NVA cartoon

The NCO School IV “Paul Fröhlich” in Zwickau was located in barracks buildings that had existed since 1885 and were sometimes used by the military and sometimes by the police. The NCO school was given its traditional name by the Zwickau SED politician Paul Fröhlich one year after his death in 1970. After the NVA reorganized its training operations in 1969, the NCO schools were used by the NVA to train enlisted men as non-commissioned officers. Soldiers from the motorized rifle division were trained in Zwickau, including tank units. This included military and military-technical content as well as pedagogical content to train leadership skills. However, there was also a focus on political education, which had an impact on the soldiers’ leisure activities as well as teaching units.

In general, NVA soldiers had little free time compared to those of the Bundeswehr, as 85% of the personnel always had to be ready for combat within a few minutes and thus on site as part of the permanent combat readiness.

For this reason, many soldiers regularly spent their weekends in the barracks and tried to kill time somehow; some joined forces to become artistically active. These drawings were created during a few evenings spent together, in which an artistically talented soldier drew caricatures for his comrades to trace and color. The drawings depict scenes from everyday life in the barracks, but also, as in this drawing, unusual and humorous situations. The figures with the “bulbous noses” are reminiscent of the characters of the well-known GDR comic artist Heinz Jankofsky, who also liked to take the NVA to task.

The accident of a T-55 with a power pole, which is artistically depicted here, probably actually happened and ended with a lot of trouble for the crew, according to the recollection of the contemporary witness. The NVA continued to use the T-55 series tanks for training purposes even after they were “replaced” by the T-72.

Object of the month

(short) stories from the depot

Unfortunately, many objects cannot currently be shown in the exhibition for conservation reasons. Here you will find unusual objects and exciting stories of special pieces from the depot