# Inspector General of the Bundeswehr

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) 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, 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. 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 is "Chief of Defence", 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, the Bundeswehr has no "General Staff", but the "Army Command" ("Kommando Heer").

## List of officeholders

| No. | 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 (born 1964) | 17 March 2023 | Incumbent | 1 year, 250 days | Land Force | Pistorius, BorisBoris Pistorius | – |