Jörg Schönbohm is a German politician (CDU) and a retired Lieutenant General

Lieutenant General

Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....

. He was the first commander of the Bundeswehr

Bundeswehr

The Bundeswehr consists of the unified armed forces of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities...

 Eastern Command in 1990, which supervised the absorption of the East German National People's Army

National People's Army

The National People’s Army were the armed forces of the German Democratic Republic .The NVA was established in 1956 and disestablished in 1990. There were frequent reports of East German advisors with Communist African countries during the Cold War...

 into the Federal German armed forces. In 1991 he became the Inspector of the Army

Inspector of the Army

The Inspector of the Army is the senior serving officer in the German Army of the modern day German Armed Forces or Bundeswehr.He is responsible for the readiness of personnel and materiel in the German Army, in that regard he reports directly to the Federal Minister of Defence...

, the highest-ranking officer in the German Army

German Army

The German Army is the land component of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. Following the disbanding of the Wehrmacht after World War II, it was re-established in 1955 as the Bundesheer, part of the newly formed West German Bundeswehr along with the Navy and the Air Force...

; upon his retirement in 1992 he became Under Secretary for Security policy in the Federal Ministry of Defence

Federal Ministry of Defence (Germany)

The Federal Ministry of Defence is a top-level federal agency, headed by the Federal Minister of Defence as a member of the Cabinet of Germany...

. From 1996 to 1998 Schönbohm was Senator of the Interior for the city of Berlin, and from 1999 to 2009 he held the same office as Interior Minister

Interior minister

An interior ministry is a government ministry typically responsible for policing, national security, and immigration matters. The ministry is often headed by a minister of the interior or minister of home affairs...

 for the state of Brandenburg

Brandenburg

Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...

.

Personal life

Schönbohm is Protestant, married with three children and resides in Kleinmachnow

Kleinmachnow

Kleinmachnow is a municipality in the Potsdam-Mittelmark district, in Brandenburg, Germany.-Geography:It is situated southwest of the centre of Berlin, immediately neighbouring the borough of Steglitz-Zehlendorf, and east of Potsdam...

 in Potsdam-Mittelmark

Potsdam-Mittelmark

Potsdam-Mittelmark is a Kreis in the western part of Brandenburg, Germany. Neighboring are the district Havelland, the district free cities Brandenburg and Potsdam, the Bundesland Berlin, the district Teltow-Fläming, and the districts Wittenberg, Anhalt-Bitterfeld and Jerichower Land in...

. His brother Wulf is a CDU politician as well.

Works

• Jörg Schönbohm, Two Armies and One Fatherland: The End of the Nationale Volksarmee, Berghahn Books, 1996, ISBN 1571810692, 9781571810694

External links

• Official Bio: German Army