Border Troops of the German Democratic Republic
Grenztruppen der DDR (1961-90) was the East German frontier troops during the time of the hottest communism. The Force numbered on it's peak some 50,000 troops. Beside the Soviets, no other Warsaw Pact country had such a lagre border guard force. Before the Grenztruppen, was the Deutsche Grenzpolizei (1948-1960) the East German border guard. Armed and organised like a policeforce, the high command demanded a re-organisation of the force due more miltary lines, like their counterpart Soviet border guard. Thats where the birth of the "Grenztruppen" accured. They where now moved from the command of Minesty of Interior to become a branch under the Minestry of Defence and NVA. As a branch of NVA the force had it's own darkgreen arm-of-service colour.
The Grenztruppen units was much organised like ordinary NVA army units. The major headquarter was located in Paetz, while the field units was splitted in three major Border Commands zones plus the coast zone. The North Command (Grenzkommando Nord) headquartered in Stendal deployed six frontier troop regiment, two training regiments, a helicopter flight and some smaller support units. The South Command (Grenzkommando Süd) headquartered in Erfurt was organised same like the Northern. The Center Command (Grenzkommando Mitte) who provided the security around West Berlin, deployed six static regiments, one crossing point regiment, two training regiments, a artillery regiment and some smaller support units. Guarding the countries small coast was the 6th Coast Guard Brigade, deploying twelve marine battalions and some boat battalions and companies.
A Frontier Troop regiment was trained like regular infantry, but was much more lighter equipped then ordinary NVA infantry formation (heaviest weapon being RPG-7). To increase person search capabileaty the most units had dogs in form of the german Schäfer. The Regiment consisted of around 1,500 men divided in three battalions of four companies. These regiments also had a anti-tank battery, a mortar battery and a engineer company. The units of the Center Command was mechanized with PSzH-IV and FUG armoured vehicles.
Organisation
TRANSLATION OF UNITS:
Grenzregiment - Fronteir Troops regiment
Grenzausbildungsregiment - Frontier Troops training regiment
Artillerieregiment - Frontier Troops artillery regiment
Pionierkompanie - engineer company
Amphibische Pionierkompanie - amphibious engineer company
Kfz-Transportkompanie - truck transport company
ABC-Abwehrkompanie - NBC-defence company
Kompanie Chemische Abwehr - chemical defence company
Nachrichtenkompanie - signal company
Nachrichtenwerkstatt - communication support company
Instandsetzungskompanie - repair company
Sicherungskompanie - security company
Stabs- und Versorgungsbataillon - staff & supply company
Musikkorps - parade band
Grenzkommando Nord guarded the northern sector of the East German border.
Commanders:
Oberst Harald Bär (1 Feb 1971 - 31 Dec 1981)
Oberst Johannes Fritzsche (1 Jan 1982 - 30 Nov 1989)
HQ: Kalbe
Order of battle:
Grenzregiment 6 Hans Kollwitz
Grenzregiment 8 Robert Abshagen
Grenzregiment 20 Martin Schwantes
Grenzregiment 23 Wilhelm Bahnik
Grenzregiment 24 Fritz Heckert
Grenzregiment 25 Neithardt von Gneisenau
Grenzausbildungsregiment 5 Gustav Sobottka
Grenzausbildungsregiment 7 Martin Hoop
Pionierkompanie 25
Sicherungskompanie 25
Stabs- und Versorgungsbataillon 25
Musikkorps
Grenzkommando Süd guarded the southern sector of the East German border.
Commanders:
Oberst Gerhard Lorenz (1 Feb 1971 - 30 Oct 1973)
Oberst Klaus-Dieter Baumgarten (1 Nov 1973 - 14 Apr 1978)
Oberst Walter Tanner (15 Apr 1978 - 31 Oct 1982)
Oberst Heinz Janshen (1 Nov 1982 - 30 June 1987)
Oberst Dieter Hoffmann (1 July 1987 - 30 Nov 1989)
HQ: Erfurt
Order of battle:
Grenzregiment 1 Eugen Levine
Grenzregiment 3 Florian Geyer
Grenzregiment 4 Willi Gebhardt
Grenzregiment 9 Konrad Blenkle
Grenzregiment 10 Ernst Grube
Grenzregiment 15 Herbert Warnke
Grenzausbildungsregiment 11 Theodor Neubauer
Grenzausbildungsregiment 12 Rudi Arnstadt
Pionierkompanie 27
Sicherungskompanie 27
Stabs- und Versorgungsbataillon 27
Musikkorps
Grenzkommando Mitte manned the crossing points into West Berlin and guarded the entire city perimeter.
Commanders:
Oberst Bernhard Geier (1 May 1971 - 31 Aug 1979)
Generalmajor Erich Wöllner (1 Sep 1979 - 30 Apr 1990)
Oberst Günther Leo (1 May 1990 - 30 Sep 1990)
HQ: Berlin-Karlhorst
Order of battle:
Grenzregiment 33 Heinrich Dorrenbach
Grenzregiment 34 Hanno Günther
Grenzregiment 35 Nikolai Bersarin
Grenzregiment 36 Walter Husemann
Grenzregiment 38 Clara Zetkin
Grenzregiment 42 Fritz Perlitz
Grenzregiment 44 Walter Junker
Grenzausbildungsregiment 39 Ho Chi Minh
Grenzausbildungsregiment 40 Hans Coppi
GÜST-Regiment Walter Husemann
Artillerieregiment 26
ABC-Abwehrkompanie 26
Amphibische Pionierkompanie 26
Instandsetzungskompanie 26
Kfz-Transportkompanie 26
Kompanie Chemische Abwehr 26
Nachrichtenkompanie 26
Nachrichtenwerkstatt 26
Sicherungskompanie 26
Musikkorps