Generalmajor is theGermanic variant ofmajor general, used in a number ofCentral andNorthern European countries.

Generalmajor is the second lowestgeneral officer rank in theRoyal Danish Army andRoyal Danish Air Force. As atwo-star rank it is the equivalent to the rank ofcounter admiral in theRoyal Danish Navy.^[3]

The rank is ratedOF-7 withinNATO.^[4] It has the grade of M404 within theMinistry of Defence's pay structure.^[5] The rank of major general is reserved for theChief of the army andair force.^[6]

On 25 May 1671, the ranks were codified, byKing Christian V, with the publication of theDanish order of precedence. Heregenerals of the branch were placed belowLieutenant field marshal (Danish:Feltmarskal Lieutenant), and above thenoble rank ofCount and the military rank ofLieutenant general.^[7]

As part of the Army Reform of 1867, the ranks of Major, Lieutenant colonel were removed and only a single "General" rank was kept.^[8] After the 1880 reform, the general officer ranks were reintroduced.^[9] Commanding generals of the1st and2nd General Command were made Lieutenant generals while everyone else were made Major general.^[9]

The first official uniform was instituted on 29 September 1737.^[10] The first few uniform designs have not survived, though they were likely red, highly ornamentedcoats without collar.^[11] The red coat remained until 1768, whenComte de Saint-Germain instituted white uniforms for generals, these were however removed shortly after, in 1769.^[12] In 1772, the first real ranks were introduced to the Danish Army; these weregold rings on the cuffs, with three for full generals, two for Lieutenant generals, and one for major generals.^[13] This uniform saw a number of changes until 1785, when the cuff ranks were removed.^[14]

In 1801, new uniforms were introduced for the whole army. Along with the new uniforms,epaulette ranks were introduced for officers, with generals wearing six-pointed stars on their epaulettes.^[15][6] The general ranks remained largely unchanged from their introduction until 1979, and the adoption of NATO STANAG 2116.^[6] The adoption created the new rank of Brigadier general, which would receive the one star, meaning the major general would receive two stars.^[6]

• Rank insignia for General
•  
  Army uniform(1801–1822)
•  
  Full dress(1822–1869)
  Field uniform(1822–1849)
•  
  Full dress(1869–1889)
  Field uniform(1849–1889)
•  
  Full dress(1889–1989)
•  
  Field uniform(1910–1915)
•  
  ...(1915–1923)
•  
  ...(1923–1952)
•  
  ...(1952–1963)
•  
  ...(1963–1979)
•  
  Service shirt slip-on(1969–1979)
•  
  Field uniform(1979–2018)
•  
  Full dress(1989–present)
•  
  Service shirt slip-on(1989–present)
•  
  Field uniform(2018–present)
•  
  Air Force
•  
  Air Force sleeve

It is the third-highestgeneral officer rank in theGerman Army (Heer) andGerman Air Force (Luftwaffe). This rank is also used in theAustrian Armed Forces, but is abbreviated asGenMjr.

Historically, German Army ranks for its generalsprior to 1945 were offset by one from those of most other majorEuropean armies. Thus, prior to 1945, theGeneralmajor rank in the German Army was equivalent to thebrigadier general rank in other armies, and so forth.

The rank is ratedOF-7 inNATO, and is grade B7 in the pay rules of theFederal Ministry of Defence. It is equivalent toKonteradmiral in theGerman Navy (Marine) or toGeneralstabsarzt, andAdmiralstabsarzt in theZentraler Sanitätsdienst der Bundeswehr.

On the shoulder straps (Heer,Luftwaffe) there are two golden pips (stars) in golden oak leaves.

Bundeswehr sequence of ranks ascending

Generalmajor was in the so-called "armed organs of the GDR" (German:Bewaffnete Organe der DDR), represented byMinistry of National Defence, andMinistry for State Security, the lowestgeneral officer rank, comparable to theone-star rank in many NATO-Armed forces(Rangcode OF-6). This was in reference to Soviet military doctrine and in line with other armed forces of theWarsaw Pact.

The equivalent rank of theVolksmarine (GDR Navy) was theKonteradmiral, often called simplyHerr Admiral for short.

Generalmajor was in theGerman Reich andNazi Germany the lowestgeneral officer rank, comparable to theone-star rank in many NATO-Armed forces(Rangcode OF-6). It was equivalent toKonteradmiral in theKriegsmarine, andSS-Brigadeführer in theWaffen-SS until 1945.

Rank insigniaGeneralmajor /Konteradmiral

Sequence of ranks ascending

Generalmajor is amilitary rank inSweden that is equivalent to atwo-star general. It is the third highest military rank, positioned above brigadgeneral (brigade general) and below generallöjtnant (general lieutenant).^[16][17]

• Comparative officer ranks of World War I
• Comparative officer ranks of World War II
• Ranks of the National People's Army

Bibliography

• danmarkshistorien.dk (17 May 2017)."Rangforordningen, 25. maj 1671" (in Danish). danmarkshistorien.dk. Retrieved15 March 2021.
• Hedegaard, Ole A. (1 January 1986)."Nyt militært gradstegn - en ny/gammel tradition!".Krigsvidenskab.dk (in Danish). Archived fromthe original on 28 August 2018. Retrieved28 August 2018.
• Klint, Helge (1965). "Træk af Hærstabens historie".Hærkommandoens Årsskrift (in Danish). Nyt Nordisk Forlag:5–11.
• Military Committee Land Standardization Board (13 January 2021).STANAG 2116 (7th ed.). NATO Standardization Agency.
• Ministry of Defence (9 January 2017)."Historik".forpers.dk (in Danish). Forsvarsministeriets Personalestyrelse. Archived fromthe original on 22 February 2019. Retrieved8 April 2021.
• Ministry of War (1880). "Love og Bestemmelser, som angaae hæren".Kundgjørelser for hæren samt Love og Bestemmelser, som angaae hæren (in Danish). Copenhagen.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Petersen, Karsten Skjold (2014).Kongens klæder - Hærens uniformer og udrustning i Danmark-Norge (in Danish) (1st ed.). Slovenia: Historika.ISBN 9788793229006.