The Ministry of National Defense (German: Ministerium für Nationale Verteidigung - MfNV) was the chief administrative arm of the East German National People's Army. The MND was modeled on the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union. The headquarters of the Ministry was in Strausberg near East Berlin. The Guard Regiment Hugo Eberlein provided security and guard services to the Ministry. The Ministry also had its own publishing house, Military publishing house of the German Democratic Republic [de].

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Ministry of National Defence

Ministerium für Nationale Verteidigung
Flag of the Ministry of National Defence
Agency overview
Formed	1 March 1956
Dissolved	23 April 1990
Jurisdiction	National People's Army
Headquarters	Strausberg

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The NVA was administered through the Ministry of National Defense, one of the principal branches of the national government. The ministers of National Defense were:

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No.	Portrait	Minister of Defence	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Party	Chairman
1		Stoph, WilliArmeegeneral Willi Stoph (1914–1999)	1 March 1956	14 July 1960	4 years, 135 days	SED	Grotewohl
2		Hoffmann, HeinzArmeegeneral Heinz Hoffmann (1910–1985)	14 July 1960	2 December 1985 †	25 years, 141 days	SED	Otto Grotewohl Willi Stoph Horst Sindermann Willi Stoph
3		Kessler, HeinzArmeegeneral Heinz Kessler (1920–2017)	3 December 1985	18 November 1989	3 years, 351 days	SED	Willi Stoph Hans Modrow
4		Hoffmann, TheodorAdmiral Theodor Hoffmann (1935–2018)	18 November 1989	12 April 1990	145 days	SED	Hans Modrow
5		Eppelmann, RainerRainer Eppelmann (born 1943) As Minister of Disarmament and Defence	12 April 1990	2 October 1990	173 days	DA	Lothar de Maizière

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The Minister of National Defence was assisted by a colloquium of deputy ministers who were also chiefs of certain key administrations within the ministry.

In 1987 the deputy ministers and their assignments were as follows:

• Chief of the Border Troops of the German Democratic Republic;

• Chief of the Volksmarine (People's Navy);
• Chief of Technology and Weaponry;
• Chief of the Main Political Administration (Kessler's former post);
• Chief of the Air Forces of the National People's Army
• Chief of the Land Forces of the National People's Army; The Land Forces Command, located at Geltow was established on 1 December 1972 as a management body for the land forces.
• Chief of the Main Staff and secretary of the National Defense Council;
• Chief of civil defense; and
• Chief of rear services.

On 18 January 1956 the People's Chamber (the national legislature) passed a bill creating the NVA and the Ministry of Defense from the Chief Administration of Training of the Ministry of the Interior. This act formally acknowledged the existence of East Germany's armed forces. The NVA incorporated the Kasernierte Volkspolizei or KVP, Sea Police, and Air Police into a single armed force having three branches: ground, naval, and air. The Ministry of Defense was headed by Colonel General (Generaloberst) Willi Stoph, who was also minister of the interior. In 1987 Stoph was chairman of the Council of Ministers and a member of the SED Politburo. General Hoffmann, who was listed as first deputy minister of defense, attended the Soviet General Staff Academy in the mid-1950s and replaced Stoph as defense minister in 1960. Hoffmann held the post until his death in 1985. Concurrent with the establishment of the NVA as a legal entity was a return to public manifestations of German military traditions, with the addition of socialist elements. The training regimen for recruits approximated that of the former Wehrmacht, as did drill and ceremonies. New uniforms, whose cut but not colour (stone grey) were far closer to those of German World War II forces than to Soviet models, were introduced. Only the helmet represented a radical departure from World War II, but here too the design differed from the Soviet model.

The creation of the NVA addressed both internal and external security problems. Internally the physical appearance of the NVA spoke to the population in terms of their traditional German heritage and differentiated the NVA from the Soviet Army. In theory at least, East German citizens could have pride in their own army. The swift creation of the NVA as a force of more than 120,000 officers and other ranks practicing Prussian-style drill was a dramatic gesture of nationalism that was impossible for the world to ignore.

The creation of the Ministry of Defense and the NVA seemingly should have been a blow to the authority and prestige of the Ministry of the Interior. The bureaucratic impact of this action was mitigated by permitting Stoph to carry both portfolios for four years. In addition, police activities, both civil and secret, remained under the Ministry of the Interior, as did the Border Police. The Ministry of the Interior established its own Alert Units for the specific function of internal security. The Alert Units were militarily structured, fully motorized units with modern weapons and equipment. Garrisoned and trained in battalion-size units, they were capable of carrying out police tasks and other security functions. They have been used in major disturbances or in civil disasters affecting public order and safety.

Differentiation between the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of the Interior was still in progress in the 1960s. On issue in this process was the subordination of the Border Police. On 15 September 1961, by order of the National Defense Council, the entire Border Police was transferred to the NVA and redesignated the Border Troops of the NVA. Various explanations for this shift have been offered by different authorities. The official reason stressed improvement in the level of training through closer relationship with the NVA and provision for reinforcement of the Border Troops with other NVA assets. The actual reason probably had more to do with standardization within the Warsaw Pact since similar reorganizations occurred in roughly the same time period in all the non-Soviet Warsaw Pact armies.

The organization of the East German Ministry of Defense, which closely follows the pattern of the Soviet Ministry of Defense, comprises several administrations and departments, among which there appeared to be a certain amount of overlapping authority. The chiefs of the major administrations and commands concurrently served as deputies to the defense minister.

In the mid-1980s, its complement of about 4,200 personnel had a military-to-civilian ratio of approximately three to one, in contrast to comparable Western ministries or departments that generally have a much higher proportion of civilian employees.

Approximately 100 Soviet liaison officers also were assigned to the East German ministry.

The Ministry of National Defense had the following subordinate executive bodies:

• List of German defence ministers
• Guard Regiment Hugo Eberlein provided security at the Ministry of National Defence
• Friedrich Engels Guard Regiment provided security at the Kommando Landstreitkräfte/Land Forces Command