Felix Dzerzhinsky Guards Regiment

Felix Dzerzhinsky Guards Regiment
Wachregiment "Feliks E. Dzierzynski"
Felix Dzerzhinsky Guards Regiment insignia
ActiveNovember 1954 – 2 October 1990
Country East Germany
BranchMinistry for State Security
TypeMotorized infantry
RoleHonour Guard
Anti-tank warfare
Armoured warfare
Artillery observer
Counterinsurgency
Crowd control
Internal security
Law enforcement
Military engineering
Public security
Raiding
Reconnaissance
Riot control
Urban warfare
Size11,426 (1989)
Garrison/HQAdlershof, East Berlin
MarchPräsentiermarsch des Wachregiment "Feliks Dzierzynski"
Insignia
Regimental flag
Cuffband

The Felix Dzerzhinsky Guards Regiment (German: Wachregiment "Feliks E. Dzierzynski") was the paramilitary wing of the Ministry for State Security (Stasi),[1] the security service of the German Democratic Republic (GDR).

The Felix Dzerzhinsky Guards Regiment was called a regiment, however the elite formation gradually grew to the size of a motorized infantry division with its constituent Kommandos made up of battalions. Its role in the Stasi was the protection of buildings and high-ranking officials of the GDR government and the Socialist Unity Party of Germany and was also a highly trained Motorized Infantry and public security force.[2][3]

It was composed of experienced and ideologically reliable men separate from the National People's Army that could be deployed to suppress rebellion and unrest.[4][5]

  1. ^ "New Berlin state secretary haunted by Stasi past | DW | 21.12.2016". Deutsche Welle.
  2. ^ "State and Society [en] - Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e.V."
  3. ^ https://www.ghi-dc.org/fileadmin/publications/Bulletin_Supplement/Supplement_9/supp9.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  4. ^ Forester, Thomas M., The East German Army; Second in the Warsaw Pact, George Allen & Unwin Ltd, London, 1980.[page needed]
  5. ^ "Das Wachregiment des MFS".