Everything about General Germany totally explained
» Please see "General" for other countries which use this rank
General is presently the highest rank of the
German Army (
Heer) and
Luftwaffe (Air Force). It is the equivalent to an
Admiral in the
German Navy (
Deutsche Marine).
Early history
The German rank of General most likely saw its first use with the
religious orders of the
Holy Roman Empire, albeit in modified forms and usage from the current understanding of General. By the
16th century, with the rise of standing armies, the
German states had begun to appoint Generals from the nobility to lead armies in battle.
A standard rank system was developed during the
Thirty Years War, with the highest rank of
General usually reserved for the ruling sovereign (for example the
Kaiser or
Elector) and the actual field commander holding the rank of
Generalleutnant.
Feldmarschall was a lower rank at that time, as was
Generalwachtmeister.
By the
17th and
18th centuries, the rank of General was present in all the militaries of the German states and saw its greatest usage by the militaries of
Bavaria and
Prussia. It was these two militaries that created the concept of the “General Staff”, which was often manned entirely by members of the nobility. To be a general implied membership in the noble class as a
Count,
Duke or
Freiherr (this also accounts for most German generals of this era having the prefix “
von” before their names).
19th century
During the
Napoleonic Wars, the ranks of German generals were established in four grades, beginning with
Generalmajor, followed by
Generalleutnant,
General and
Generalfeldmarschall. The standard uniforms and insignia, used for over a century, also developed during this period. The title of
General (three stars) included the officer's branch of service, leading to the titles of
General der Infanterie (General of
Infantry),
General der Kavallerie (General of
Cavalry) and
General der Artillerie (General of
Artillery).
In 1854, Prussia introduced the rank of
Generaloberst so that officers could be promoted further than
General without becoming a
Generalfeldmarschall, as this rank was usually only bestowed for extraordinary achievements during wartime service. Later, another special grade known as
Generaloberst im Range eines Generalfeldmarschalls (Colonel General in the rank of a Field Marshal) was first used in Bavaria to denote Colonel Generals who were given the authority of Field Marshals without the actual rank.
During the
German Empire, the German general officer ranks were as follows:
| Generalmajor |
Generalleutnant |
General |
Generaloberst |
Generaloberst im Range
eines Generalfeldmarschalls |
Generalfeldmarschall |
It was also during this period that the insignia of German generals was established as a heavy golden shoulder board with up to four pips denoting seniority as a General. The rank of
Generalfeldmarschall displayed a crossed set of marshal's
batons on the shoulder board. German generals also began wearing golden ornaments (
Arabeske) on their collars, in contrast to the colored collar bars (
Kragenspiegel) worn by the rest of the German military forces.
World War II
The German rank of General saw its widest usage during
World War II. Due to the massive expansion of the German military (
Wehrmacht), a new “wave” of generals were promoted in the 1930s that would lead Germany into war.
The medical and veterinarian branch of the Wehrmacht used special designations for their general officers, with
Generalarzt or
Generalveterinär being the equivalent of
Generalmajor,
Generalstabsarzt or
Generalstabsveterinär the equivalent of
Generalleutnant and
Generaloberstabsarzt or
Generaloberstabsveterinär the equivalent of
General.
With the formation of the
Luftwaffe, Air Force generals began to use the same general ranks as the German Army. The shoulder insignia was identical to that used by the Army, with the addition of special collar patches worn by Luftwaffe general officers. The supreme rank of
Reichsmarschall (Reich Marshal) was created in 1940 for
Hermann Göring.
| Generalmajor |
Generalleutnant |
General |
Generaloberst |
Generalfeldmarschall |
Reichsmarschall |
In
1941, the
Waffen-SS began using General ranks in addition to standard
SS ranks. An
Obergruppenführer of the Waffen-SS, for example, would be titled
SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS. The
Ordnungspolizei also used similar
police ranks. The Waffen-SS had no Field Marshals, but the rank of
Reichsführer-SS held by
Heinrich Himmler was considered to be the equivalent of a Field Marshal during the later war years.
The
Senior Colonel rank of
SS-Oberführer has sometimes been considered to be a
Brigadier General equivalent; however, as there was no equivalent in the German Army, the rank (in particular among the Waffen-SS) wasn't considered equivalent to a general officer.
Modern usage
After World War II, the
West German Bundeswehr and the
East German Nationale Volksarmee adopted the rank systems of their respective military blocs.
In the Bundeswehr, the rank of
Brigadegeneral was inserted below the rank of
Generalmajor. While the rank titles of
Generalmajor,
Generalleutnant and
General were retained, each of those titles now denotes a higher rank than before (for example the
Generalleutnant is now a three-star general).
Prior to the
reunification of Germany, general officer rank designations in the
German Democratic Republic were based on the Soviet model.
Generalmajor was still the lowest general officer grade, followed by
Generalleutnant,
Generaloberst (now three stars instead of four) and
Armeegeneral. In
1982, the GDR government established the rank of
Marschall der DDR, although no one was ever promoted to this rank.
| Generalmajor |
Generalleutnant |
Generaloberst |
Armeegeneral |
Marschall der DDR |
|
Further Information
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