''Oberst'' () is a senior field officer rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

. It is currently used by both the

ground Ground may refer to: Geology * Land, the surface of the Earth not covered by water * Soil, a mixture of clay, sand and organic matter present on the surface of the Earth Electricity * Ground (electricity), the reference point in an electrical c ...

and air forces of

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establishe ...

, and Norway. The

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

rank ''

överste Colonel (Col) ( sv, Överste, Öv) is the most senior field grade military officer rank in the Swedish Army and the Swedish Air Force, immediately above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general. It is equivalent ...

'' is a direct translation, as are the Finnish rank ''eversti'' and the Icelandic rank ''ofursti''.

History and origins

is a German word. Spelled with a capital O, "" is a noun and defines the military rank of colonel or

group captain Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force, where it originated, as well as the air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. It is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank i ...

. Spelled with a lower case o, or "", it is an adjective, meaning "top, topmost, uppermost, highest, chief, head, first, principal, or supreme". Both usages derive from the

superlative Comparison is a feature in the morphology or syntax of some languages whereby adjectives and adverbs are inflected to indicate the relative degree of the property they define exhibited by the word or phrase they modify or describe. In languages t ...

of , "the upper" or "the uppermost". As a family name, ''Oberst'' is common in the southwest of Germany, in the area known as the Black Forest ('' Schwarzwald''). The name is also concentrated in the north-central cantons of Switzerland (

Aargau Aargau, more formally the Canton of Aargau (german: Kanton Aargau; rm, Chantun Argovia; french: Canton d'Argovie; it, Canton Argovia), is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven districts and its capita ...

& Zürich). Here the Swiss version of ''Oberst'' is spelled ''Obrist''. The name first appeared in the thirteenth century in the German-Swiss border area, and early forms were ''Zoberist'' and ''Oberist.'' The name most likely refers to the "tribe that lives the highest on the mountain" or "the family that lives the highest in the village". Translated as "superior" or "supreme", the rank of ''Oberst'' can trace its origins to the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

where the term most likely described the senior knight on a battlefield or the senior captain in a regiment. With the emergence of professional armies in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, an ''Oberst'' became the commander of regiment or battalion-sized formations. By the eighteenth century, were typically afforded

aides Aides may refer to: * AIDES, a French non-governmental organization assisting people with HIV/AIDS * ''Aides'' (skipper), a genus of skippers of family Hesperiidae * Aides (tax), a French customs duty during the time of Louis XIV *Hades Ha ...

or lieutenants, often titled . This led to formation of the modern German rank of the same name, translated as

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel ...

Austria

Oberst is the fifth highest rank in the Austrian Armed Forces. Bundesheer - Rank insignia - Oberst.png, Army

Denmark

The Danish rank of is based around the German term. Ranked OF-5 within NATO and having the paygrade of M402., it is used in the Royal Danish Army and the Royal Danish Air Force. Denmark-Army-OF-5-M11.svg, Army RDAF Col.svg, Air Force

Germany

(short: O) is the highest staff officer rank in the

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

(''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'').

''Oberst'' in the ''Bundeswehr''

The rank is rated OF-5 in NATO, and is grade A16 or B3 in the pay rules of the Federal Ministry of Defence. It is equivalent to: * Oberstarzt, ''Oberstapotheker'', and ''Oberstveterinär'' in the Joint Medical Service of the German Bundeswehr; * Kapitän zur See and Flottenarzt in the German Navy. On the shoulder straps (Heer, Luftwaffe) there are three silver pips (stars) in silver oak leaves.

''Oberst'' in East Germany

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 highest field officer rank, comparable to the

in many NATO-Armed forces (Rangcode OF-5). This was in reference to Soviet military doctrine and in line with other armed forces of the Warsaw Pact.

''Oberst'' in the ''Wehrmacht''

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-B28046, Werner Mummert

was in the German Reich and Nazi Germany the highest field officer rank, comparable to the OF-5 rank in many NATO-Armed forces. It was equivalent to '' Kapitän zur See'' 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-Standartenführer in the Waffen-SS until 1945.

Norway

The rank of was introduced around the same time as

, as Norway at the time was part of

Denmark–Norway Denmark–Norway (Danish and Norwegian: ) was an early modern multi-national and multi-lingual real unionFeldbæk 1998:11 consisting of the Kingdom of Denmark, the Kingdom of Norway (including the then Norwegian overseas possessions: the Faroe I ...

. Norway-army-OF-5.svg, Army Norway-air force-OF-5.svg, Air Force

Sweden

The Swedish variant , is the most senior field grade military officer rank in the

Swedish Army The Swedish Army ( sv, svenska armén) is the land force of the Swedish Armed Forces. History Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1521, when the men of Dalarna chose 16 young able men as body guards for the insurgent nobleman Gustav Vas ...

and the

Swedish Air Force The Swedish Air Force ( sv, Svenska flygvapnet or just ) is the air force branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. History The Swedish Air Force was created on 1 July, 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because of the es ...

, immediately above the rank of

and just below the rank of

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed t ...

. It is equivalent to the naval rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the

Swedish Navy The Swedish Navy ( sv, Svenska marinen) is the naval branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet () – as well as marine units, the Amphibious Corps (). In Swedish, vessels o ...

. Sweden-Field-OF-5 (2019).svg, Army OF-5 Överste AMF hylsa.jpg, Amphibious Corps OF-5 Överste FV hylsa.svg, Air Force

Switzerland

CHE OF5 Oberst.svg, Army

Swiss Guard

Rank insignia of Oberst (OF-5) Pontifical Swiss Guard.svg, Army

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oberst Military ranks of Germany Military ranks of Austria Military ranks of Switzerland Military ranks of Denmark Military ranks of Norway Military ranks of Sweden Military ranks of Finland da:Oberst de:Oberst no:Oberst