A contract was signed on 5th September 1958 between East German and Soviet governments to delivery 12 Soviet MiG-19S for a valour of 17.25 million Ostmark. From March to September 1959, East German technicians underwent conversion training at Savasleyka Air Base, in the USSR, with the first 12 pilots taking training courses on the type from June to September.
The 1. Staffel (Squadron) of the Fliegergeschwader 3 (Air Wing 3) was the first unit to be equipped with the fighter in August 1959. However, for various kinds of reasons, the MiG-19s weren't operational until 1961. They relegated the outdated MiG-15bis, which were assigned to training units and had to serve alongside the MiG-17F in the FG.3.
The unit was renamed as Jagdfliegergeschwader 3 (JG.3) in January 1961 and eventually received the nickname of "Wladimir Komarov". The first squadron of this unit was equipped with MiG-19Ss until 1st September 1963 when it was re-equipped with the much capable MiG-21F-13.
Some of the East-German MiG-19 were unusual as they had a small strake aerial for the ARK-3A ADF at the junction and fin fillet like SM-12/2 and 12/3 prototypes.
Every MiG-19S serving with the LSK had a secondary strike role and therefore they were equipped with pylons on the wing leading edge for equipping ORO-57K FFAR pods. These changes were made at the Flugzeugwerft Dresden, later known as Elbe Flugzeugwerke.
At the same time, the 2. Staffel (2nd squadron) received a batch of 12 second-hand MiG-19PM interceptors in October 1959. After completing their training, the German MiG-19PM pilots took part in a gunnery exercise at a training ground in Krasnovodsk, in Turkmen SSR. These PMs remained in service until 1968 when they were replaced by MiG-21SPS.
Given that the MiG-19 was the first supersonic fighter of the LSK, it was surrounded by strict security measures with the storage areas well restricted for every person not associated with the fighter.
On 1st September 1963 every surviving MiG-19 was transferred to a single unknown squadron which kept on operating a mixture of MiG-19S and MiG-19PM until 1968 when they were replaced by MiG-21SPS. The last flight of a MiG-19 with the LSK took place on 25th October 1968 at the hands of Hpt. Harald Galfe. Every MiG-19 was put into storage.
A second unit, FG.8 at Marxwalde Air Base, in Brandenburg, was to be equipped with the type, but they never received it and transitioned straight from the MiG-17F to the MiG-21F-13 as the much better MiG-21 became available earlier than expected and the MiG-19 wasn't very popular among LSK personnel.
It wasn't popular because it was hard to maintain, it suffered from low reliability (partly because of the shortage of spare parts) and it had a high attrition rate. All those factors gave the type the nickname of the "Widow Maker" among the German pilots, specially when half of them, 6, were lost in crashes.
After German reunification, the Luftwaffe received the storaged MiG-19s and some of them were repainted and sent to museums while others were put as gate guards.
Sources:
1. Midland Publishing - Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19. The Soviet Union's First Production Supersonic Fighter
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-19#Operational_history
3. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elbe_Flugzeugwerke
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