Inspector General of the Bundeswehr

Flag of the Inspector General of the Bundeswehr

The Inspector General of the Bundeswehr (German language: Generalinspekteur der Bundeswehr, GenInspBw), also translated as Chief of Staff of the Federal Armed Forces, is the highest-ranking military post held by a commissioned officer in the Bundeswehr, the present-day armed forces of Germany.

All Inspectors General have been of the rank of a (four-star) general or admiral, 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 is the peacetime holder of the supreme command authority (German language: Inhaber der Befehls- und Kommandogewalt).

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

While official translations of the position include "Chief of Staff" and variations of this term, the German term "Generalinspekteur" – "Inspector General" – was specifically created to avoid the term of "Generalstabschef" ("Chief of General Staff") deemed historically compromised. 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, Federal German Bundeswehr has no "General Staff", but a "Executive Staff" ("Führungsstab des Heeres").

List of officeholders

No.	Portrait	Name	Branch	Term began	Term ended	Minister
1		General Adolf Heusinger (1897–1982)	Army	1 June 1957	31 March 1961	Franz Josef Strauß
2		General Friedrich Foertsch (1900–1976)	Army	1 April 1961	31 December 1963	Franz Josef Strauß Kai-Uwe von Hassel
3		General Heinz Trettner (1907–2006)	Army	1 January 1964	25 August 1966	Kai-Uwe von Hassel
4		General Ulrich de Maizière (1912–2006)	Army	25 August 1966	31 March 1972	Kai-Uwe von Hassel Gerhard Schröder Helmut Schmidt
5		Admiral Armin Zimmermann (1917–1976)	Navy	1 April 1972	30 November 1976	Georg Leber
6		General Harald Wust (1921–2010)	Air Force	21 December 1976	11 December 1978	Georg Leber
7		General Jürgen Brandt (1922–2003)	Army	12 December 1978	31 March 1983	Hans Apel Manfred Wörner
8		General Wolfgang Altenburg (born 1928)	Army	1 April 1983	30 September 1986	Manfred Wörner
9		Admiral Dieter Wellershoff (1933–2005)	Navy	1 October 1986	30 September 1991	Manfred Wörner Rupert Scholz Gerhard Stoltenberg
10		General Klaus Naumann (born 1939)	Army	1 October 1991	8 February 1996	Gerhard Stoltenberg Volker Rühe
11		General Hartmut Bagger (born 1938)	Army	8 February 1996	31 March 1999	Volker Rühe Rudolf Scharping
12		General Hans-Peter von Kirchbach (born 1941)	Army	1 April 1999	30 June 2000	Rudolf Scharping
13		General Harald Kujat (born 1942)	Air Force	1 July 2000	30 June 2002	Rudolf Scharping
14		General Wolfgang Schneiderhan (born 1946)	Army	1 July 2002	26 November 2009	Rudolf Scharping Peter Struck Franz Josef Jung Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg
-		Lieutenant General Johann-Georg Dora (acting) (born 1948)	Air Force	27 November 2009	21 January 2010	Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg
15		General Volker Wieker (born 1954)	Army	21 January 2010	18 April 2018	Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg Thomas de Maizière Ursula von der Leyen
16	File:Generalinspekteur der Bundeswehr, General Eberhard Zorn (cropped).jpg	General Eberhard Zorn	Army	19 April 2018	Incumbent	Ursula von der Leyen Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer

See also

• Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff - US counterpart
• Chief of the Defence Staff (France) - French counterpart
• Chief of the Defence Staff (United Kingdom) - British counterpart
• Chief of the General Staff (Russia) - Russian counterpart

External links

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