Biography Hans-Bernhard Weißerth
Hans-Bernhard Weißerth started his career in the European Union in November 1999 in the Policy Unit CSDP Task Force of the High Representative (HR) for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana. Later, he worked in the European External Action Service in the Crisis Management and Planning Directorate (CMPD), and in this context, in 2005, he became responsible for the development and management of the European Security and Defence College. According to the various stages of the ESDC’s development, he acted as Head of the ESDC Secretariat, as Acting Head of the ESDC, and finally, in 2013, he was appointed by the former HR, Catherine Ashton, as Head of the ESDC when the College was established as a legal entity.
Before taking up his post in the Policy Unit of the HR in November 1999, he was a career General Staff Officer (German Armed Forces); he graduated from Bundeswehr University in Munich (Education & Sciences), the General Staff Officer Course at the Führungsakademie Bundeswehr in Hamburg (1984–1986), and the Hogere Krijgsschool in The Hague (1988–1990), and subsequently held various planning roles at operational and strategic level. Since 1993, he has performed various functions in the field of European Security and Defence Policy at different levels: Western European Union (WEU) Planning Staff in Brussels (1993–1996); Assistant National Military Representative to the WEU and NATO in Brussels (1996–1998); German Ministry of Defence, Security and Defence Policy Division in Bonn and Berlin (1998 / 1999).
As of 1 April 2015, Hans-Bernhard Weißerth retired and has since been living in Germany, near the city of Gütersloh in East Westphalia.