Facts and Figures about the Bundeswehr

The Bundeswehr has a total of 260 messing facilities in Germany and abroad. They are distributed as follows:

• In Germany: 244
• Abroad and on operations: 16

A total of 19 different main courses are prepared per week. From Monday to Thursday, there are four each day. On Fridays, there are three different main courses. In 2018, over 20.2 million meals were served in Germany, and around 3.3 million were served on operations.

A standard individual field ration weighs about 1,200 grams. Individual field rations are available in five standard versions (types I through V) and in nine types of the light version (types VI through XIV). The light versions weigh between 700 and 850 grams. Unlike the light individual field ration, the main courses of types I through V can also be eaten cold. In 2018, the Bundeswehr Subsistence Office sent around 225,000 of these packages.

There are a total of 19 different main courses. Types XIII and XIV of the light individual field ration are completely vegetarian.

They keep for at least three and a half years.

The Bundeswehr supports 744 top athletes, as well as 19 Paralympic athletes and 40 military athletes. More than 40 people in the sports promotion section provide support.

Since 1992, the Bundeswehr’s military athletes have won a total of 3,876 medals in European championships, world championships and the Olympic Games. They are distributed as follows:

Accounting for around 30 percent of the teams, Bundeswehr athletes have won about 45 percent of all of Germany’s Olympic medals.

Since 1991, almost 445,000 military personnel have participated in operations abroad, standby commitments and recognised missions. At the moment, there are more than 3,300 on twelve operations on three continents.

On 3 October 1990, the day of German reunification, the armed forces had almost 600,000 uniformed members and civilian employees. Today, there are about 264,000.