Generaloberst


Generaloberst, in English colonel general, was, in Germany and Austria-Hungary—the German Reichswehr and Wehrmacht, the Austro-Hungarian Common Army, and the East German National People's Army, as well as the respective police services—the second highest general officer rank, ranking as equal to a 4 star full general but below general field marshal. It was equivalent to Generaladmiral in the Kriegsmarine until 1945, or to Flottenadmiral in the Volksmarine until 1990. The rank was the highest ordinary military rank and the highest military rank awarded in peacetime; the higher rank of general field marshal was only awarded in wartime by the head of state. In general, a Generaloberst had the same privileges as a general field marshal.
A literal translation of Generaloberst would be "uppermost general", but it is often translated as "colonel-general" by analogy to Oberst, "colonel", including in countries where the rank was adopted, e.g. in Russia. "Oberst" derives from the superlative form of Germanic ober, cognate to English over, thus "Superior General" might be a more idiomatic rendering. The rank was created in 1854, originally for Emperor William I—then Prince of Prussia—because traditionally members of the royal family were not promoted to the rank of field marshal. During the 19th century the rank was largely honorary and usually only held by members of the princely families or the Governor of Berlin. Regular promotion of professional officers to the grade did not begin until 1911. Since the rank of Generalfeldmarschall was also reserved for wartime promotions, the additional rank of a "supreme general in the capacity of a field marshal"—the Generaloberst im Range eines Generalfeldmarschalls—was created for promotions during peacetime. Such generals were entitled to wear four pips on their shoulder boards, compared to the normal three. As such, Generaloberst could be a peacetime equivalent of the general field marshal rank.
Generaloberst was the second highest general officer rank—below field marshal—in the Prussian Army as well as in the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany, and the East German Nationale Volksarmee. As military ranks were often used for other uniformed services, the rank was also used by the Waffen-SS and the Ordnungspolizei of Nazi Germany, and the Volkspolizei and Stasi of East Germany. In East Germany, the rank was junior to the general of the army, as well as to the briefly extant, and never awarded, rank of Marschall der DDR.

Austro-Hungarian Army

In 1915 the Generaloberst - Vezérezredes rank was introduced to the Austro-Hungarian Common Army. It was the second highest behind the Feldmarschall - Tábornagy rank.
;See also:
  1. 1916 Erzherzog Joseph Ferdinand von Österreich-Toskana
  2. Friedrich Graf von Beck-Rzikowsky
  3. Eduard Graf Paar
  4. Arthur Freiherr von Bolfras
  5. Friedrich Freiherr von Georgi
  6. Karl Freiherr von Pflanzer-Baltin
  7. Viktor Graf Dankl von Krasnik
  8. Karl Tersztyánszky von Nádas
  9. Adolf Freiherr von Rhemen zu Barensfeld
  10. Paul Freiherr Puhallo von Brlog
  11. Erzherzog Leopold Salvator von Österreich-Toskana
  12. Karl Graf von Kirchbach auf Lauterbach
  13. Karl Georg Graf Huyn
  14. Hermann Kusmanek von Burgneustädten
  15. Karl Křitek
  16. Wenzel Freiherr von Wurm
  17. Samuel Freiherr von Hazai
  18. Leopold Freiherr von Hauer
  19. Viktor Graf von Scheuchenstuel
  20. Stephan Freiherr Sarkotić von Lovčen
  21. Josef Freiherr Roth von Limanowa-Łapanów
  22. Arthur Freiherr Arz von Straußenburg
  23. Hugo Martiny von Malastów
  24. Rudolf Freiherr Stöger-Steiner von Steinstätten
  25. Alois Fürst Schönburg-Hartenstein

    German Empire

Rank insignia of the 1871 until 1918, here shoulder strap of the German Imperial Army: twisted of silver- and golden-braids with three stars to .

[Bavarian Army]

Reichswehr

Wehrmacht

The equivalent ranks of a colonel general were in the:
⇒ see also main articles Ranks: Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, and Waffen-SS

Heer

  1. April 20, 1936 – Werner von Fritsch
  2. November 1, 1938 – Ludwig Beck
  3. December 31, 1938 – Wilhelm Adam
  4. October 1, 1939 – Johannes Blaskowitz
  5. July 19, 1940 – Friedrich Dollmann
  6. July 19, 1940 – Heinz Guderian
  7. July 19, 1940 – Franz Halder
  8. July 19, 1940 – Hermann Hoth
  9. July 19, 1940 – Adolf Strauß
  10. July 19, 1940 – Nikolaus von Falkenhorst
  11. July 19, 1940 – Friedrich Fromm
  12. July 19, 1940 – Curt Haase
  13. July 19, 1940 – Erich Hoepner
  14. July 19, 1940 – Eugen Ritter von Schobert
  15. January 1, 1942 – Georg-Hans Reinhardt
  16. January 1, 1942 – Rudolf Schmidt
  17. April 1, 1942 – Richard Ruoff
  18. June 1, 1942 – Eduard Dietl
  19. July 3, 1942 – Georg Lindemann
  20. December 3, 1942 – Hans-Jürgen von Arnim
  21. January 1, 1943 – Gotthard Heinrici
  22. January 1, 1943 – Hans von Salmuth
  23. Januar 30, 1943 – Walter Heitz
  24. July 6, 1943 – Eberhard von Mackensen
  25. September 1, 1943 – Heinrich Gottfried von Vietinghoff-Scheel
  26. September 1, 1943 – Karl-Adolf Hollidt
  27. February 1, 1944 – Alfred Jodl
  28. February 1, 1944 – Erwin Jaenecke
  29. February 1, 1944 – Walter Weiß
  30. February 1, 1944 – Kurt Zeitzler
  31. April 1, 1944 – Josef Harpe
  32. April 1, 1944 – Lothar Rendulic
  33. April 20, 1944 – Hans-Valentin Hube
  34. July 23, 1944 – Johannes Frießner
  35. August 15, 1944 – Erhard Raus
  36. May 1, 1945 – Carl Hilpert

    Luftwaffe

  37. July 19, 1940 – Alfred Keller
  38. July 19, 1940 – Hans-Jürgen Stumpff
  39. July 19, 1940 – Ernst Udet
  40. July 19, 1940 – Ulrich Grauert
  41. July 19, 1940 – Hubert Weise
  42. May 3, 1941 – Alexander Löhr
  43. April 1, 1942 – Hans Jeschonnek
  44. November 1, 1942 – Günther Rüdel
  45. February 16, 1943 – Bruno Loerzer
  46. Jun 11, 1943 – Otto Deßloch
  47. July 13, 1944 – Kurt Student
  48. July 22, 1944 – Günther Korten

    Waffen-SS

SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer and Generaloberst of the Waffen-SS:
SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer and Generaloberst of the Police:

National People's Army

In the Land Forces and Air Forces of the National People's Army, as well as the Border Troops of the German Democratic Republic Generaloberst was in line to Soviet military doctrine third general officer rank in that particular genera´s rank group. Pertaining to the NATO-Rangcode it might have been comparable to the three-star rank.
The equivalent to the Generaloberst was Admiral of the Volksmarine .
;See also:
  1. March 1, 1966 Kurt Wagner
  2. March 1, 1972 Herbert Scheibe
  3. March 1, 1976 Horst Stechbarth
  4. October 7, 1977 Werner Fleißner
  5. July 14, 1979 Erich Peter
  6. October 7, 1979 Wolfgang Reinhold
  7. October 7, 1979 Fritz Streletz
  8. March 1, 1986 Joachim Goldbach
  9. March 1, 1987 Horst Brünner
  10. October 7, 1988 Klaus-Dieter Baumgarten
  11. October 7, 1989 Fritz Peter

    Ministry of State Security">Stasi">Ministry of State Security

  12. February 1980 Bruno Beater
  13. May 1986 Markus Wolf
  14. February 1987 Rudi Mittig
  15. 1989 Werner Großmann

    Deutsche Volkspolizei (DVP)

  16. 1962 Karl Maron
  17. 1987 Karl-Heinz Wagner