A historical shift

“It felt a bit strange, standing at the airport with just a suitcase, knowing that I wasn’t just moving to another city, but to another country,” 42-year-old Raphael told me when I visited him and his colleague Danny, 37, at the barracks in Nemenčinė in April [following German military policy, only first names of soldiers are used]. Nemenčinė, located near Lithuania’s capital Vilnius, hosts the initial German forces while permanent infrastructure is under construction.

Raphael and Danny arrived in Lithuania in October 2024 – not by order, but by personal conviction. They volunteered for the deployment, as have all the soldiers who have arrived in Lithuania so far. Germany is planning to contribute around 4,800 soldiers and 200 civilian staff to Lithuania by 2027. Together they will form the 45th Brigade. The Bundeswehr, the armed forces of Germany, has never permanently stationed this many troops abroad before.

Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has repeatedly praised the deployment of the 45th Brigade in Lithuania as a flagship of the ‘Zeitenwende’, a term used by former Chancellor Olaf Scholz to show Germany’s historic shift after Russia invaded Ukraine. In total, Scholz committed 100 billion euros to modernising the Bundeswehr and pledged to meet NATO’s 2% GDP (now – 5%) defense target. This strategic turn marked the end of Germany’s traditional military restraint.

Since 1991, around 445,000 German soldiers have been deployed abroad, in missions spanning Kosovo, Iraq, Mali, and Lebanon. In traditional deployments, troops rotate every three months, but the situation in Lithuania is different. Here, the soldiers are deployed permanently and there is good reason for why this has happened. According to the German Ministry of Defense, Lithuania is “the most vulnerable state on the eastern flank of NATO” due to its geopolitical position between Belarus and Russia’s enclave of Kaliningrad. As Pistorius said, “Lithuania’s security is also our [Germany’s] security.”

In Germany, there have been domestic political debates surrounding the Bundeswehr for years. Some citizens are sceptical about higher defense budgets. Politicians and parts of civil society warn of a creeping militarisation of foreign policy, for example through arms deliveries to conflict zones. Supporters, however, argue that facing threats like Russia’s war requires military responsibility and readiness. In a recent poll in Germany, 70% of respondents answered ‘good’ to the question ‘Do you think it is good or not good that Germany wants to spend significantly more money on defence and the Bundeswehr in the future?’

While Germany continues to debate its defence policies, Russia’s army is continuing its assault on Ukrainian civilians and soldiers – many of whom had no previous military experience and didn’t choose a soldier’s path. Since Russia launched the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, more than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians, including 650 children, have been killed, according to UN data. The UN has added that this number is undercount since they only include verified deaths. In addition, close to 400,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or wounded, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The human toll of Russia’s army has surpassed one million, according to Mediazona.

As of April 2025, around 300 German soldiers are already on-site in Lithuania. Raphael and Danny are among the first in Nemenčinė, using the Lithuanian Armed Forces’ existing facilities. By 2027 the soldiers will relocate to Rūdninkai and Rukla – strategic locations near Vilnius and Kaunas. Rūdninkai, just 10 kilometers from Belarus, allows for rapid response to potential threats in this sensitive area. This September, Russia will be hosting the Zapad military exercise in Belarus, near the border of Lithuania.

A family decision

Raphael has served with the Bundeswehr for over 20 years, after first volunteering for military service in 2002. Throughout his career, he has held various positions, from infantry to logistics. Now Raphael is a material disposition sergeant, managing supply chains – tracking military gear, assigning equipment, and ordering civilian supplies like pencils and kitchen tools. “We started from scratch [in Lithuania]. It’s demanding but fulfilling,” he says, as we meet in the barracks café.

Raphael learned he would be relocating to Lithuania just a few weeks before his departure – stepping in when another soldier withdrew. He took a short vacation in Lithuania, and found a house to rent.

Danny came to Lithuania with his wife and children. Had his family not agreed to come along, he wouldn’t have come either, he tells me. As the transport officer, Danny coordinates local vehicle logistics: “I’m one of the main contacts when someone needs to go somewhere.” After completing his basic military training service in Berlin in 2010, he then worked in the civilian sector as a confectioner and roofer before rejoining the Bundeswehr. After a decade as a military police officer in Hanover and two deployments, he relocated to Lithuania.

A few days later I met Jacky, Danny’s wife, at their new home near Vilnius. The family lives here with their two daughters, their dog Apollo, and cat Peanut. Jacky says she was “pretty relaxed” about moving to Lithuania, having discussed Danny’s desire to be stationed abroad. “If Danny goes, we all go,” Jacky says when describing their thinking before moving and ruling out a long-distance relationship.

But their five and nine-year-old daughters had different ideas. “Leaving school, leaving kindergarten, leaving friends – they couldn’t quite imagine it at that time,” Jacky recounts. A few tears have been shed but now things are different. “They’ve made good connections here and are very happy,” says Danny. When they miss their old home, video calls to Germany help. “And they love going to school here,” Jacky adds. Their family is very satisfied with the international school. Jacky says it’s better than the one in Germany: “The school is well-equipped, and the child is the focus.”

In Germany, Jacky was an inclusion specialist at a primary school, supporting children with additional needs. She had to quit her job before moving to Lithuania, but kept the option to return if they decided to go back. “That made the decision easier,” she recalls. Since she doesn’t have a completed degree from a university, Jacky cannot yet work as an educator in Lithuania but plans to start a distance-learning program to establish herself professionally.

The family views Lithuania as a temporary home and have kept their house in Germany. For now, Danny is stationed here for three years. However, he says he’d like to extend and Jacky is open to that. In Lithuania, she is particularly impressed by nature and the people’s relaxed demeanor. Although the language is sometimes still a challenge at doctors’ appointments, for example.

The proximity of the war is also on Jacky’s mind. The children know why they’re here, “...but we don’t let that restrict us – we continue to live our lives normally. If things escalate, the children and I can leave at any time,” Jacky says. When asked how she handles the possibility that Danny might face combat, she replies that, “he receives good training and knows what he’s doing. Of course, it would be hard if we had to go and leave him behind.” Jacky has already spoken with the military chaplaincy, who assured her of psychological support in such a case. “But we can only take it as it comes. That’s part of being a soldier’s wife.”

A warm welcome

For the official inauguration of the German brigade on May 22, 2025, Chancellor Friedrich Merz travelled to Vilnius. “Our shared peace knows no geographic limits – it ends where we stop defending it,” stated Merz. Hundreds of people attended the ceremony at the Cathedral Square.

Raphael and Danny say they feel respected in Lithuania, unlike in Germany, where the military’s reputation remains mixed.

Raphael, who has been deployed to Afghanistan three times, says he often had to justify his service to German civilians and has frequently faced hurtful comments. Danny recalls a similar feeling: “In Berlin, during my basic training, I was spat on.” In Germany, there are directives prohibiting wearing the uniform off-duty. “I’ve often wondered whether it makes sense to wear the uniform for a population that doesn’t really want us,” admits Raphael.

It’s different in Lithuania. “At the Military Armed Forces Day, for example, people shouted to me in Lithuanian and German: ‘Great that you’re here!’ That gives me a good feeling. When you look into the happy faces as the military parades through the streets, and are thanked for our work, it’s a completely different picture,” says Danny. Civilians show appreciation by letting soldiers skip lines or shaking hands. “You can be a soldier here and feel comfortable in your skin,” says Raphael.

There is a reason for this sharp difference between the two countries. Professor Margarita Šešelgytė, Director of the Institute of International Relations and Political Science at Vilnius University, explains: “We are a small country standing against a very big and very aggressive country.” For Lithuania, a country of 2.8 million people, and a long history of Russian occupation, the backing of capable and committed European allies is essential.

Šešelgytė stresses that: “If Russia crosses our border, it can overrun the country in a relatively short time. And we know that Russia is occupying the territories – we’ve seen what happened in Bucha and other Ukrainian cities. So our defense goal is to defend ourselves at our border, not let Russians cross it. But for that, we need additional armed forces and equipment.”

She adds that Lithuania’s experience has shaped a deep understanding of the need for strong defense investments: “Otherwise you might lose your independence and sovereignty.”

German soldiers were last in Lithuania more than 80 years ago and in a very different time of history. During WWII, in June 1941, Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union, including Lithuania, which was abducted to the Soviet bloc at the time. Many Lithuanians initially welcomed the Germans as liberators, hoping for an end to Soviet terror. Those hopes couldn’t be further from the truth: Nazi Germany installed a brutal occupation regime which led to the killing of over 90 percent of Lithuania’s Jews – more than 200,000 people.

Other groups also suffered under Nazi rule. At least 500 Roma – roughly one-third of Lithuania’s Roma population – were killed. Between 1,200 and 1,500 psychiatric patients were starved or died as a result of inhumane treatment and medical abuse. The Paneriai massacre, carried out near Vilnius, was one of the largest mass killing sites of Jews in Europe. Up to 70,000 people were executed there – the vast majority Jews – along with at least 7,500 Soviet prisoners of war and around 2,000 Poles, primarily members of the intelligentsia. Political opponents and people who resisted Nazi rule, or helped Jews, were also arrested, deported, and executed by the Gestapo and collaborating Lithuanian police forces.

Today, the presence of the German Bundeswehr in Lithuania is in striking contrast to WWII: Germany is no longer an occupier, but a key security ally.

This June, soldiers from 45th Brigade took part in restoring a historic Jewish cemetery in Merkinė, as part of their acknowledgment of the past. Speaking at the event, German Ambassador to Lithuania Dr. Cornelius Zimmermann emphasized: “Germany’s historical responsibility for the crimes of the Nazis is indisputable.”

Looking ahead

The two soldiers haven’t felt homesick yet. “As a soldier, you’re expected to be deployable anywhere in Germany. Whether I’m stationed a few hours away within Germany, or take a flight to work here, makes no difference to me,” says Danny. “I can live anywhere. Wherever my locker is, I am at home.”

Asked what they miss, Raphael and Danny both laugh: “Mettbrötchen” – bread roll topped with raw minced pork – a typical German dish.

Danny says that his motivation is to serve the country, even in critical times. “I always wanted to wear a uniform – police officer, firefighter, something with responsibility. I ended up sticking with the Bundeswehr,” he says. Money also plays a role: “I simply want to offer the best possible life for my children.”

Raphael shares a similar feeling: “I would sign up again [for the Bundeswehr] in a heartbeat.” He emphasizes the bigger picture: “We do what no one else in the Federal Republic does. We would give the most valuable thing we have – our lives.” Would he call himself brave? “Courage is relative. Some of my colleagues are afraid of spiders but would go to war. So yes, I think you could call that brave,” says Raphael.

The war in Ukraine feels close – geographically and emotionally. When asked about fear, Raphael responds: “Respect [for the danger of war], yes. Fear, no. We are soldiers. You can’t do the job with fear”. This is probably why there aren’t so many people who want to do this job, Raphael suspects. There are currently around 181,000 soldiers serving in the German armed forces. Not enough, as this year’s military report shows. According to its own estimates, the Bundeswehr would need more than 200,000 soldiers by 2031. That can be difficult to achieve as the young generation is reluctant to join the forces, even after – or because of – the full scale invasion of Ukraine.

Since the suspension of compulsory military service in 2011, there has been no automatic influx of recruits in Germany, which makes voluntary recruitment much more difficult. In addition, the Bundeswehr is competing with more attractive civilian employers for skilled workers, for example in the tech sector. How soldiers perceive the threat of war also plays a role in their commitment.

“[The risk is] much higher today than it was a few years ago. We’ll have to wait and see to what extent it will affect us here [in Lithuania] directly,” says Danny. “We know about the geographical situation, we are aware that the war could spill over,” Raphael adds. However, Danny emphasizes, “No father would bring his children here if he weren’t convinced that it is safe. Personally, I feel very safe and have no concerns about the war coming here.”

Looking ahead, Raphael is unequivocal that “...whether active or as a reservist – I don’t want to do anything else. I hope that I can stay here as long as possible.” They both simply wish for health and peace. “In a few years, I want to be here – and without war,” Danny says with conviction. “And I hope that it doesn’t come to an assignment.”