is the Germanic variant of lieutenant general, used in some

German speaking countries The following is a list of the countries and territories where German is an official language (also known as the Germanosphere). It includes countries that have German as (one of) their nationwide official language(s), as well as dependent ter ...

Austria

Generalleutnant is the second highest

general officer A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED O ...

rank in the Austrian Armed Forces (''Bundesheer''), roughly equivalent to the NATO rank of OF-8.

Belgium

Germany

''Generalleutnant'', short ''GenLt'', ('lieutenant general') is the second highest

rank in the

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

(''Heer'') and the

German Air Force The German Air Force (german: Luftwaffe, lit=air weapon or air arm, ) is the aerial warfare branch of the , the armed forces of Germany. The German Air Force (as part of the ''Bundeswehr'') was founded in 1956 during the era of the Cold War a ...

(''Luftwaffe''). This three-star rank in other countries is lieutenant general.

Rank in modern Germany

The rank is rated OF-8 in NATO, and is grade B9 in the pay rules of the Federal Ministry of Defence. It is equivalent to '' Vizeadmiral'' in the German Navy (''Marine''), or to Generaloberstabsarzt, and Admiraloberstabsarzt in the '' Zentraler Sanitätsdienst der Bundeswehr''. On the shoulder straps (Heer, Luftwaffe) there are three golden pips (stars) in golden oak leaves.

History

German armies and air forces until 1945

=Generalleutnant of the Wehrmacht

= ''Generalleutnant'' was in the German Reich, and Nazi Germany the second lowest

rank, comparable to the two-star rank in many NATO-armed forces (Rangcode OF-7). It was equivalent to '' Vizeadmiral'' in the ''

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...

'', and SS-Gruppenführer in the Waffen-SS until 1945. ;Rank insignia Generalleutnant/ Vizeadmiral:

National People's Army

was in the so-called ''armed organs of the GDR'' (german: Bewaffnete Organe der DDR), represented by

Ministry of National Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in stat ...

, and Ministry for State Security, the second lowest

rank, comparable to the two-star rank in many NATO-Armed forces. This was in reference to Soviet military doctrine and in line with other armed forces of the Warsaw Pact.

Insignia

Notes

References

Military ranks of Germany Two-star officers of Nazi Germany Three-star officers of the Bundeswehr {{German military ranks de:Generalleutnant