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SS-Rank Table showing equivalents in the German, American and British
Armies
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SS Rank |
Translation of SS Rank |
Wehrmacht Rank |
American Rank |
British Rank |
| None | n/a | None | None | Monarch (The Monarch is an hereditary position and is neither elected nor appointed) |
| Der oberste Führer der Schutzstaffel. Der Führer Adolf Hitler | Supreme Leader of the Protection Squad. The Leader Adolf Hitler | Oberste Führer (Adolf Hitler) | President |
Prime Minister |
| Reichsführer-SS | Empire-Leader of the SS | None | None | None |
| None | n/a | General-Feldmarschall | General of the Army | Field Marshall |
| SS-Oberstgruppenführer | SS-Supreme Group Leader | Generaloberst | General | General |
| SS-Obergruppenführer | SS-Senior Group Leader | General der Infanterie, der Artillerie etc. | Lieutenant General | Lieutenant General |
| SS-Gruppenführer | SS-Group Leader | Generalleutnant | Major General | Major General |
| SS-Brigadeführer | SS-Brigade Leader | Generalmajor | Brigadier General | Brigadier |
| SS-Oberführer | SS-Senior Leader | None | None | None |
| SS-Standartenführer | SS-Standard Leader | Oberst | Colonel | Colonel |
| SS-Obersturmbannführer | SS-Senior Storm Command Leader | Oberstleutnant | Lieutenant Colonel | Lieutenant Colonel |
| SS-Sturmbannführer | SS-Storm Command Leader | Major | Major | Major |
| SS-Hauptsturmführer | SS-Head Storm Leader | Hauptmann | Captain | Captain |
| SS-Obersturmführer | SS-Senior Storm Leader | Oberleutnant | 1st Lieutenant | Lieutenant |
| SS-Untersturmführer | SS-Under Storm Leader | Leutnant | 2nd Lieutenant | 2nd Lieutenant |
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| SS-Sturmscharführer | SS-Storm Company Leader | Stabsfeldwebel | Sergeant Major | Regimental Sergeant Major |
| SS-Standarten-Oberjunker | SS-Standard Senior Officer Cadet | Oberfähnrich | None | None |
| SS-Hauptscharführer | SS-Head Company Leader | Oberfeldwebel | Master Sergeant | Battalion Sergeant Major |
| SS-Oberscharführer | SS-Senior Company Leader | Feldwebel | Sergeant 1st Class | Company Sergeant Major |
| SS-Standartenjunker | SS-Standard Officer Cadet | Fähnrich | None | None |
| SS-Scharführer | SS-Company Leader | Unterfeldwebel | Staff Sergeant | Platoon Sergeant Major |
| SS-Unterscharführer | SS-Under Company Leader | Unteroffizier | Sergeant | Sergeant |
| SS-Rottenführer | SS-Band Leader | Obergefreiter | Corporal | Corporal |
| SS-Sturmmann | SS-Storm Man | Gefreiter | None | Lance Corporal |
| SS-Oberschütze | SS-Head Private | Oberschütze | Private 1st Class | None |
| SS-Schütze | SS-Private | Schütze | Private | Private |
Note 1) The term, 'Reichsführer-SS' was applied to the head of the combined Waffen and Allgemeine-SS. The various Reichsführer-SS were: Julius Schreck 1925-26, Joseph Berchtold 1926-27, Erhard Heiden 1927-29, Heinrich Himmler 1929-45 and lastly Karl Hanke 1945. There was no direct equivalent to this position in any of the other combatant nations of the Second World War.
Note 2) The above table shows what I believe to be the equivalent ranks in the different forces during the years 1939-45. It is not always easy to provide a direct equivalent between nations, or indeed between the SS and the rest of the Wehrmacht. The starting point rank, SS-Schütze, was the designation for the Infantry and depending on the actual unit, it could be different, for example, Kanonier for the Artillery. The SS-Ranks with, Junker in the title usually refers to non-commissioned Officers who were acting as Officer Cadets pending a definite promotion. During this time they could command troops in the field. A full and exhaustive Rank table would be quite complicated and involve many footnotes and additional explanation; the above is of necessity somewhat simplified.
Note 3) It is sometimes difficult to render words and phrases from one language into another. An example is, Sturmbannführer. In modern German, Sturm means, Storm, or in the military sense, Assault. The word, Bann means a (magic) Spell and Führer, means a Leader or Guide. Clearly Sturmbannführer cannot be rendered as, Storm Spell (magic) Leader, so some further clarification is needed.
German in the Middle Ages used the word Bann both on its own and in conjunction with others, to form words to denote authority and power. Examples are words such as, Banner, meaning a Banner or Flag and Heerbann meaning, Army Command (the power of a King to raise and command an Army). Modern English uses Bann, as in The Banns of Marriage, meaning the command from the minister in the church to the listening congregation to, "raise any cause or just impediment" to the forthcoming match.
In Germany during the 1920's, the Sturm Abteilung, or SA (Storm Detachment) came into being as the street muscle of the Nazi Party. The SA formed themselves into, Companie, three to a Sturm and three, Stürme, into a Sturmbann. Thus a Sturmbannführer was a, Storm Command Leader, using Command in its noun sense, in the same way that a Colonel could refer to his Regiment as being his Command. Using the normal military grading structure equates a Sturmbann to a Battalion and thus a Sturmbannführer to a Major.
The translations given above are my own and I must bear any criticism for their interpretation.
© Michael Williams: revised 18 February 2011
