1st Panzer Division (Bundeswehr)

The 1st Panzer Division is an armoured division of the German Army. It also bears the designation Intervention Force Division . Its staff is based at Hanover. In the course of the current reorganisation of the Bundeswehr it will become the backbone of Germany's newly formed intervention forces which will have a manpower of 35,000 soldiers in total. This division is equipped and trained for high intensity combat operations against militarily organized enemies as well as peacekeeping missions. The majority of all German troops assigned to EU-Battlegroups and Nato Response Forces will come from this division. It also represents Germany's permanent contribution to the binational I. German/Dutch Corps.The 43rd Mechanized Brigade of the Royal Netherlands Army is being integrated into the 1st Panzer Division, and will be operational from 2019.HistoryThis division was formed on July 1, 1956, the day of the official inauguration of the Bundeswehr. It was the first fully operational unit of the new German Army. At first referred to as 1st Grenadier Division, it was reorganized in the 1980s and made fully armoured in 1981. During this period it was part of I Corps of the Bundeswehr Heer, in turn part of NATO's Northern Army Group, Allied Forces Central Europe.