From: kurrer@lisboa.ks.uiuc.edu (Christian Kurrer)
Subject: Re: German citizenship and military service
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Distribution: soc.culture.german
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1992 19:46:47 GMT

In article <JIME.92Apr14094053@bullwinkle.atc.ll.mit.edu>  
jime@bullwinkle.atc.ll.mit.edu (Jim Eggert x6127 g41) writes:
> If someone obtains German citizenship, does he/she have to serve in
> the German military (or any Ersatzdienst)?
> --
> =Jim  jime%atc.ll.mit.edu (Jim Eggert)

After reading so many replies of people guessing "yes", here is my NO.

In order to be eligible to be drafted into the German Army, you have to  
meet at least these three conditions:
1) Have German Citizenship.
2) AND live in Germany permanently.
3) AND not be dependent on foreign financial sources. 

The first two point are pretty obvious. The third is crucial to answer the  
original question posted: An example:

I have German citizenship, but I was born and finished high school in  
another NATO country. (NATO or not is actually irrelevant). I often  
visited Germany without being drafted on the spot. When I began my studies  
in Germany and thus established my permanent residency there, I was still  
not drafted, since financially I was supported by my parents and they were  
earning their money from foreign sources. I would only have become  
eligible for the draft AFTER finishing my studies; at that time I would be  
considered financially on my own.

A friend of mine was also born and finished high school outside Germany  
and came to Germany to study. Although his parents had been working abroad  
for over thirty years, he got an invitation to join the ranks, since the  
Kreiswehrersatzamt found out that his parents worked for a "German"  
company and they thus argued that his financial support ultimately lay in  
Germany. He successfully objected to the invitation by showing that his  
parents worked in their country of residence for a domestic company (which  
was a subsidiary of a German company, but still legally a non-German  
company).

I think the spirit of this regulation is "if you depend on German  
financial sources, you have to defend them". 

So just by being German you don't have to serve. 

Even by living in Germany you do not necessarily have to serve, if you can  
show that you only reside there temporarily and that your financial  
support still comes from abroad. Another example: If an engineer working  
for an US company and who has a German passport is send by his company to  
Germany for some limited time (e.g. to install some high tech equipment)  
he will not have to serve. If however he is going to work for the German  
subsidiary of this US company, he will have to serve.

Christian Kurrer

P.S. This regulation certainly help to avoid bizarre/tragic situation like  
that recently posted by Oliver Bonten:  "An Australian once told me that  
in the 70s Australians of Greek extraction in the 3rd generation were  
imprisoned when visiting Greece for having avoided military service. This  
came quite as a surprise to them, since it was their grandfather who  
migrated to Oz. (Most Australians of Greek extraction were 1st or 2nd  
generation, however.)"