Volkspolizei

The Deutsche Volkspolizei (DVP, German for "German People's Police"), commonly known as the Volkspolizei or VoPo, was the national police force of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1945 to 1990. The Volkspolizei was a highly-centralized agency responsible for most civilian law enforcement in East Germany, maintaining 257,500 personnel at its peak. History of the Volkspolizei The Volkspolizei was effectively founded in June 1945 when the Soviet Military Administration in Germany (SVAG) established central police forces in the regions of Nazi Germany it occupied following after World War II. The SVAG approved the arming of community-level police forces on 31 October 1945, but nevertheless remained a non-militarised force, and by 1946 the Volkspolizei comprised some 22,000 personnel. The police force experienced several challenges at this time: the proportion of non-trained personnel between 65 and 95% undermined its professionalism and turnover rates of personnel were initially as high as 50%, affecting the stability of the workforce. By 1948, Volkspolizei membership had increased to approximately 65,000, but there were still issues of political unreliability and insufficient professional aptitude, which prompted a purge of 10,000 from the force in 1949; as a consequence, 86% of its membership were now members of the ruling Socialist Unity Party of Germany. It was formally referred to as the Deutsche Volkspolizei ("German People's Police") from May 1949 onward, three months before the GDR's founding. It was dissolved during German reunification in 1990, and was superseded by the Bundespolizei of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Landespolizei of the reconstituted states of Saxony, Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania and Berlin. With the founding of the GDR in 1949, the Volkspolizei was subordinated to the Ministry of the Interior.