German Army Ranks 1939-1945

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

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:

[JHohenhauser]

I like that the guy gets old when he becomes a general. Nice touch, my dude

[VaRheeZ]

As a native german speaker its such a funny thing listening to english speakers pronoucing german words. Good job buddy btw

[oilersridersbluejays]

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.

[Fred_Broca]

We won the war but they won the fashion show.

[carlhicksjr]

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.

[armitage]

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. 😉

[cwittenhagen]

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!

[Winner]

You produced a video with exactly the info I was looking for, thanks.

[olzhasone]

More research than the CoD:WW2 and BFV dev teams did

[Sharnoy]

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!

[sebastiannebe]

Ich bin kein Mensch,
Ich bin kein Tier,
Ich bin Panzer-Grenadier

[iisvwkf]

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

[SmittyMRE]

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.

[bigbrowntau]

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!

[fisherlost]

Here before your channel blows up

Literally, careful with those hand grenades.

[DanSpadafora]

Excellent info. Keep this kind of content coming.

[_qm]

I took notes on every signal rank you listed besides officer candidates. Yet I had to watch it again to fix spelling. Very helpful

[globalautobahn]

Of course the Germans had to over engineer their rank structures 😆

[shadowpoet]

My dad was with the US Army Air Force in WW2. This video was very well researched and I learned A LOT!
Thanks! :)

[Fminus]

Very well done and acurate, as far as I can tell from a German perspective! Even small details as "Hauptfeldwebel" and Spieß" included.