The Volkspolizei was a highly-centralized agency responsible for most civilian law enforcement in East Germany, maintaining 257,500 personnel at its peak.

[4] It was formally referred to as the Deutsche Volkspolizei ("German People's Police") from May 1949 onward, three months before the GDR's founding.

[2] It was dissolved during German reunification in 1990, and was superseded by the Bundespolizei of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Landespolizei of the reconstituted states of Saxony, Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania and Berlin.

[9] In terms of general policing duties, the Volkspolizei dealt with criminal activity as conventionally understood, such as theft, murder, and so on, but also performed duties including border protection, passport and identity controls, transport control, and the protection of sensitive buildings and areas, each of which were carried out by specialised departments.

[6] A critical part of the Volkspolizei was its grass-roots policing, introduced from 1952, whereby every GDR citizen had their own "section commissioner" (Abschnittsbevollmächtigte, ABV).

[11] The purpose of the ABV was to establish and cultivate a "close connection" with their section's population, in order to fulfil conventional policing duties, as well as enable the party to penetrate society at the very moment of the construction of socialism through state power.

[13] Police stations and court houses were attacked, and throughout the disturbances sections of the Volkspolizei were effectively paralysed, with some personnel even joining the protesters.

[17] The efficiency of these forces and the close cooperation between state and party organs was a key factor in maintaining the outward semblance of stability from 1953 to 1989.

The reasons Volkspolizei officers gave for joining the force were a desire to work with people, idealism, family tradition, belief in the system and the wish to serve one's country.

Ich werde unentwegt danach streben, gewissenhaft, ehrlich, mutig, diszipliniert und wachsam meine Dienstpflichten zu erfüllen.

Sollte ich dennoch diesen meinen feierlichen Eid brechen, so möge mich die Strafe der Gesetze unserer Republik treffen.

I swear, to be loyal to my socialist fatherland, the German Democratic Republic and its government at all times, to keep official and state secrets, and to strictly obey laws and instructions.

There were various kinds of uniforms, worn according to the work or social situation and differing in material for summer or winter wear.

The winter uniform also includes a fur pile cap or a steel helmet, boots, knitted grey gloves, belt, and suspenders.

The parade uniform (Paradeuniform) for officers was the semi-dress jacket worn with all awards and decorations, breeches and riding boots, steel helmet or police shako (Tschako) from 1950 to the late 1960s, white shirt, green neck-tie, and a ceremonial dagger on the left side, fastened to a silver-grey parade belt.

Generally, reconditioned items of service clothing; field, semi-dress and winter padded uniforms; some dyed black, were issued for all types of fatigue and maintenance details.

Women had their own uniforms consisting of jackets, skirts or slacks, blouses, caps, boots or pumps, and other appropriate items in accordance with the season and the occasion.

Volkspolizei uniform initially had green waffenfarben, but later reverted to white except for the transport police who wore blue.