page_title: Group of Soviet Forces in Germany
section_title: Structure and equipment in 1991
hierarchical_section_title: Group of Soviet Forces in Germany / Structure and equipment in 1991
caption_attribution_description: For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. 11.-18.8.1991 Bundesland Sachsen-Anhalt, Wittenberg Sowjetisches Wächterhäuschen an der Elbe Information added by Wikimedia users.Русский: Заброшенный пост ВАИ в ГСВГ.
context_page_description: The Western Group of Forces, previously known as the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany and the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, were the troops of the Soviet Army in East Germany. The Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany was formed after the end of World War II in Europe from units of the 1st and 2nd Belorussian Fronts. The group helped suppress the East German uprising of 1953. After the end of occupation functions in 1954 the group was renamed the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany. The group represented Soviet interests in East Germany during the Cold War. After changes in Soviet foreign policy during the late 1980s, the group shifted to a more defensive role and in 1988 became the Western Group of Forces. Russian forces remained in the eastern part of Germany after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the German reunification until 1994.
context_section_description: The Soviet troops occupied 777 barracks at 276 locations on the territory of the German Democratic Republic. This also included 47 airfields and 116 exercise areas. At the beginning of 1991 there were still about 338,000 soldiers in 24 divisions, distributed among five land armies and an air army in what was by then the Western Group of Forces. In addition, there were about 208,000 relatives of officers as well as civil employees, among them about 90,000 children. Most locations were in the area of today's Brandenburg.
  In 1991 there were approximately 4,200 tanks, 8,200 armored vehicles, 3,600 artillery pieces, 106,000 other motor vehicles, 690 aircraft, 680 helicopters, and 180 rocket systems.
  See also
  At the end of the 1980s, the primary Soviet formations included:
  1st Guards Tank Red Banner Army – Dresden
  9th Tank Division – Riesa
  11th Guards Tank Division – Dresden
  20th Guards Motor Rifle Division – Grimma
  2nd Guards Tank Army – Fürstenberg/Havel
  16th Guards Tank Division – Neustrelitz
  21st Motor Rifle Division – Perleberg
  94th Guards Motor Rifle Division – Schwerin
  207th Motor Rifle Division – Stendal (note; earlier Western reporting lists this as a Guards unit; this is incorrect)
  3rd Red Banner Army – Magdeburg (as of 1988)
  7th Guards Tank Division – Dessau-Rosslau
  10th Guards Uralsko-Lvovskaya Tank Division – Altengrabow
  12th Guards Tank Division – Neuruppin
  47th Guards Tank Division – Hillersleben
  8th Guards Order of Lenin Army – Weimar-Nohra
  27th Guards Motor Rifle Division – Halle
  39th Guards Motor Rifle Division – Ohrdruf
  57th Guards Motor Rifle Division – Naumburg
  79th Guards Tank Division – Jena
  20th Guards Red Banner Army – Eberswalde
  25th Tank Division – Vogelsang
  32nd Guards Tank Division – Jüterbog
  35th Guards Motor Rifle Division – Krampnitz
  90th Guards Tank Division – Bernau bei Berlin
  16th Air Army – Zossen
  6th Guards Fighter Aviation Division – Merseburg
  16th Guards Fighter Aviation Division – Ribnitz-Damgarten. Withdrawn 30 October 1993 to Millerovo, North Caucasus Military District, and joined 4th Air Army.
  105th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Division – Großenhain
  125th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Division – Rechlin [town, not in airfield] – disbanded July 1993 or October 1993.
  126th Fighter Aviation Division – Zerbst
  Other Group-level formations included:
  6th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade (Karlshorst, Berlin) - withdrawn to Kursk in 1994
  35th Guards Air Assault Brigade (effectively an airmobile brigade; Cottbus, Germany, activated October 1979, and transferred to Kapchagay, Kazakh SSR, in April 1991. Eventually became part of the Kazakh Armed Forces).
  34th Guards Artillery Division (Potsdam) (formed 25 June 1945 to 9 July 1945 in Germany)
caption: Soviet watchpost in Wittenberg, 1991.
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