Hauptsturmführer
| Hauptsturmführer | |
|---|---|
 SS collar patches | |
| Country |  Nazi Germany |
| Service branch |  Schutzstaffel Sturmabteilung National Socialist Motor Corps National Socialist Flyers Corps |
| Abbreviation | Hstuf |
| NATO rank code | OF-2 |
| Formation | 1934 |
| Abolished | 1945 |
| Next higher rank | Sturmbannführer |
| Next lower rank | Obersturmführer |
| Equivalent ranks | Hauptmann |
Albert Klett
, photographed in 1945Hauptsturmführer (German: German Army and also the equivalency of captain in foreign armies.[1]
The rank of Hauptsturmführer evolved from the older rank of Sturmhauptführer, created as a rank of the Sturmabteilung (SA). The SS used the rank of Sturmhauptführer from 1930 to 1934 at which time, following the Night of the Long Knives, the name of the rank was changed to Hauptsturmführer although the insignia remained the same.[2][3] Sturmhauptführer remained an SA rank until 1939/40.[4]
Some of the most infamous SS members are known to have held the rank of Hauptsturmführer. Among them are
ghettos at Tarnów and Kraków, the camp at Szebnie, the Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp, as portrayed in the film Schindler's List
).
The insignia of Hauptsturmführer was three silver pips and two silver stripes on a black collar patch, worn opposite a
unit insignia patch.[1] On the field grey duty uniform, the shoulder boards of an army Hauptmann were also displayed. The rank of Hauptsturmführer was senior to the rank of Obersturmführer and junior to Sturmbannführer.[1]
Rank insignia
| Hauptsturmführer SS, SA, NSKK, and NSFK | ||||||
|
Schutzstaffel (SS) |
 Sturmabteilung (SA) |
NS Motor Corps (NSKK) |
NS Flyers Corps (NSFK) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
 |
|
|
|
| |
| Waffen-SS |
|
collar insignia | ||||
| Sequence of ranks in comparison with the Wehrmacht (Heer) | ||
|---|---|---|
| junior rank SA-Obersturmführer |
)
|
senior rank SA-Sturmbannführer |
| junior rank SS-Obersturmführer |
SS rank Hauptsturmführer (until 1934: Sturmhauptführer) |
senior rank SS-Sturmbannführer |
| junior rank OF-1 )
|
OF-2 )
|
senior rank OF-3 )
|
See also
References
- ^ a b c Flaherty 2004, p. 148.
- ^ McNab 2009a, pp. 29, 30.
- ^ Miller 2006, p. 521.
- ^ McNab 2009b, p. 15.
Bibliography
- Flaherty, T. H. (2004) [1988]. The Third Reich: The SS. Time-Life Books, Inc. ISBN 1-84447-073-3.
- McNab, Chris (2009a). The SS: 1923–1945. Amber Books Ltd. ISBN 978-1-906626-49-5.
- McNab, Chris (2009b). The Third Reich. Amber Books Ltd. ISBN 978-1-906626-51-8.
- Miller, Michael (2006). Leaders of the SS and German Police, Vol. 1. R. James Bender Publishing. ISBN 93-297-0037-3.