The Felix Dzerzhinsky Guards Regiment (German: Wachregiment "Feliks E. Dzierzynski") was the paramilitary wing of the Ministry for State Security (Stasi), the security service of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). The Felix Dzerzhinsky Guards Regiment was called a regiment, however the elite formation gradually grew to the size of a motorized infantry division with its constituent Kommandos made up of battalions. Its role in the Stasi was the protection of buildings and high-ranking officials of the GDR government and the Socialist Unity Party of Germany. It was composed of experienced and ideologically reliable men separate from the National People's Army that could be deployed to suppress rebellion and unrest. History The Guards Battalion A at the MfS (Wachbataillon A beim MfS) was founded on January 1, 1951 as an armed force to complement the Ministry for State Security (MfS or Stasi), the security service of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). The GDR was a de facto communist state established in 1949 from the Soviet occupation zone and was ruled by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) with significant Soviet influence. Despite authoritarian measures to suppress political opposition, the threat of instability remained. The SED followed the Soviet model of creating a dedicated elite and politically loyal armed force to protect itself. The Guards Battalion A participated in the suppression of the Uprising of 1953 against the SED's Stalinist policies. In November 1954, the Guards Battalion A was set up as the official paramilitary wing of the Stasi and its staff headquartered in Adlershof, East Berlin. In August 1961, units of the Guards Battalion A participated in the construction of the Berlin Wall. In 1967, the Guards Battalion A was officially renamed the Felix Dzerzhinsky Guards Regiment (Wachregiment "Feliks E. Dzierzynski") in honor of Felix Dzerzhinsky, founder of the Cheka. The Felix Dzerzhinsky Guards Regiment's major task was the protection of the SED, especially its buildings in the capital of East Berlin, and from 1960 providing security for the party leaders' private residential compound, Waldsiedlung, located north of Berlin near Wandlitz. The Stasi was dissolved on 13 January 1990 and its facilities and responsibilities taken over by the GDR's Ministry of the Interior (Ministerium des Innern), but the regiment continued to exist. The Felix Dzerzhinsky Guards Regiment was formally dissolved on 2 October 1990, the day before the GDR was dissolved in the German reunification. Duties While the FDGR's main