Gustav Noske was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). He served as the first Minister of Defence (Reichswehrminister) of the Weimar Republic between 1919 and 1920. Noske was known for using army and paramilitary forces to suppress the socialist/communist uprisings of 1919.
Noske and Friedrich Ebert in the infamous "bathing suit picture", 16 July 1919, Illustrirte Zeitung
Ministry of the Reichswehr
The Ministry of the Reichswehr was the defence ministry of the Weimar Republic and the early Third Reich. The 1919 Weimar Constitution provided for a unified, national ministry of defence to coordinate the new Reichswehr, and that ministry was set up in October 1919, from the existing Prussian War Ministry and Reichsmarineamt. It was based in the Bendlerblock building. The Wehrgesetz of 21 May 1935 renamed it the Reich Ministry of War, which was then abolished in 1938 and replaced with the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht.
Entrance to the Bendlerblock.
Image: Bundesarchiv Bild 146 1968 100 04A, Otto Karl Geßler
Image: Bundesarchiv Bild 102 01049, Wilhelm Groener
Image: Kurt Von Scheleicher En 1932