Bundeswehr Centre for Public Affairs

The Academy of the Bundeswehr Centre for Public Affairs in Strausberg is responsible for training and education in public affairs as well as in personnel recruitment for the armed forces. It offers various training modules, some of them in specially equipped studios. Military and civilian Bundeswehr personnel are trained as press officers, youth officers, personnel recruiters and editors. Courses also include photography, cinematography and film/video editing.

In addition, there are media training programmes for Bundeswehr leadership personnel and preparatory courses focusing on the special communications challenges arising during deployments abroad. Every year, there are around 1,500 students on the Strausberg Bundeswehr Campus, attending modules of up to three weeks.

A special methodology applied at the Academy is known as “team teaching”: Experienced instructors and communication coaches with an academic background collaborate to develop high-quality training programmes and present them together. These courses are supported by selected external experts, such as journalists. Small training groups with a maximum of 12 participants ensure a focused and intensive working environment. The Academy’s quality management conforms to the international DINDeutsches Institut für Normung ISOInternational Organization for Standardization 29990 standard, and is annually reviewed and recertified.

The ,,Redaktion der Bundeswehr" (Bundeswehr Editorial Service) located in Berlin’s central Mitte district applies a cross-media approach to produce media content published by the Bundeswehr. Our products provide insights into the tasks of the Bundeswehr and the Federal Ministry of Defence. Products developed by the Editorial Service include the bimonthly ,,Y-Magazin,” central online websites such as ,,bundeswehr.de” and ,,bmvg.de” as well as activities on social media platforms such as youtube, flickr, instagram, facebook, and twitter.

The Bundeswehr Editorial Service is also the central point of contact for all questions asked by the public. Questions from citizens received via letters, e-mails and phone calls are answered by means of a ,,Bürgerdialog” (dialogue with the public). Part of the Editorial Service is a large archive which collects all products as well as all textual, photographic, audio, video and traditional film footage about the Bundeswehr. Apart from the Editorial Service staff, the materials available in the archive may also be retrieved and used by public and private broadcasting companies for editorial purposes, free of charge.

The Development division consists of three branches. It is directly tasked by the Press and Information Office of the FMoD, often referred to as its ,,workbench.” The predominantly academic staff of the division deals with a broad spectrum of tasks ranging from public affairs process management, public affairs policy development, issues concerning the content, design and technical development of media products (especially online media and social media), quality assurance and quality management to task-related special projects.

The members of the Development division (co-)produce, coordinate and review new public affairs (sub-)concept drafts, monitor and evaluate developments in the media market related to public afairs, and regularly conduct empirical surveys to identify topics and forms of communication of the Bundeswehr that were particularly successful, and why.

The results serve as a basis for recommendations concerning the further development of public affairs activities with regard to basic principles, training and education as well as practical editorial work. To this end, the division regularly evaluates the public perception of content published by the Bundeswehr, or major events such as the nation-wide Bundeswehr Day.

Serving as lecturers, the academic staff of the Development division, in particular, support the seminars offered by the Bundeswehr and Society Affairs division while organizing various specialist training modules hosted by the Academy division, with topics ranging from defence and security policy, aspects of public opinion research related to public affairs, to media law.

Members of the division also deal with information activities conducted by foreign armed forces, especially NATO partners, to open up new or interesting ways of communication in the field of security and defence policy for the FMoD, the Bundeswehr and other stakeholders. This includes keeping up to date with ideas and activities developed in terms of NATO’s strategic communications.
 

The Bundeswehr and Society Affairs division is an essential part of the Bundeswehr Centre for Public Affairs. It is responsible for the technical supervision of senior public relations officers and all youth officers of the Bundeswehr, and supports them in performing their public tasks as instructors on security and defence policy.

At the same time, the Bundeswehr and Society Affairs division is entrusted with planning, organizing and conducting Bundeswehr seminars. As part of core seminars, such as the prestigious Manfred-Wörner-Seminar, the Bundeswehr and Society Affairs division brings together young professionals and policy makers from the U. S. and all of Europe. The objective is to offer participants a seminar programme that will increase their understanding of the different facets of German security and defence policy, deepen existing knowledge and, most of all, provide a platform for dialogue and the exchange of ideas. Experts from the Bundeswehr, the Federal Government and its ministries as well as from national and international political institutions are invited to speak at these seminars. This makes, and keeps, German security and defence policy transparent, authentic and credible.

With a stock of 1.3 million media units ranging from books and digital media to valuable historic maps and prints, the library of the Bundeswehr Centre for Public Affairs is the largest military-scientific library in Germany. The collection comprises about 350 serial periodicals as well an extensive range of scientific literature from areas like security policy, history, social, political and communication sciences. With its modern equipment, the library offers extensive research opportunities, a large reference library with a reading room as well as access to the nation-wide interlibrary loan network. The library is open to the public. Entry to the library and lending are free of charge.

Opening hours of the library as of 01 September 2021:
Tuesday 10:00–16:00
Wednesday 10:00–19:00
Thursday 10:00–16:00

Please note that the current hygiene and distance rules apply in our building. At the moment we can only offer limited services, please call us for more information by telephone under +49 (0) 3341 58 2075/2071.