The discussion over the correct titles for the Army, Navy, and Air Force of the Bundeswehr has been debated, off and on, several times over the past few years. I though it worthwhile to dedicate a thread to discuss/debate/clarify the official names, etc.
I served in the US military in Germany back in the 1980s and there was still considerable effort given to distancing the Bundeswehr from the Wehrmacht. The basic understanding I had was that 'Bundes' translated to "Federal". Bundesluftwaffe was Federal Air Force; Bundemarine was Federal Navy, etc. These terms, whether grammatically correct of not, feature in official documents and websites of these service branches so I'm presuming the Army, Navy, and Air Forces know how to correctly refer to themselves!
Historically, the service branch names have changed over the past 100 years:
Navy:
Kaiserliche Marine -> Reichsmarine -> (Wehrmacht) Kriegsmarine -> (Bundeswehr) Bundesmarine -> (Bundeswehr)Deutsche Marine
Air Force:
Luftstreitkräfte -> (Wehrmacht) Luftwaffe -> (Bundeswehr) Bundesluftwaffe -> (Bundeswehr) Luftwaffe
Army:
Kaiserlich Deutsches Heer -> Reichsheer -> (Wehrmacht) Heer -> (Bundeswehr) Deutsches Heer
I served in the US military in Germany back in the 1980s and there was still considerable effort given to distancing the Bundeswehr from the Wehrmacht. The basic understanding I had was that 'Bundes' translated to "Federal". Bundesluftwaffe was Federal Air Force; Bundemarine was Federal Navy, etc. These terms, whether grammatically correct of not, feature in official documents and websites of these service branches so I'm presuming the Army, Navy, and Air Forces know how to correctly refer to themselves!
Historically, the service branch names have changed over the past 100 years:
Navy:
Kaiserliche Marine -> Reichsmarine -> (Wehrmacht) Kriegsmarine -> (Bundeswehr) Bundesmarine -> (Bundeswehr)Deutsche Marine
Air Force:
Luftstreitkräfte -> (Wehrmacht) Luftwaffe -> (Bundeswehr) Bundesluftwaffe -> (Bundeswehr) Luftwaffe
Army:
Kaiserlich Deutsches Heer -> Reichsheer -> (Wehrmacht) Heer -> (Bundeswehr) Deutsches Heer