Border Troops of the German Democratic Republic

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Border Troops of the German Democratic Republic" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (October 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Border Troops of the German Democratic Republic
Grenztruppen der DDR
Active	1 December 1946 – September 1990
Country	East Germany
Branch	Ministry of National Defense (1961–1990) Nationale Volksarmee (1961–1971) Ministry of the Interior (1946–1952, 1953–1961) Ministry for State Security (1952–1953)
Size	47,000
Garrison/HQ	Pätz
Commanders
General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party	Abolished
Chairman of the National Defense Council	Abolished

The Border Troops of the German Democratic Republic (German: Grenztruppen der DDR) was the border guard of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1946 to 1990.

The Grenztruppen were the primary force guarding the Berlin Wall and the Inner German border, the GDR's international borders between West Berlin and West Germany respectively. The force belonged to the Ministry of National Defence (MfNV) from 1961, and was a service branch of the National People's Army until 1971 when it became directly subordinate to the MfNV. The Border Troops numbered approximately 47,000 personnel at its peak, consisting of volunteers and conscripts, the third-largest Warsaw Pact border guard after the Soviet Border Troops and Poland's Border Protection Troops.

The Grenztruppen's main role was preventing Republikflucht, the illegal migration from the GDR, and were controversially responsible for many deaths at the Berlin Wall.