Army general (), was the highest peacetime general officer rank in the so-called armed organs of the GDR (), that is, the Ministry of National Defence, the Stasi, and the Ministry of the Interior. It is comparable to the four-star rank in many NATO armed forces. It was aligned with Soviet military doctrine and other armed forces of the Warsaw Pact.
The rank was reserved to minister level exclusively. Consequently, in the National People's Army service branches, Landstreitkräfte, Luftstreitkräfte/Luftverteidigung, Border troops, and Volksmarine there was no equivalent. However, if a Navy flag officer was designated or appointed Minister of National Defence he would be promoted to Flottenadmiral. When the armed organs of the GDR were disbanded in October 1990, the rank was abolished.
Rankholders
East German officers who achieved the rank were:
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! scope="col" | Name
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Portrait
! scope="col" | Position
! scope="col" | Year of Rank
|-
| Willi Stoph
| 75px
| Minister of National Defence
| 1959
|-
| Heinz Hoffmann
| 75px
| Minister of National Defence
| 1961
|-
| Erich Mielke
| 75px
| Minister for State Security
| 1980
|-
| Friedrich Dickel
| 75px
| Minister of Interior
| 1984
|-
| Heinz Kessler
| 75px
| Minister of National Defence
| 1985
|}
Insignia
{| class=wikitable
!colspan="10"| Armeegeneral / Flottenadmiral (OF-9)
|- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" align="center"
! 25px GDR MFS
!colspan="3"| 25px GDR MOD
! Ministry of Interior
|-align="center"
| 55px
| 55px
| 55px
| 50px
|
|-
! style="background:red; color:white;" colspan="2"| Armeegeneral
!colspan="2" style="background: #040040; color:white;"| Flottenadmiral
! style="background:#00a068; color:white;" style="background:#00a068; color:white;" |Armeegeneral
|}
Army general in other countries
The rank widely used in other armed forces of socialist countries, such as:
- Bulgaria: Армейски генерал (Armeyski general)
- Czechoslovakia: Armádní generál / Armádny Generál
- Hungary: Hadseregtábornok
- Poland: Generał armii
- Romania: General de armată
- Soviet Union: Генерал армии (General armii)
- Yugoslavia: Генерал армије
{| align="center" class="toccolours" border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0.5em auto; clear: both;"
|-
|width="30%" align="center" style="background:#cfcfcf;"|Junior Rank<br />
|width="40%" align="center" style="background:#bfbfbf;"|<br />Armeegeneral<br /><small>(Flottenadmiral)</small>
|width="30%" align="center" style="background:#afafaf;"|Senior rank<br />Marshal of the GDR<br /> (wartime only)
|}
See also
- General (Germany)
- Military ranks of East Germany
- Corps colours (NPA)