Themilitary ranks of the German Empire were the ranks used by the military of theGerman Empire 1871–1918. It inherited the various traditions and military ranks of its constituent states.
Critics long believed that the Army's officer corps was heavily dominated byJunker aristocrats, so that commoners were shunted into low-prestige branches, such as the heavy artillery or supply. However, by the 1890s, the top ranks were opened to highly talented commoners.[1][2]
Cadet (Fahnenjunker, ranking between Sergeant and Vizefeldwebel) – served as cadets in the various military academies and schools. After graduation, they became aFähnrich.
Ensign (Fähnrich, ranking betweenVize-Feldwebel andFeldwebel) A probationary officer waiting to become a 2nd Lieutenant (Leutnant).
Deputy Officer (Offizierstellvertreter, ranking aboveEtatmäßiger Feldwebel) A warrant officer usually used as a brevetLeutnant or an acting platoon leader.
Uncommissioned Lieutenant (Feldwebelleutnant, a reserve rank for promoted sergeants serving as a junior 2nd Lieutenant with Lieutenant's pay, but without an officer's commission.) They wore an officer's dress sword (degen) rather than an NCO's dagger, and wore the rank insignia of aVizefeldwebel on the collar with second lieutenant's shoulder straps.[3] Still a member of the NCO's Mess until 1917, when he became eligible for the Officer's Mess.
Unteroffizier mit Portepee ("Non-Commissioned Officer with Sword Knot"). Senior NCOs with the right to wear a ceremonial lanyard tied to the hilt of their NCO service dagger.
Etatmäßiger Feldwebel ("Budgetary Sergeant Major") A company's senior NCO. They were equivalent to a British Company Sergeant Major or an American First Sergeant.
Vizefeldwebel ("Assistant Sergeant Major") A platoon's senior NCO. They were equivalent to a British Sergeant.
Unteroffizier ohne Portepee ("Non-Commissioned Officer without Sword Knot"). Junior NCOs who did not have the right to wear the sword knot.
Sergeant A junior NCO who leads asection, equivalent to a British Lance-Sergeant.
Unteroffizier ("Subordinate Officer") A junior NCO who leads a section.[4] They were equivalent to a British Corporal.
Musketeer (Musketier,Prussian army infantry regiments), Infantryman (Infanterist,Bavarian army infantry regiments), Soldier (Soldat,Saxon army infantry regiments), Gunner (Kanonier, foot artillery), Pioneer (Pionier, pioneer branch). Other unit-specific enlisted ranks were:Fusilier (Füsilier),Grenadier (Grenadier),Huntsman otherwiseLight-Infantryman (Jäger),Dragoon (Dragoner),Hussar (Husar),Cuirassier (Kürassier),Uhlan (Ulan), Fusilier Guard (Garde-Füsilier), Grenadier Guard (Garde-Grenadier), Wehrmann (Landwehr), etc.
Lance Corporal (Gefreiter); up until 1918 the only rank (with exception ofObergefreiter in the foot artillery) to which a conscripted soldier could be promoted. The rank was a deputy rank to theCorporal (Unteroffizier)[b] rank.[6]
Senior Lance Corporal (Obergefreiter); established in thePrussian Army from 1846 to 1853, reestablished in 1859, then infoot artillery only, replacing the artilleryBombardier rank that had been introduced in 1730.[6]
Additionally, the followingvoluntary enlistees were distinguished:
One-Year Volunteer Enlistee (Einjährig-Freiwilliger): despite the name, one-year volunteers were actually conscripts who served a short-term form of activemilitary service, open for enlistees up to the age of 25. Such enlisted soldiers were usuallyhigh school graduates (Matura,Abitur), who would opt to serve a one-year term rather than the regular two or three-yearconscription term, with free selection of their chosen military service branch and unit, but throughout were obligated to equip and subsist themselves at entirely their own cost. In today's monetary value, this could at bare minimum cost some 10,000euro, which purposely reserved this path open to sons from mostly affluent social class families wishing to pursue the Reserve-Officer path; it was the specific intention ofWilhelm II that such Reserve-Officer career path should only be open to members of so-called "officer-material" social classes.[7] On absolving their primaryrecruit training, those aspiring to become Reserve-Officers would have to qualify and achieve suitability for promotion to theGefreiter rank and then would continue to receive further specialized instruction until the end of their one-year term, usually attaining and leaving as surplus Corporals (überzählige Unteroffiziere) (Reservists), with the opportunity to advance further as reservists. Enlistees who did not aspire to officer grade would leave at the end of their one-year term asGemeine[c] (Ordinary soldier)enlisted rank (for exampleMusketier orInfanterist) and a six-year reserve duty obligation.[7] Eligibility for this specific one-year path of military service was a privilege approved upon examining the enlistee's suitability and academic qualifications.
Long-Term Volunteer Enlistee "Capitulant" (Kapitulant): enlisted soldiers who had already absolved their regular two or three-year military conscription term and had nowvolunteered to continue serving for further terms, minimum was 4 years, generally up to 12 years.[9][d]
Note:Einjährig-Freiwilliger andKapitulant were not ranks as such during this specific period of use, butvoluntary military enlistee designations. They, however, wore a specific uniform distinction (twisted wool piping along their shoulderepaulette edging forEinjährig-Freiwilliger, theKapitulant a narrow band across their lower shoulder epaulette) in the colours of their respectivenation state. This distinction was never removed throughout their military service nor during any rank grade advancements.
^Several German armies and national contingents, including Prussia and Bavaria, traditionally used two different captain ranks that originated with the ownership of units. The Captain 1st Class was either the proprietor who had raised and equipped the Company / Troop / Battery or was a gentleman or nobleman who had bought a commission as its nominal Captain. The Captain 2nd Class (orStabshauptmann > "Staff Captain") was its actual commander. By the end of the 19th century that dual-system had been gradually phased out and replaced by a single rank.
^Duden; Origin and meaning of "Korporal", in German.[5]
^ab"Gefreiter" –Allgemeine Encyclopädie der Wissenschaften und Künste, Erste Section, A-G, (Universal Encyclopaedia of the Sciences and Arts, First Section, A-G), Author: Johann Samuel Ersch and Johann Gottfried Gruber, Publisher: F. A. Brockhaus, Leipzig, 1852, Page 471-472, in German.[1]
^abMeyers Konversations-Lexikon, 4th Edition, Volume 6, Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig 1885–1892, Page 659. in German
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