created to avoid the term of "Generalstabschef" ("Chief of General Staff") deemed historically compromised.^{[citation needed]} When the Bundeswehr was created in 1955, many traditional military terms were considered inappropriate after the German Wehrmacht's conduct in World War II. Therefore, the Bundeswehr has no "General Staff", but the "Army Command" ("Kommando Heer").

List of officeholders[edit]

No.	Portrait	Inspector General	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Defence branch	Federal Minister of Defence	Ref.
1		Heusinger, AdolfGeneral Adolf Heusinger (1897–1982)	1 June 1957	31 March 1961	3 years, 303 days	Land Force	Strauß, Franz JosefFranz Josef Strauß	–
2		Foertsch, FriedrichGeneral Friedrich Foertsch (1900–1976)	1 April 1961	31 December 1963	2 years, 274 days	Land Force	Strauß, Franz JosefFranz Josef Strauß Kai-Uwe von Hassel	–
3		Trettner, HeinrichGeneral Heinz Trettner (1907–2006)	1 January 1964	25 August 1966	2 years, 236 days	Land Force	von Hassel, Kai-UweKai-Uwe von Hassel	–
4		de Maizière, UlrichGeneral Ulrich de Maizière (1912–2006)	25 August 1966	31 March 1972	5 years, 219 days	Land Force	von Hassel, Kai-UweKai-Uwe von Hassel Gerhard Schröder Helmut Schmidt	–
5		Zimmermann, ArminAdmiral Armin Zimmermann (1917–1976)	1 April 1972	30 November 1976	4 years, 243 days	Navy	Leber, GeorgGeorg Leber	–
6		Wust, HaraldGeneral Harald Wust (1921–2010)	21 December 1976	11 December 1978	1 year, 355 days	Air Force	Leber, GeorgGeorg Leber	–
7		Brandt, JürgenGeneral Jürgen Brandt (1922–2003)	12 December 1978	31 March 1983	4 years, 109 days	Land Force	Apel, HansHans Apel Manfred Wörner	–
8		Altenburg, WolfgangGeneral Wolfgang Altenburg (1928–2023)	1 April 1983	30 September 1986	3 years, 182 days	Land Force	Wörner, ManfredManfred Wörner	–
9		Wellershoff, DieterAdmiral Dieter Wellershoff (1933–2005)	1 October 1986	30 September 1991	4 years, 364 days	Navy	Wörner, ManfredManfred Wörner Rupert Scholz Gerhard Stoltenberg	–
10		Naumann, KlausGeneral Klaus Naumann (born 1939)	1 October 1991	8 February 1996	4 years, 130 days	Land Force	Stoltenberg, GerhardGerhard Stoltenberg Volker Rühe	–
11		Bagger, HartmutGeneral Hartmut Bagger (1938–2024)	8 February 1996	31 March 1999	3 years, 51 days	Land Force	Rühe, VolkerVolker Rühe Rudolf Scharping	–
12		von Kirchbach, Hans-PeterGeneral Hans-Peter von Kirchbach (born 1941)	1 April 1999	30 June 2000	1 year, 90 days	Land Force	Scharping, RudolfRudolf Scharping	–
13		Kujat, HaraldGeneral Harald Kujat (born 1942)	1 July 2000	30 June 2002	1 year, 364 days	Air Force	Scharping, RudolfRudolf Scharping	–
14		Schneiderhan, WolfgangGeneral Wolfgang Schneiderhan (born 1946)	1 July 2002	26 November 2009	7 years, 148 days	Land Force	Scharping, RudolfRudolf Scharping Peter Struck Franz Josef Jung Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg	–
–		Dora, Johann-GeorgLieutenant General Johann-Georg Dora [de] (born 1948) Acting	27 November 2009	21 January 2010	55 days	Air Force	zu Guttenberg, Karl-TheodorKarl-Theodor zu Guttenberg	–
15		Wieker, VolkerGeneral Volker Wieker (born 1954)	21 January 2010	19 April 2018	8 years, 88 days	Land Force	zu Guttenberg, Karl-TheodorKarl-Theodor zu Guttenberg Thomas de Maizière Ursula von der Leyen	–
16		Zorn, EberhardGeneral Eberhard Zorn (born 1960)	19 April 2018	17 March 2023	4 years, 332 days	Land Force	von der Leyen, UrsulaUrsula von der Leyen Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer Christine Lambrecht Boris Pistorius	–
17		Breuer, CarstenGeneral Carsten Breuer [de] (born 1964)	17 March 2023	Incumbent	1 year, 89 days	Land Force	Pistorius, BorisBoris Pistorius	–

See also[edit]

• Inspector of the Army
• Inspector of the Navy
• Inspector of the Air Force

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• List of Chiefs of Staff, Bundeswehr with personal data and photo (Official website of the Bundeswehr)