I do not know if it exists in other militaries or if it was unique to The Wehrmacht. The incorporation of the word Fuhrer into the names of....i suppose it was just officers but i could be wrong. I do not know the correct spellings, i will just have to make them up, but you guys will get the gist. I always hear a bunch of names like....... Ober-Fuhrer Sterhn-Fuhrer Ostmien-Fuhrer What exactly were all the those Names/Rankings.? Did other militaries have similar ranks.? Thank You
A quick google search of German Army Ranks and Insignia during WW2 may help you. These ranks were Waffen-SS ranks: Ranks and insignia of the Waffen-SS - Wikipedia
Oberführer is the only rank that existed. Sterhn-Fuhrer: The nearest German word would be Sternführer (star leader) which makes no sense at all. Ostmien-Fuhrer: While "Ost" means "East", "mien" could at best be a typo for "mein" (English "my", "mine") which again makes no sense at all. Never heard or read any of these words. Do you have sources?
Ah..... right. I guess they were guys in SS uniform. Thank You This one sounds rather familiar..... SS-Gruppenführer thanks again
Ah - brain wave on my side: Instead of "Sterhnführer" the similar sounding "Sturmführer" might fit. Sturm was a company in the SS. Sturmführer is no existing rank, rather 1. the function (leading a Sturm) 2. the group of ranks of "Subalterne", in German "Leutnant", "Oberleutnant", Hauptmann": - Untersturmführer (equals Leutnant) - Obersturmführer (equals Oberleutnant) - Hauptsturmführer (equals Hauptmann, Rittmeister).
My favourite made-up rank was Obershizenführer. It was a title we bestowed on anyone who was a bit of a sh**!
German Army ranks are a study in themselves. So pretty much as outlined already, you can have a Gruppenfuhrer, who is a Section/Squad leader, or a Zug Trupp fuhrer or Kompanie Trupp fuhrer who is the senior NCO in a Platoon or Company HQ. That is their job title but not their rank. The rank for those type of posts was not necessarily fixed but there was normally a minimum rank that someone had to hold to be appointed to a particular role. There is some variation as I recall between the use of fuhrer (very wide) and Kommandeur (I know I'm spelling these wrong, I'm on lunchbreak with a bowl of cornflakes!). I'm not sure if there was a definition of when someone was termed a commander rather than a leader, perhaps linked to the level of responsibility. There was a difference between British and US terminology in a similar way, with the British having a Section or Platoon commander and the US a Squad or Platoon leader. I vaguely recall hearing once the US tried to discourage the term Platoon leader, as young Lieutenants were taking it too literally a suffering the casualties to show it. I think though the US still uses the term Platoon leader. Gary
In the german language the term "Führer" can mean both leader and guide, this results from the respective context: Bergführer is mountain guide Gruppenführer is group leader If it is to remain as it is, it ought to be gently and reverently set aside among the dead languages, for only the dead have time to learn it. Mark Twain - "That Awful German language" Well said, Mr. Twain. Not even I fully understand German grammars. Also we LOVE compound words... Try to translate: Donaudampfschifffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft
There is a section in William Eastlake's novel Castle Keep where some Americans are riding in a captured German tank. They decide to deceive the Germans by talking to them on the radio. One of the Americans says that he knows some German and that the most important thing he learned about the language was "no one speaks it properly. You make up the vocabulary and the grammar as you go along." And then there are the dialects, too!
Made me smile as I see there's a rank of Rottenfuhrer (Corporal). Had there been the SS in WW1 this could have been Hitler's rank. Tim
This sounds totally alien to me But will try to give some examples: Obersturmbannführer --> Ober - [Sturm - Bann] - Führer --> Main - [Assault - Banner/Army flag] - Leader As said: Germans love compund words ;-) prefixes are in ascending order: Unter - Ober - Haupt Unter reads sub- (altern) The difference between Ober- and Haupt- is somewhat more difficult to differentiate. My best try is: Ober is "above sub", while Haupt is literally "Main" or "top" An special term is "Stabs-" as in "Stabsfeldwebel" and it´s and is located hierarchically above Haupt. Here "Stab" equals "Staff" This is a remnant from the old prussian/imperial General Staff times Many German rank titles have archaic origins who date back to the "Landsknecht" (Mercenary) era I hope that I have been able to contribute something to the clarification - With such a topic the language barrier becomes really challenging! regards Olli
The NSDAP hierarchy designations are interesting with regard to their titles and function. Der Fuhrer Adolf, Hitler at the top of the pile to the PG Parteigenosse,the party comrade at the bottom of the pile. What I have found is that the German compound words can be split up and some meaning can be ascertained from the individual components by the German non speaker. Helpful is the fact that German nouns start with a capital letter but dropped in compound words.
