Ministry of the Reichswehr

Ministry of the Reichswehr

Reichswehrministerium (German)
Entrance to the Bendlerblock.
Ministry overview
Formed	October 1919 (1919-10)
Dissolved	4 February 1938 (1938-02-04)
Jurisdiction	Government of Weimar Republic Government of Nazi Germany
Headquarters	Bendlerblock
Minister responsible	Defence minister

The Ministry of the Reichswehr (German: Reichswehrministerium) was the defence ministry of the Weimar Republic and the early Third Reich. The 1919 Weimar Constitution provided for a unified, national ministry of defence to coordinate the new Reichswehr, and that ministry was set up in October 1919, from the existing Prussian War Ministry and Reichsmarineamt. It was based in the Bendlerblock building. The Wehrgesetz (Defence Law) of 21 May 1935^[1] renamed it the Reich Ministry of War (German: Reichskriegsministerium), which was then abolished in 1938 and replaced with the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht.