The rank insignia of the Federal Defence Forces ( Bundeswehr ) indicate rank and branch of service in the German Army ( Heer ), German Air Force ( Luftwaffe ), or the German Navy ( Marine ).
59-640: Generalmajor is the Germanic variant of major general , used in a number of Central and Northern European countries. Generalmajor is the second lowest general officer rank in the Royal Danish Army and Royal Danish Air Force . As a two-star rank it is the equivalent to the rank of counter admiral in the Royal Danish Navy . The rank is rated OF-7 within NATO . It has
118-638: A branch of the Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 515 million people mainly in Europe , North America , Oceania , and Southern Africa . The most widely spoken Germanic language, English , is also the world's most widely spoken language with an estimated 2 billion speakers. All Germanic languages are derived from Proto-Germanic , spoken in Iron Age Scandinavia , Iron Age Northern Germany and along
177-623: A common history of pre-Proto-Germanic speakers throughout the Nordic Bronze Age . From the time of their earliest attestation, the Germanic varieties are divided into three groups: West , East , and North Germanic. Their exact relation is difficult to determine from the sparse evidence of runic inscriptions. Rank insignia of the German Bundeswehr#Commissioned officers (CO They are regulated by
236-544: A hypothetical Proto-Germanic , united by subjection to the sound shifts of Grimm's law and Verner's law . These probably took place during the Pre-Roman Iron Age of Northern Europe from c. 500 BC . Proto-Germanic itself was likely spoken after c. 500 BC , and Proto-Norse from the 2nd century AD and later is still quite close to reconstructed Proto-Germanic, but other common innovations separating Germanic from Proto-Indo-European suggest
295-480: A licensed medical officer or a designated officer of NCO rank. These require additional elements to signify such status. The double wing (also: aviator wing) is part of the mounting loop of any Luftwaffe uniform. It is woven in the colour of all other emblems (in most cases: black (image b.) – or gold by general ranks (image c.)). The double wing, also part of other elements on aviator's uniform, unambiguously distinguishes stone-grey/olive Luftwaffe uniforms from those of
354-608: A minority language by immigrant communities in North America, South America, Central America, Mexico and Australia. A German dialect, Pennsylvania Dutch , is still used among various populations in the American state of Pennsylvania in daily life. A group of Alemannic German dialects commonly referred to as Alsatian is spoken in Alsace , part of modern France. Dutch is an official language of Aruba , Belgium, Curaçao ,
413-626: A native language of some 11 to 13 million people, remains in use by some 1.5 million speakers in Jewish communities around the world, mainly in North America, Europe, Israel, and other regions with Jewish populations . Limburgish varieties are spoken in the Limburg and Rhineland regions, along the Dutch–Belgian–German border. In addition to being the official language in Sweden, Swedish
472-479: A physician holding a rank equivalent to Hauptmann (Captain) is called Stabsarzt (Staff Doctor), a dentist Stabsarzt (Staff Dentist), a veterinarian Stabsveterinär (Staff Vet), and a pharmacist Stabsapotheker (Staff Pharmacist). Feldwebel (Sergeant) Aspirant epaulettes include a bronze cord at the bottom of the strap as career indicator (Barely visible on some pictures; Click on Image to enlarge). Reserve and retired servicemembers wore
531-607: A separate collection of unstandardized dialects, with roughly 4.35–7.15 million native speakers and probably 6.7–10 million people who can understand it (at least 2.2 million in Germany (2016) and 2.15 million in the Netherlands (2003)); Yiddish , once used by approximately 13 million Jews in pre- World War II Europe, now with approximately 1.5 million native speakers; Scots , with 1.5 million native speakers; Limburgish varieties with roughly 1.3 million speakers along
590-594: Is also spoken natively by the Swedish-speaking minority in Finland, which is a large part of the population along the coast of western and southern Finland. Swedish is also one of the two official languages in Finland, along with Finnish , and the only official language in Åland . Swedish is also spoken by some people in Estonia. Danish is an official language of Denmark and in its overseas territory of
649-595: Is also the official language in the overseas territories of Norway such as Svalbard , Jan Mayen , Bouvet island , Queen Maud Land , and Peter I island . Icelandic is the official language of Iceland . Faroese is the official language of the Faroe Islands, and is also spoken by some people in Denmark. Germanic languages by share (West Germanic in yellow-red shades and North Germanic in blue shades): All Germanic languages are thought to be descended from
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#1732771904487708-790: Is for members of the Naval health service (assignment series 81), where the asymmetrical Rod of Asclepius is placed at the head. In the Army and Luftwaffe, the epaulettes of general ranks OF6 to OF9 on service uniform (basic design) and dress uniform are ornamented with a gold border made from metallic fabric (piping), as shown above. Field officer ranks (OF1 to OF5), including the officer designated grade Oberfähnrich (Army: Senior Cadet Sergeant, Luftwaffe: Senior Aviation Cadet, Senior Warrant Officer (Br. Senior Acting Pilot Officer), Navy: Senior Midshipman), have silver-ornamented borders, also made from metallic fabric. The metallic fabric ornamental border of
767-627: Is intentionally omitted on mounting straps. By amendment of the " Presidential Order on Rank Designation and Uniform of Soldiers " on February 7, 1996, it was decided that the silver-coloured rank insignia on the camouflage fighting suit (de: Kampfanzug Tarndruck) would become obsolete. They will be replaced by black-coloured ones. According to the ZDv 37/10, ”Until official procurement of the newly designed olive-green mounting loops with black-coloured rank insignias (for enlisted personnel, non commissioned officers, and commissioned officers including colonels of
826-541: Is one of the 11 official languages in South Africa and is a lingua franca of Namibia. It is used in other Southern African nations, as well. Low German is a collection of very diverse dialects spoken in the northeast of the Netherlands and northern Germany. Some dialects like East Pomeranian have been imported to South America. Scots is spoken in Lowland Scotland and parts of Ulster (where
885-750: Is unknown as some of them, especially the East Germanic languages, disappeared during or after the Migration Period . Some of the West Germanic languages also did not survive past the Migration Period, including Lombardic . As a result of World War II and subsequent mass expulsion of Germans , the German language suffered a significant loss of Sprachraum , as well as moribundity and extinction of several of its dialects. In
944-646: The 3- or 5 colour flecktarn fighting suit. However, these particular versions are not mentioned or depicted in the ZDv 37/10, nor are they officially procured. Mounting loops in 3- and 5-colour flecktarn are de facto in contravention of the Presidential Order on Rank Designation and Uniform of Soldiers , and may be only procured individually. However, the mounting loops in 3- and 5 colour flecktarn with black-, grey- or yellow-coloured emblems depicted below are tolerated and worn up to highest rank groups and grades. In service, some black-colour emblems, e.g. for
1003-563: The Dutch – Belgian – German border; and the Frisian languages with over 500,000 native speakers in the Netherlands and Germany. The largest North Germanic languages are Swedish , Danish , and Norwegian , which are in part mutually intelligible and have a combined total of about 20 million native speakers in the Nordic countries and an additional five million second language speakers; since
1062-522: The Faroe Islands , and it is a lingua franca and language of education in its other overseas territory of Greenland , where it was one of the official languages until 2009. Danish, a locally recognized minority language, is also natively spoken by the Danish minority in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein . Norwegian is the official language of Norway (both Bokmål and Nynorsk ). Norwegian
1121-729: The Generalmajor rank in the German Army was equivalent to the brigadier general rank in other armies, and so forth. The rank is rated OF-7 in NATO , and is grade B7 in the pay rules of the Federal Ministry of Defence . It is equivalent to Konteradmiral in the German Navy ( Marine ) or to Generalstabsarzt , and Admiralstabsarzt in the Zentraler Sanitätsdienst der Bundeswehr . On
1180-581: The North Sea and Baltic coasts. The West Germanic languages include the three most widely spoken Germanic languages: English with around 360–400 million native speakers; German , with over 100 million native speakers; and Dutch , with 24 million native speakers. Other West Germanic languages include Afrikaans , an offshoot of Dutch originating from the Afrikaners of South Africa , with over 7.1 million native speakers; Low German , considered
1239-538: The consonant change known as " Grimm's law ." Early varieties of Germanic entered history when the Germanic tribes moved south from Scandinavia in the 2nd century BC to settle in the area of today's northern Germany and southern Denmark. English is an official language of Belize , Canada, Nigeria, Falkland Islands , Saint Helena , Malta , New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, Philippines, Jamaica, Dominica , Guyana , Trinidad and Tobago , American Samoa , Palau , St. Lucia , Grenada , Barbados , St. Vincent and
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#17327719044871298-498: The noble rank of Count and the military rank of Lieutenant general . As part of the Army Reform of 1867, the ranks of Major, Lieutenant colonel were removed and only a single "General" rank was kept. After the 1880 reform, the general officer ranks were reintroduced. Commanding generals of the 1st and 2nd General Command were made Lieutenant generals while everyone else were made Major general. The first official uniform
1357-582: The "presidential order on rank designation and military uniform". The ' ZDv-37/10 – Anzugsordnung für Soldaten der Bundeswehr ' ( ZDv: Z entrale D ienst v orschrift - Central Service Provision) gives the dress order and design variations. Further, the Federal Office of Equipment, IT, and In-Service Support of the Bundeswehr ( Bundesamt für Ausrüstung, Informationstechnik und Nutzung der Bundeswehr ) provides numerous details. According to
1416-436: The 19th century. Corps-coloured piping and padding (4-mm-wide plain braiding) are used on the uniforms of Army and Luftwaffe personnel, placed on shoulder straps and cuffs to characterize the membership of an armed service, a special force, or a particular assignment. Corps-coloured loops might be used on mounting straps of field uniform. The collar patches on uniform jackets show corps colours as well. It should be mentioned that
1475-409: The 21st century, German dialects are dying out as Standard German gains primacy. The common ancestor of all of the languages in this branch is called Proto-Germanic, also known as Common Germanic, which was spoken in about the middle of the 1st millennium BC in Iron Age Scandinavia . Proto-Germanic, along with all of its descendants, notably has a number of unique linguistic features, most famously
1534-598: The Armed Forces ) for enlisted personnel and non commissioned officers the background of the basic uniform gorget patches shows the specific corps colour of the appropriate armed service, special troop, corps or assignment. Also in deviation from the description above, on the service jacket and skiing blouse colour pipings or cops background colour on gorget patches are dropped. Mounting straps or loops ( Aufschiebeschlaufen in German) are in principle identical to
1593-582: The Army. Double wing mounting loops are longer and wider than any other in the Bundeswehr. The double wing is even part of the otherwise empty mounting loop of the lowest private OR1-rank (German: Flieger (flyer) or Kanonier (gunner); see image a.), in order to distinguish between the Luftwaffe and Army in flecktarn Battle Dress Uniform. Corps (or troop-function) colours ( Waffenfarben in German) have been traditionally used in German armed forces since
1652-611: The German Navy are equivalent to the corps colours of the Army and Luftwaffe and have corresponding functions respectively. Uniformed Naval personnel of enlisted and NCO rank wear specific marks of distinction or badges on epaulettes (not on mounting straps) and sleeves to characterize the appropriate assignment. The exception to this is officer-designated (OF(D)) grades. As well as rank insignias on epaulettes, assignment badges are made up of metallic gold-coloured embossed pins or badges. Both are identical in colour and design. However,
1711-975: The Grenadines , Puerto Rico, Guam , Hong Kong, Singapore, Pakistan, India, Papua New Guinea , Namibia , Vanuatu , the Solomon Islands and former British colonies in Asia, Africa and Oceania. Furthermore, it is the de facto language of the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia, as well as a recognized language in Nicaragua and Malaysia. German is a language of Austria, Belgium, Germany, Liechtenstein , Luxembourg and Switzerland; it also has regional status in Italy, Poland, Namibia and Denmark. German also continues to be spoken as
1770-544: The Heer and Luftwaffe), the old-fashioned mounting loop with grey-colour rank insignias may be worn." In practice, the replacement of the obsolete grey-coloured mounting loops by the new fashioned black-colour version is almost complete. However, on uni-coloured flying suits of army pilots and aviation technicians, mounting loops with grey-coloured rank insignias conform to the regulations. The following tables below depict mounting loops that are used in practice in conjunction with
1829-672: The Middle Ages, however, these languages have been strongly influenced by Middle Low German , a West Germanic language, and Low German words account for about 30–60% of their vocabularies according to various estimates. Other extant North Germanic languages are Faroese , Icelandic , and Elfdalian , which are more conservative languages with no significant Low German influence, more complex grammar and limited mutual intelligibility with other North Germanic languages today. The East Germanic branch included Gothic , Burgundian , and Vandalic , all of which are now extinct. The last to die off
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1888-428: The Netherlands, Sint Maarten , and Suriname . The Netherlands also colonized Indonesia , but Dutch was scrapped as an official language after Indonesian independence . Today, it is only used by older or traditionally educated people. Dutch was until 1983 an official language in South Africa but evolved into and was replaced by Afrikaans , a partially mutually intelligible daughter language of Dutch. Afrikaans
1947-668: The adoption of NATO STANAG 2116. The adoption created the new rank of Brigadier general, which would receive the one star, meaning the major general would receive two stars. It is the third-highest general officer rank in the German Army ( Heer ) and German Air Force ( Luftwaffe ). This rank is also used in the Austrian Armed Forces , but is abbreviated as GenMjr . Historically, German Army ranks for its generals prior to 1945 were offset by one from those of most other major European armies. Thus, prior to 1945,
2006-435: The assignment badges on sleeves are embroidered by hand or machine. Only the steel-blue assignment badges on white shirts of enlisted personnel are weaved. Seamen (recruit OR-1) wear assignment badges on shoulder straps or upper-sleeves that are otherwise empty. Assignment badges are normally positioned as follows: Assignment badges on epaulettes are normally symmetric and placed between the head and rank insignia. The exception
2065-555: The command chain. Regarding the Navy, apart from the rank insignia there are no additional elements given to all officer grades and officer designated ranks. Various assignment badges indicate the different officer chains of career and distinguish designated officers from other rank groups, e.g. enlisted ratings and NCOs. U-boat captains wear the traditional white hat. Examples of assignment badges dedicated to officer ranks are: Assignment badges on shoulder straps are worn principally above
2124-464: The cuffs , with three for full generals, two for Lieutenant generals, and one for major generals. This uniform saw a number of changes until 1785, when the cuff ranks were removed. In 1801, new uniforms were introduced for the whole army. Along with the new uniforms, epaulette ranks were introduced for officers, with generals wearing six-pointed stars on their epaulettes. The general ranks remained largely unchanged from their introduction until 1979, and
2183-711: The dark blue jacket with the above indicated cuff titles, because enlisted mariner in the age below 30 years prefer to wear the white shirt or blue shirt instead of the uniform jacked. Sleeve insignias on shirts more simple, but pertaining form and dimensions identically to those on jackets. In the place of stripes, with parts of metallic spinning fibers wire yarn, the oblique chevrons are made from golden-yellow or steel-blue spinning fibers without any metallic parts of wire yarn (see images b and c.). For Army and Air Force personnel in Bundeswehr dress uniform , as well as for all female soldiers, shoulder straps are mandatory. However, male naval persons in uniform wear cuff titles, known from
2242-604: The design of the shoulder boards depicted above. From this point of view it is sufficient to demonstrate the different versions of the design, instead of showing a complete list. Officially-procured mounting straps are weaved. The field-uniform type of mounting straps, used most, have black or golden emblems on stone-grey/olive-coloured base textiles. Soldiers of the lowest ranks generally do not wear shoulder straps. Exceptions to this are comparatively-low-ranked NCOs, Mate aspirants, and Boatswain cadets, as well as wearers of stone-grey/olive Luftwaffe uniforms that do not feature badges with
2301-677: The double wings. Luftwaffe shoulder straps of this type are the only type to have the Luftwaffe double wings woven in. These are longer than all the other types used by the Luftwaffe. Epaulettes and armbands on the Battle Dress Uniforms of personnel whose ranks feature stars are only worn by some comparatively-low-ranked Officer aspirants. Similar mounting straps exist for differently-coloured uniform parts as well as for Army, Air Force, and Navy personnel in uniform. Army personnel in uniform, for example, wear black mounting straps with bright-grey emblems (gold-yellow for Generals) on
2360-419: The epaulettes of grey shirts (see image a.). For naval personnel, dark-blue mounting straps are widespread, particularly on the ship-parka (see image c.). For Air Force pilots' flying suits there exists a version of the mounting straps with bright-grey emblems (gold-yellow for Generals) on dark-blue base textile (without double-wing). The Air Force double-wing is mounted to other parts of the flying suit, and
2419-472: The feldwebel grades, lieutenant, or major, might not be very visible. As illustrated above, all rank insignias come with a number of diverse additional elements. In most cases they characterize a rank or career group within the Bundeswehr. Additional elements are not components of the rank insignia, because the rank or grade level is clearly defined by the rank insignia itself. However, there are additional statuses not defined by these rank markings, such as being
Generalmajor - Misplaced Pages Continue
2478-536: The general ranks is made of fire-gilded silver wire. As for the field officer ranks, the ornamental border contains aluminium. A similar piping is employed on other uniform parts as well, e.g. on collar points of the service uniform jacket for officer ranks including Oberfähnrich (Army and Luftwaffe), or on the peaked cap ( Schirmmütze in German) or mountain cape (German: Bergmütze ). Most officer designated ranks (Army and Luftwaffe) already have this particular silver metallic tissue border on epaulettes, next to
2537-557: The grade of M404 within the Ministry of Defence's pay structure. The rank of major general is reserved for the Chief of the army and air force . On 25 May 1671, the ranks were codified, by King Christian V , with the publication of the Danish order of precedence . Here generals of the branch were placed below Lieutenant field marshal ( Danish : Feltmarskal Lieutenant ), and above
2596-529: The jacket. Deviating from the description above, naval enlisted personnel of the Guard Battalion of the MOD-Germany (de: Wachbataillon beim BMVg) are exempted from wearing any sleeve rating mark on all uniforms, instead wearing their insignia on shoulder boards. In opposition to the ZDv 37/10, in representative military units (e.g. Guard Battalion of the MOD-Germany and Staff Military Band of
2655-515: The local dialect is known as Ulster Scots ). Frisian is spoken among half a million people who live on the southern fringes of the North Sea in the Netherlands and Germany. Luxembourgish is a Moselle Franconian dialect that is spoken mainly in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , where it is considered to be an official language. Similar varieties of Moselle Franconian are spoken in small parts of Belgium, France, and Germany. Yiddish, once
2714-523: The lower end of the mounting loop. The only exception to this is the Oberfähnrich shoulder strap, to be worn on service and dress uniform. This particular epaulette has the silver piping on its outline, indicating the officer's career, but lacks the bronze-coloured edging that usually borders the centre part of NCO-rank insignia, as opposed to the service uniform epaulettes of a Hauptfeldwebel (Staff Sergeant/First Sergeant, OR-7). However, rank badges on
2773-418: The metallic version (image: e.). However, this type of rank insignias is rather seldom in practice. Beside the rank insignia on light-grey shoulder straps, as shown above, there is to army persons in uniform a version (see image a.) on dark grey cloth. This version of shoulder straps will be worn to uniform shirt and overcoat. Naval persons in uniform, of the enlisted personnel rank group, wear relatively seldom
2832-532: The mounting loops of Hauptfeldwebel and Oberfähnrich are identical. Designated officers of OR-1 rank wear simple silver mounting loops on the otherwise empty epaulettes. A silver cord on the lower end of the mounting loop is usually worn in the Army. Alongside is another loop of corps colour, which indicates the membership to the appropriate branch of service, special force or assignment. The visible, silver-coloured stripes are essential in order to differentiate from equivalent NCO ranks, because an officer candidate with
2891-723: The nautical star identifies all officer dedicated ranks as well, with the exception of the medical career chain (see below). The speciality badge is different for medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine and pharmacy. As mentioned above, it depicts the Rod of Asclepius. The head of the snake points forward, i.e. the direction the soldier is facing. Officer Aspirants are known as Sanitätsoffizieranwärter or SanOA for short, which translates as Medical Officer Aspirant (MOA). This denotes personnel who are yet to finish their medical studies. Excluding Officer Aspirants and Generals, medical ranks have slightly different names to denote specialities, e.g.
2950-545: The parallel gold-coloured galloons . They are designed as gold-coloured metallic stamped stickers in the style of the rank insignias of NCOs and enlisted men. The exception is weaved mounting loops, because not any assignment badge or career badge has to be worn on it. Cuff assignment badges for officers are hand-embroidered and made from gold-coloured metallic fabric. In accordance with ZDv 37/10 on dark-blue epaulettes, hand-embroidered naval stars, made from gold-coloured metallic fabric, are tolerated as well. As mentioned above,
3009-511: The piping and padding (German.: Litze ) on the shoulder (bottom part of the badge) is issued after boot camp and the beret is issued to the Corps that the wearer is currently serving in. Hence, the Litze can have a different colour to the beret since a soldier may have passed boot camp in another Corps than that which they currently serve in. Assignment badges (German: Laufbahnabzeichen ) of
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#17327719044873068-434: The rank of " Fähnrich " (Army: Cadet Sergeant, Luftwaffe: Aviation Cadet, Warrant Officer, Navy: Midshipman) may not yet have professional knowledge about his future troop type, whose colours he is already wearing, as opposed to a " Feldwebel " (Sergeant, OR-6). This is an issue solely related to specific service requirements, since formally, these ranks (e.g. Fahnenjunker and Unteroffizier ) do not differ in their position in
3127-463: The rank system, the different types of rank insignias might be distinguished as follows: The rank insignias of all service personnel will be explained initially on the example of shoulder straps to the basic uniform or everyday uniform in order provide a general overview. As to naval persons in uniform there will be additionally depicted sleeve insignias on the uniform jacket. Pertaining army persons in uniform there will be shown next shoulder straps of
3186-503: The shoulder straps ( Heer , Luftwaffe ) there are two golden pips (stars) in golden oak leaves. ( German officer rank ) Generalmajor Generalmajor was in the so-called "armed organs of the GDR" ( German : Bewaffnete Organe der DDR ), represented by Ministry of National Defence , and Ministry for State Security , the lowest general officer rank, comparable to the one-star rank in many NATO-Armed forces (Rangcode OF-6) . This
3245-415: The uniform jacket. Variations of the first instance depicted rank insignias will be explained in more detail. The rank insignia of commissioned officers . The rank insignia of non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel . Army- and Air Force persons in uniform of the commissioned officers rank group may carry in line with ZDv 37/10 self-procured hand stitched rank insignias (image: d.) instead of
3304-543: Was Crimean Gothic , spoken until the late 18th century in some isolated areas of Crimea . The SIL Ethnologue lists 48 different living Germanic languages, 41 of which belong to the Western branch and six to the Northern branch; it places Riograndenser Hunsrückisch German in neither of the categories, but it is often considered a German dialect by linguists. The total number of Germanic languages throughout history
3363-749: Was equivalent to Konteradmiral in the Kriegsmarine , and SS-Brigadeführer in the Waffen-SS until 1945. ( German officer rank ) Generalmajor Germanic languages Pontic Steppe Caucasus East Asia Eastern Europe Northern Europe Pontic Steppe Northern/Eastern Steppe Europe South Asia Steppe Europe Caucasus India Indo-Aryans Iranians East Asia Europe East Asia Europe Indo-Aryan Iranian Indo-Aryan Iranian Others European The Germanic languages are
3422-648: Was in reference to Soviet military doctrine and in line with other armed forces of the Warsaw Pact . The equivalent rank of the Volksmarine (GDR Navy) was the Konteradmiral , often called simply Herr Admiral for short. Generalmajor was in the German Reich and Nazi Germany the lowest general officer rank, comparable to the one-star rank in many NATO-Armed forces (Rangcode OF-6) . It
3481-463: Was instituted on 29 September 1737. The first few uniform designs have not survived, though they were likely red, highly ornamented coats without collar . The red coat remained until 1768, when Comte de Saint-Germain instituted white uniforms for generals, these were however removed shortly after, in 1769. In 1772, the first real ranks were introduced to the Danish Army; these were gold rings on
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