German Army Ranks 1939-1945
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- Опубліковано 14 чер 2024
- A short video describing the basic rank structure of the German Army during the Second World War.
More detail can be found in the accompanying article at the Hand Grenade Division website
handgrenadedivision.com/german...
0:00 - 0:28 - Introduction
0:28 - 1:36 - Categories
1:36 - 1:47 - Categories of Soldiers
1:48 - 3:45 - Men (Mannschaften) and Aspirant NCOs
3:45 - 3:57 - Categories of NCOs (Unteroffiziere)
3:57 - 4:25 - Junior NCOs (Unteroffiziere ohne Portepee)
4:25 - 5:39 - Senior NCOs (Unteroffiziere mit Portepee) and "Der Speiß"
5:39 - 6:48 - Officer Candidates (Fahrenjunker/Offizierbewerber)
6:48 - 6:54 - Categories of Officers
6:48 - 7:26 - Officers
7:27 - 8:48 - General Officers
8:48 - 9:17 - Conclusion
9:18 - 9:30 - Credits
(Thanks to YT user "Wolf the Great" for creating the chapter guide).
Additional references:
www.amazon.com/German-Infantr...
www.amazon.com/German-Army-19...
www.amazon.com/Handbook-Germa...
www.amazon.com/Badges-Insigni...
I like that the guy gets old when he becomes a general. Nice touch, my dude
Same with colonel.
The monocle brings a nice Prussian touch to it
@@splendiferousfinch2656 Monocle brings Walter Model
AngRepublika _ I’ve never seen a young general
@@dickrichard5579 Not true...In the past , especially before ww2 , most of the time, high rank army officers where from nobility and wealthy families...So it didn't actually depend on your age but on your social status.
As a native german speaker its such a funny thing listening to english speakers pronoucing german words. Good job buddy btw
It's a little nerve-wracking at this end trying to do justice to the pronunciation. Hopefully it hasn't been mangled too terribly bad. As disrespectful as it seems to pronounce things incorrectly, it seems like it would be worse not to present the actual terms, particularly since many of the English "translations" actually obscure the true meaning of the word.
You did a great job
@@HandGrenadeDivision As a German to English (military) translator, I tend not to translate the German ranks into English, for precisely the reason you mention. I leave them in the original German and provide a key or footnote, if needed. As you rightly say, many attempts to translate ranks result in false equivalencies. "This guy has two stripes, ergo he must be a corporal." That sort of thing. Your summary is spot on.
Actually it is not funny. Impressive should be the word. German is just a language like any other in the 🌎 world. It is a tool or vehicle created over time by mankind and societies for communication. Words if pronounced wrongly, could be corrected or perfected by learning skills and adjustment. Nothing special.
Unglaublich!
We won the war but they won the fashion show.
Hmmmm.
You won shit, all the world were against Germany and with that it was so hard to shamely won after 6 years of ur blood and tears , be sure if it was your single country against Germany you never dream of winning so shut up .
You're right.
Smile they also had Italy, And japan and most countries they invaded and took over, they made their soldiers fight for them. So don’t pull the “the whole world was against them and they were alone” type crap
@@collinbrosnan2729 Japan never fighted with Nazis in Europe , It was a more of political ally , Italy were comparing to German needs , other nations were only a burden to German more then a benefits . So in reality it was only the German and their own arms factories whom had the main effects on war progress .
My grandpa served trim 1939 to 1945 and was a Feldwebel at war's end. He was in the 1st Panzer Division in a Schütze regiment which were later called Panzergrenadier. He managed to survive from the Invasion Of Poland in 1939 to their division surrendering in Austria in 1945. He was wounded in the chest in early 1943 in the Rhzev meat grinder. A few months later he was back at his unit. He was quite lucky to survive the entirety of the war. My grandpa's oldest brother wasn't as lucky. He was at Stalingrad and no one knows what became of him.
@OilersRiderBlueJays:Whereas My GrandPa served in Freiwilligen SS panzer grenadier Division Wiking along with other his 3000 country fellers from Finnland, mostly they were deployed in southern Russian front and Ukraine, after their unit reconstructed late 43- he continued his army career in Finland Regular army on northern Russian FrontLine
@@paulthescandinavian4992 interesting!
congrats on your old man surviving the war. First panzer division got hit hard.
My grand father fought against the Japanese and survivor of Death March
My dad was USAAF and helped with the reconstruction of Germany during the occupation force. I say, be it western allies, wehrmacht, or red army, the vast majority were unaffiliated with the atrocities and just wanted to protect their homes and do their jobs.
More research than the CoD:WW2 and BFV dev teams did
Never played those games, is the (german) soldier's representation really that bad?
Lord Helmchen yes, some stuff is historically inaccurate and a mess in the world of realism.
@@lordhelmchen3154 The US and Japanese uniforms in BfV are good from what I've seen, the Germans look really bad but they might fix it
Alpha 1 if you use the Illusionist body with the Aviator legs, you can get an ok looking uniform for the Germans. The British uniforms are the really terrible ones. Aside from the Sandman uniform, the rest are just US uniforms or variations of it.
I liked COD World at War much better!
Ich bin kein Mensch,
Ich bin kein Tier,
Ich bin Panzer-Grenadier
Panzergrenadiere.... Dran, Drauf, Drueber !!!
Halb Mensch, halb Tier, ein ......
Translation : "I am not a human being , i am not an animal, i am a Tank- Grenadier" . A poem created by mechanized Infantry crews describing the rough environment of armored warfare. That changed with the Leopard II,after that it is only the enemy that has to endure the rough environment.
@@nichderjeniche Ich bin Soldaten in betzungzarme.
@@pieterweatherall2826 was meinst Du damit?
What most people could benefit from I believe, is a flow chart. One for enlisted, officers, etc. A proper one, well done could be printed & sold as a poster. 😉
There are many of these online already, on pinterest for example, though as always take with a grain of salt. The most common error is transposing hellgrün and wiesengrün, the shades of green worn by mountain troops and panzergrenadiere.
A list of references was included in the video description above.
No offence but who would buy it. I see it's core demographic being white supremacists. No a page in a history book would suffice.
@@robertsullivan4773 since history books are re-written or not taught in schools anymore, there are a lot of history buffs out there that would be interested simply as knowledge.
@@lisaholman2019
I'd purchase a book of WWII ranks (with good reviews)
Like you say; to use as a reference while watching movies.
The Men At Arms books may already one.
The comments have given me a GREAT idea...
If I make it to the Old Folk's Home, I can use a book of ranks and watch all my favorite WWII movies again and identify all the ranks of the antiheroes.
Like you say; Always Learning, even in our senior years
You produced a video with exactly the info I was looking for, thanks.
So, I'm a lifelong military historian and admitted uniform junkie.
Let me congratulate you on an informative, helpful video for the beginner WWII historian /reenactor. Your commentary is clear, concise and well thought out. The illustrations are *excellent* , especially when describing Waffenfarbe.
Reenacting can be a socially dangerous hobby... people often misunderstand the Confederate [I'm an ACW reenactor] or Axis reenactor and this can lead to some very unfortunate consequences at home or in the workplace. Providing factual information without getting lost in the moral narrative can be very helpful for someone new to the hobby.
My Grandpa served in the Invasion of Poland, He served from 1932-1954 in the German Army, His Rank was pretty high, in 1932 he graduated the Offcer training, He was very lucky in WW2, but in the end He got the rank of Oberst in the end. But he didnt told me he was in an Panzer division or Tiger.....
teacher: the test wont be that difficult
the test:
Try saying a rank right now after seeing this,
As a Finn the German military ranks are quite easy for me to understand as our ranks are similarly based on Prussian military tradition. There are however some differences and thus I found this video helpful. Thank you!
Hail to the Finn
elakoon suomi!!!!
@@daweedbekhemm8549 kuule saatana me ei kestetä h sanaa mutta aina voi sanoa KAUAN ELÄKÖÖN MANNERHEIM! Vaikka hän onkin kuollut.
Torille
Prussia is a German Kingdom and German State
My great-uncle was a Oberstabsarzt on the eastern front and had a field hospital under his command, after the war he worked as a doctor in the American military hospital in Heidelberg, they offered him to go to the US and work there in a hospital with the Chance of citizenship.
My grandfathers were both lieutenants and had a company under their command, one was missed in action during the last two weeks of the war in Yugoslavia and Isnt found until today, may the soil of the east keep is corpse in eternity and let a beautiful flower grow above him, grandpa, you're not forgotten!
so basically youre a traitor!
I doubt flowers would grow over a German soldier's grave in Yugoslavia but anything is possible
Auf der Heide blüht ein kleines Blümelein
A gentleman, an excellent scholar, and a fine judge of dead horses.
But seriously, your drive for research and acquisition of knowledge is fantastic. Looking forward to the video series.
I owned a horse that would have the habit to laydown on it's side with it's head on the ground. He would do this at anytime and in random places. I had more than one neighbor of higher education and good manners exclaim "did your horse die?" upon seeing him. I would look at my horse with a grin and say "no, he takes naps like that", he lived to be 33 and I attribute his long life to his power naps. Germans, such attention to details and many virtues.
Here before your channel blows up
Literally, careful with those hand grenades.
Of course the Germans had to over engineer their rank structures 😆
They over engineered everything
Tbh
@@taxidermypolarbear1724 Kinda reminds me of the US ranking system.
@@Kingpin_Gaming_UK true
@@Kingpin_Gaming_UK
Look at the Royal Navy it only needs:
Able Rate
Leading Rate
Petty Officer
Chief Petty Officer
Warrant Officer 2
Warrant Officer 1
@@countofdownable To be fair, that’s only one less rank than the British Army. Of course the Royal Marines have the same rank structure as the British Army. Of course, if you want confusing, look no further than the RAF, which has a total of 13 other (enlisted) ranks when you combine the normal ranks and the aircrew ranks.
I really love the comment at the end about how even the average German soldier had problems keeping it all straight. Very well done video, thanks so much!
My great grandfather was a Hauptfeldwebel . He was both in the west and in the east (Stalingrad).
He would have received the „eiserner Kreuz“ , he survived the war.
Okay so how simplistic are we going to rank our soldiers
Hitler: Nein
The system of ranks used in 20th Century militaries was a natural evolution of about 400 years or so, as modern standing armies developed. Most of the German Army ranks in the 3rd Reich period had existed from at least the 1800s, and most still exist in the modern day Bundeswehr.
Lt George St Barleigh: nine??
@@HandGrenadeDivision as i know, german rank system was similar of Napoleon's army: for example, Feld Marshall: Germany only had this rank.
@@alexthomas3745 marshals in the French empire were a civil title, not a military one. it is isn’t a coincidence that almost all marshals were military soldiers though
This is the most convoluted rank structure I think I've ever seen. Interesting.
Really interesting! Hope to see many more of this,. I love the detail as well, not a lot can be found on youtube as extensive as this. Keep it up!
Excellent info. Keep this kind of content coming.
this is so well done. Congrats!
I like how everyone tells their stories of their grand parents. While being so respectful to each other, why isn't this a common thing? Usually when i see someone tell a story of their german uncle i see a lot of hate comments. What a world do we live in.
something called internet
Wow thanks! I learned a lot more about ranks.
I took notes on every signal rank you listed besides officer candidates. Yet I had to watch it again to fix spelling. Very helpful
Very well done and acurate, as far as I can tell from a German perspective! Even small details as "Hauptfeldwebel" and Spieß" included.
I should be sleeping but here i am watching a video on the german army rank structure from 1939 to 1945
My dad was with the US Army Air Force in WW2. This video was very well researched and I learned A LOT!
Thanks! :)
Mine too, he would turn 103 this year were he alive RIP Dad
My greatgrandfather fought in the Wehrmacht. He was as every young man forced to serve his country. At that time every household had to have a picture of Adolf Hitler at home. Once it was clear that he chosen to serve the army he often stood in front of Hitlers portrait and yelled at him: "Because of you fucker I have to leave my family behind and fight a war which is not my war". He first was somewhere stationed in the western part of Germany for training. By the time he left the training camp towards the eastern front he knew he would be passing the train station of his home town. Althrough the train wasnt allowed to stop at any station he managed the train driver to slow down the train to at least to walking speed when the train entered his hometown station. He jumped off the train, ran to my greatgrandmother who was waiting for him and gave her a last kiss. (my grandmother cried when she told me the story heard from her mum). My greatgrandfather jumped back on the train and headed towards east. He never returned. A year later, in 1944 comrades reported that on the general retreat he had been ambushed by a group of czech partisans. They found his body with all his feet and hands cut off and the open wounds treated with salt for extra suffering. My greatgrandfather never saw his daughter.
It was a horrible time for all humans on both sides. A tragedy for an endless count of humans.
I’m still a kid but I’m pretty sure many German soldiers were like that. That they weren’t informed of just how terrible things were and the really bad things the reich was doing. In war you can’t really classify soldiers as good or bad unless they actually have bad intentions for non-combatants or excessive malice in their actions. The bad German people were the idiot German politicians that manipulated the country’s sore feelings from ww1 and used that to cause demonic war crimes
I sympathize with you, and then they say we are civilized.
@@tartarsauce6142 same goes for America Britain and every superpower
Не забывай, кто устроил эту трагедию и детям своим накажи
@@tartarsauce6142не болтай чепухи. Все понимали что происходит. Это отговорки. Все немцы виновны в развязывании войны.
Fantastic video, I dont think theres been another proper easily accessible breakdown like this in English before. It'll be interesting to see what is produced down the line
Thanks for all of the complex information you researched.
Wow! This is amazing research on your part! Well done sir!
Thanks very interesting, haven't ever been able to find a video with this much info!
Excellent video, HGD. Well done.
I'm setting up some historical table top battles and this helps with painting and planning greatly thank you
Prepare for the boom of this channel,keep going!
This is a great video, very interesting and informative. Excellent work!
So many ranks has left me a "Headwobble ".
🤣🤣🥰
Nice little timeline for all those of us who come back here regularly for reference.
0:00 - 0:28 - Introduction
0:28 - 1:36 - Categories
1:36 - 1:47 - Categories of Soldiers
1:48 - 3:45 - Men (Mannschaften) and Aspirant NCOs
3:45 - 3:57 - Categories of NCOs (Unteroffiziere)
3:57 - 4:25 - Junior NCOs (Unteroffiziere ohne Portepee)
4:25 - 5:39 - Senior NCOs (Unteroffiziere mit Portepee) and "Der Speiß"
5:39 - 6:48 - Officer Candidates (Fahrenjunker/Offizierbewerber)
6:48 - 6:54 - Categories of Officers
6:48 - 7:26 - Officers
7:27 - 8:48 - General Officers
8:48 - 9:17 - Conclusion
9:18 - 9:30 - Credits
((EDIT - I TOTALLY FORGOT TO DIVIDE THE UFFZ CHAPTER INTO UFFZ MIT PORTEPEE AND UFFZ OHNE PORTEPEE THE FIRST TIME AROUND))
Great idea, I will add this to the video description - thanks for taking the time to do this.
@@HandGrenadeDivision It's really no problem! It's a wonderful video I've come back to for reference several times and so I figured I'd make things a little easier for myself and others in the future
@@HandGrenadeDivision I just wanted to inform you that I made a mistake in my original writing of the comment, I forgot to divide the NCO category properly into junior and senior NCOs. So I've edited the message to fix it.
@@wolfthegreat87 very good, I applaud your diligence. Will edit the description, thanks again.
Nice, great job, keep it up.
That was complicated but well delivered, thank you
Amazing stuff, hope to see more, top-notch informative material. GL.
"Der Spiess"
some old memories about my time in the Bundeswehr start with these 2 words
not many pleasant ones :D
I had commented but I misunderstood. You must be Austrian.
I never knew that the Wehrmacht Heer officer candidates had to serve in ranks before they became officers,
My respect and gratitude to you for uploading such an informative video explaining the various ranks and insignia of the German Army soldiers.
This channel has become one of my most favourite channel on youtube,looking forward to more amazing videos like this from you.
It's still like that in the german army.
Its still the case. Although officer candidates skip over the majority of Mannschafts and Unteroffiziers ranks, they still serve in some of them for some time
I really like the idea of that. I think it would at least make the officers understand their subordinates a bit. I’m in the armed force of my country and most of the time the officers are just an arrogant sotb who don’t know how things work. Especially those who went to the cadet academy cause they have to be there from the age of 16-18 and graduate as a lieutenant at the age of 22-23 and that make them don’t shit about the outside world
Great compilation of rank distinctions !
This video was informative and well presented. Thank you.
That's very very well put togheter, theres everything one needs to know about WW2 German land army rank, many thanks for making it 👌🏼👍
Decoding the enigma code machines work was a walk in the park compared to this system of military ranking. Thank you for your hard work, well done.
Good video. Helped clear a lot up.
Thank you! Great job! Keep it up. Weighting for the next video
Noice, This guy made the german ranks so beautifully, Thanks for this awesome info!! Keep up the great work!
I left this feeling even more confused. Think I might need another watch or two, but great work.
Very detailed and well illustrated. Outstanding you get my sub
Thank you for clarifying all this. Great video!!!
Interesting proposal.... I see it's your first video... What are u planning to do? I will.subs
my great grandfather was Hauptmann, may he rest in peace
Very good video. Sehr gut gemacht. Danke.
Great video.
It might be complicated, but I really think it was a way to get the best people into the best specialty niche, which was why the German Army was so resilient to the worst punishments. I have some pictures of a relative that fought in France, Russia, and finally captured when the Afrika Korps surrendered in Tunisia. He was in the Panzer branch with the 'Death's Head' collar tabs and pink piping.
The ranks often had a different command significance. For example a captain could be a battalion commander in the German Army, and also the Red Army, whereas it would be a lieutenant colonel in the British and American armies, or sometimes a major.
This video helped me identifying the rank on one of my grandfathers pictures, thanks a lot.
Thank you for this video this is so good
08:50 Funny fact. When Paulus learned that he was promoted to Feldmarschall there were no appropriate epaulettes available. So he just added a 4th star literally creating a phantasy insignia!
(Report came from the russian/german interpreter who encountered him after his captivation)
@Ranulf do clarify.
In the Imperial army there was actually an honorary title "Generaloberst with the rank of Generalfeldmarschall" whose epaulettes showed four stars.
@@herrwagnerianer1739 There were very few field marshals in the Kaiser's army. Hitler promoted more, which had a slightly cheapening effect on the title, and it would be in character for the Kaiser's army to have a "field marshal but not quite" grade.
@Ranulf They wanted proof that he was a field marshal. Strict military protocol might have dictated that he only surrender to another field marshal but I don't think there was a Soviet one in the immediate vicinity.
German Field Marshalls had tree signs. A special Epaulette, the Marschallstab/ Marshalls rod, and the Interimsstab. The Marschallstab was the thing for important ceremonies, while the Interimsstab was the everyday rank item. Fieldmarshall Paulus got a pair of epaulettes ( neutral turkish diplomats seem to be involved), Fieldmarshall Schörner had epaulettes and Interimsstab, and the last officer, who became Fieldmarshall, i have forgotten the name, got nothing.
Always pondered this subject. Could never really get my head around it. Appreciate the clarification. Thank you sir.
Very informative! Thanks for the video and lesson.
Beautiful analysis!
Wow, pretty complex rank structure!
Well, Germans have never been simple
Good video!! Thought I pretty knowledgeable about WWII German rank structure, but definitely ;earned quite a bit from this short video. How about a video about German WWII decorations????? They had a decoration for just about anything.
There was a British comedy about German occupation of France with an inept General. In one scene 5 different officers arrive one at a time at his HQ, and no one knew who was in charge among the 6.
Very impressive quality! Instant Subscribe!
My old father was a Rittmeister serving in a panzer unit.
Piano Music: "Ein Helller und ein Batzen"
very nicely done ! i learned a lot.
best English explanation I have seen so far. Most Anglosxons don't understand that a "Gefreiter" is NOT a lance coprptal, etc. Thanks for the video! Appreciated! greetd from Germany!
I live in Silesia and so was my grandpa, Ernest - back then both Poland and Germany thought of Silesia as their part. He got called up to Wehrmacht. On the eve of the war he was living with his two brothers. One of them (I don't remember the name) got called up to Polish army (Armia Krajowa), the other one (Franciszek) didn't want to fight, but Nazis caught him and put him in the Auschwitz, where he got into Christianity and as he survived the camp, after war he became a controversial priest in Poland. Then he emigrated to post-war Germany (Carlsberg, near Mainheim) followed there by a married couple (Andrzej and Jolanta Gontarczyk) who later were revealed as communist spies who were working undercover to destroy his organization, Ruch Światło-Życie, from inside. When Franciszek learned about it, he invited them and after a few hours of talking he was found dead with a foam on his mouth - it was/is assumed he got poisoned, but the case was closed because lack of proofs. Gontarczyks later served a high position in post-communist government in Poland. Their deeds were discovered in 2005 and they were expelled from their positions - or rather moved into shadow, because Jolanta made her come back to mainstream politics very soon. Oh, history. It's never simple or obvious.
German soldiers: "...how many ranks do we have to learn?"
Whoever created the system: *"Yes"*
Well this is cool keep up the work dude
Thank you for such a clear and concise explanation of WW2 German ranks. I had 4 uncles who fought for the U.S.(2 in the Army, 1 Marine and 1 Sailor) 2 in Europe, 2 in the South Pacific. They each had stories about their time and how it changed their lives.
Keep up the great work, best of luck 🍀.
oh I like your video a lot, many years I had difficulties to explain my former rank in the german military in english to foreign personel. My english it not bad, but definetly not perfect. so, your video and choice of words came in very handy. THX a lot.
Wow, the work you have put into this! Amazing, thank you very much..
Thank you for that Video, I have an old Wehrmachtsuniform from my grandfather I always wondered what rank he had, now I know is was an Senior NCO or a Feldwebel in the Infantry
We
Facinating... and informative. Tyvm for this video.
love your vids.
Here before the channel explodes. Hope it's going to be a blast!
Reenactor Guy sent me here
Same
Same here
I'm happy you bothered to include different variations of the same rank like the gebirgsjäger ranks.
That was interesting. Thank you.
Mein Urgrossvater war ein Feldwebel bei der 9. Armee. Er war beim Polen Feldzug und spāter an der Ostfront. Er hat das eiserne kreuz 1 klasse und ein verwundetes Abzeichen bekommen. Er hat als einziger von seinen verwandten ūberlebt.
In the Bundeswehr Oberstabsgefreite are commonly known as NATO Zebra, because of their impressive looking shoulder pieces.
Well i prefer the Adidas-Gefreiten
@@David-eh9le Go away! Adidas has only 3 stripes! That would be a simple lowly Stabsgefreiter, not a full Zebra!
Perfect score is of course Oberstabsgefreiter Unteroffiziersanwärter mit bestandenem Lehrgang!
@Choki Senpai Argh, I miscounted. Well, Bundeswehr definitely needs to invent Hauptstabsgefreiter or better Stabsstabsgefreiter!
@@stefanb6539 i know that the Adidas-Gefreiter is a Hauptgefreiter. Imo it is Just more funny then the Zebragefreiter. I know all of the Ranks of the Heer/ Luftwaffe. I just struggle at the Medics and the clusterfuck the Marine got.
The OSG (Oberstabsgefreiter) is also known as "Gott-Anwärter" because everybody else (except old NCOs) can learn from him and he usually shows the way, even most fresh NCOs secretly look up to him
Really informative thank you
Outstanding video!!!
Exemplary video. This is an individual who knows their field extremely well and does not get caught out by elementary mistakes, which could easily happen with such a topic. I thought it was explained concisely and clearly and I learned from something which I thought I already understood. Thank you.
5:09 It should say "die Mutter der Kompanie", not "die Kompanie", since in that case it's in the genitive.
Danke
Great vid! Your channel will be big soon
Nice video mann pls make more of them
Great info, thanks for putting this video together. Take care, -Scott
Bloody great format. Love it! Keep it! Greetings from Germany :)
Nice video thanks for sharing
Very good video.