Biography of Benedikt Zimmer

Benedikt Zimmer was appointed State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Defence (FMoD) in Berlin on 5 April 2018. Before being appointed State Secretary, he served as Director-General for Equipment at the FMoD from 2014 to 2018.

Born in Soltau on 9 October 1961, State Secretary Zimmer joined the Bundeswehr as a soldier with Tank Battalion 54 in Hessisch Lichtenau on 1 July 1981. While serving as an armour officer, he held several command assignments in the armed forces, including as the Commander of Tank Battalion 214, of Mechanized Infantry Brigade 41, and of Division SOUTH.

He completed two tours of duty in the Balkans as a member of the KFORKosovo Force NATO mission.

In his staff assignments, he was employed in a wide range of areas including personnel planning, mission and operations planning, as well as concepts and further development. Particularly worthy of mention in this respect are his assignments in the Army Staff and the Armed Forces Staff, as well as his assignment as division chief within the Directorate-General for Planning at the FMoD.

Between 1982 and 1986, State Secretary Zimmer completed a course of studies in Electrical Engineering at the Bundeswehr University Munich and received his degree as a Diplom-Ingenieur (graduate engineer). Besides general staff officers’ training at the Bundeswehr Command and Staff College (1994–1996), he also completed the British general staff officers’ training at the Joint Services Command and Staff College in Bracknell/GBR (1998–1999).

State Secretary Zimmer is married and has two grown-up sons.