In August 1945, the four allied powers: America, Britain, France and Russia, divided Germany into four military occupation zones. America took control of the Southern area (comprising what are today the states of Baden-Wurttemberg, Bavaria, Bremen & Hessen). Britain took the North West (comprising Schleswig Holstein, Hamburg, Nordrhein Westfalen and Niedersachsen), France the South West (comprising Rheinland Pfalz and Saarland) and Russia the East (comprising what is today Brandenburg, Thuringen, Sachsen, Sachsen / Anhalt & Mecklenburg Vorpommern). The Capitol of Berlin was also divided into four quadrants.
The German Democratic Republic was created in 1949 following the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). East Germany existed as a separate entity until 1990 when the two countries re-united.
Unlike West Germany, which had de-centralized individual state police agencies, East Germany maintained a centralized structure similar to the one in place during the III Reich. The Volkspolizei was a subordinate of the MdI (Ministry of the Interior). The Volkspolizei itself comprised several sub-commands, including: General Police, Traffic Police, Railway Police (Originally part of the Ministry for State Security), Criminal Police, Water Police, and Aviation Police, Border Police, Riot Police & Fire.
While localized policing was instituted by the Soviet Military Administration in Germany (SVAG) beginning in 1945, the actual term “Volkspolizei” did not come into existence until 1946. Most of the original members were former Wehrmacht officers. Unfortunately, they lasted only till 1949 when the SVAG purged the VoPo of all politically undesirable individuals which include the former Wehrmacht personnel. With the creation of the GDR, the Volkspolizei came into a “true” existence as the official police force of German Democratic Republic.
The original VoPo was actually quite large, amounting to over 45,000 members. They were in fact the original state security force, at least until 1956 when the Volksarmee was instituted. Ironically, while the former Wehrmacht officers were deemed politically undesirable for the Volkspolizei, they were well received in the NVA. Former Wehrmacht officers comprised nearly 2/3 of the top command staff of the early NVA.
In 1952 the position of Abschnittsbevollmächtigter was established. In addition to other duties, the ABV was basically the link to the Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (Stasi).
At the end, the VoPo personnel numbered in the 80,000 range, with a civilian auxiliary numbering around double that amount.
Original rank & insignia was modeled closely after III Reich insignia. But these also underwent changes as time progressed. Between 1946 and 1990, there was as much variety in insignia, rank, etc.. as there was in all of the states comprising West Germany. This included utilization of the old “Waffenfarbe” system to distinguish between subordinate units. As time allows, I will attempt to outline these as clearly as possible.
Exactly what was used immediately after the war is unknown to this writer. My guess is that local police may have used what was available to them. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable can help out in this particular area. The first record of officially recognized insignia of Volkspolizei insignia I have seen is dated 1949.
I will preface this entry with the understanding that my understanding of the Volkspolizei is not as good as that of my understanding of West Germany. There are many others who are much more well versed, and I hope that they will add their input to this section. That being said, as time permits, I will try to add outlines of the various components and insignia I have.
