Federal Ministry of Defence ( Germany ) The Federal Ministry of Defence ( ) , abbreviated BMVg , is a top - level federal agency , headed by the Federal Minister of Defence as a member of the Cabinet of Germany . The ministry is headquartered at the " Hardthöhe " district in Bonn and has a second office in the " Bendlerblock " building in Berlin . According to Article 65a of the German Constitution ( " Grundgesetz ) " , the Federal Minister of Defence is Commander - in - chief of the " Bundeswehr " , the German armed forces , with around 253 , 430 active personnel . Article 115b decrees that in the state of defence , declared by the Bundestag with consent of the Bundesrat , the command in chief passes to the Chancellor . The ministry currently has ca . 3 , 730 employees . Of these , 3 , 230 work in Bonn while ca . 500 work in the " Bendlerblock " building in Berlin . History . From the Unification of Germany in 1871 until the end of World War I , the German Empire did not have a national Ministry of War . Instead the larger German states ( such as the kingdoms of Prussia , Bavaria , Saxony and Württemberg ) , insisting on their autonomy , each had an own war ministry . According to the military agreements the Prussian minister president Otto von Bismarck had forged with the South German states on the eve of the Franco - Prussian War of 1870 / 71 , the major states were responsible also for the defence of the smaller states . However , the Imperial Navy from 1889 was overseen by a federal department , the Imperial Naval Office . After the war and the German Revolution of 1918 – 19 , the Weimar Constitution provided for a unified , national ministry of defence , which was created largely from the Prussian Ministry of War and the Imperial Naval Office . The Ministry of the Reichswehr was established in October 1919 , and had its seat in the Bendlerblock building . In the context of the Treaty of Versailles and the " Law for the Creation of a provisional Reichswehr " of March 1919 , the Reichspräsident became the Commander - in - Chief of the armed forces , whilst the Reich Minister of Defence exercised military authority . Only in the Free State of Prussia did military authority remain with the State Minister of War . After the Weimar Constitution came into force , the remaining war ministries in the states of Bavaria , Saxony , Württemberg and Prussia were abolished and military authority was concentrated in the Reich Minister of Defence . Command was exercised respectively by the Chief of the " Heeresleitung " ( Army Command ) and the Chief of the " Marineleitung " ( Navy Command , see " Reichsmarine " ) . In 1929 a third office was established : the Ministerial Office , whose Chief functioned as the political representative of the Minister . The role of the General Staff was filled by the " Truppenamt " . The Social Democratic politician Gustav Noske became the first Minister of Defence of Germany . After the Nazi " Machtergreifung " , when the " Reichswehr " was recreated as the Wehrmacht in 1935 , the ministry was renamed " Reichskriegsministerium " ( Reich Ministry of War ) ; also , the " Heeresleitung " became the Oberkommando des Heeres ( OKH ) , the " Marineleitung " became the Oberkommando der Marine ( OKM ) and the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe ( OKL ) was newly created . The " Ministeramt " ( Ministerial Office ) was renamed the " Wehrmachtsamt " . In 1938 , following the Blomberg - Fritsch Affair , Hitler himself exercised the functions of the Reich War Minister . The " Wehrmachtsamt " was turned into the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht ( OKW ; High Command of the Armed Forces ) , which formally existed until the end of World War II . The High Command was not a government ministry , but a military command , however . After World War II , West Germany started with preparations for rearmament ( " Wiederbewaffnung " ) in 1950 , as ordered by Chancellor Konrad Adenauer . After the outbreak of the Korean War , the United States called for a West German contribution to the defence of Western Europe ( against the Soviet Union ) . Initially Gerhard Graf von Schwerin , a former Wehrmacht General , advised the Chancellor on these issues and led the preparations , but after Count Schwerin had talked to the press about his work , he was replaced by Theodor Blank , who was appointed as " Special Representative " of the Chancellor . As the rearmament plans met with harsh opposition by a wide circle within the West German population and contradicted the occupation statute , the government office responsible for the rearmament acted secretly , unofficially known as " Amt Blank " . By 1955 , the number of employees had surpassed 1 , 300 . On 7 June 1955 the office became the Ministry of Defence , or " Bundesministerium für Verteidigung " in German . The Bundeswehr was established and Germany joined the NATO the same year . In 1956 , Germany reintroduced conscription , and the German military force quickly became the largest conventional military force in Western Europe . To confirm the ministry ' s importance , it was renamed " Bundesministerium der Verteidigung " on 30 December 1961 , similar to the German names of the " classic " ministries of Finance , the Interior and Justice — though the federal minister is still denoted as " Bundesminister für Verteidigung " in Article 65a of the German Constitution . Until 1960 , the ministry had its seat in the Ermekeil barracks in Bonn . From 1960 onwards , it was moved to a new building complex at Hardthöhe . After German reunification , the Bendlerblock , former seat of its Weimar Republic predecessor , became the secondary seat of the ministry in 1993 . The German military has become increasingly engaged in international operations since the early 1990s , and saw combat in the 1999 Kosovo War against Yugoslavia . Currently , Germany has a large deployment in Afghanistan and other deployments around the world . List of Federal Ministers of Defence ( since 1955 ) . Political Party : Departments . As the Federal Minister of Defence also acts as High Commander of the German armed forces , the Ministry comprises military and civil departments :