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(, ; short: ''Ostuf'') was a
Nazi Germany paramilitary rank that was used in several Nazi organisations, such as the
SA,
SS,
NSKK and the
NSFK.
The rank of ''Obersturmführer'' was first created in 1932 as the result of an expansion of the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) and the need for an additional rank in the officer corps. ''Obersturmführer'' also became an
SS rank
The uniforms and insignia of the ''Schutzstaffel'' served to distinguish the Nazi paramilitary ranks of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) between 1925 and 1945 from the ranks of the '' Wehrmacht'' (the regular German armed forces from 1935), the German ...
at that same time.
An SA-''Obersturmführer'' was typically a junior company commander in charge of fifty to a hundred men. Within the SS, the rank of ''Obersturmführer'' carried a wider range of occupations including staff aide,
Gestapo
The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...
officer,
concentration camp
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...
supervisor, and Waffen-SS platoon commander. Within both the SS and SA, the rank of ''Obersturmführer'' was considered the equivalent of an ''
Oberleutnant
() is the highest lieutenant officer rank in the German-speaking armed forces of Germany (Bundeswehr), the Austrian Armed Forces, and the Swiss Armed Forces.
Austria
Germany
In the German Army, it dates from the early 19th century. Tr ...
'' in the German ''
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...
''.
The insignia for ''Obersturmführer'' was three silver pips and a silver stripe centered on a uniform collar patch. The rank was senior to an ''
Untersturmführer
(, ; short: ''Ustuf'') was a paramilitary rank of the German ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) first created in July 1934. The rank can trace its origins to the older SA rank of ''Sturmführer'' which had existed since the founding of the SA in 1921. ...
'' (or ''
Sturmführer'' in the SA) and junior to the rank of ''
Hauptsturmführer''.
Rank insignia
See also
*
Comparative ranks of Nazi Germany
*
Table of ranks and insignia of the Waffen-SS
Notes
Bibliography
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Obersturmfuhrer
SS ranks