Hauptsturmführer

*Hauptsturmführer*
Hauptsturmführer;
	SS collar patches
Country	Nazi Germany
Service branch	Schutzstaffel; Sturmabteilung; National Socialist Motor Corps; National Socialist Flyers Corps
Abbreviation	Hstuf
NATO rank code	OF-2
Formation	1934
Abolished	1945
Next higher rank	Sturmbannführer
Next lower rank	Obersturmführer
Equivalent ranks	Hauptmann

Hauptsturmführer (German: [ˈhaʊpt.ʃtʊʁmˌfyːʁɐ], lit. 'head storm leader'; short: Hstuf) was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was used in several Nazi organizations such as the SS, NSKK and the NSFK. The rank of Hauptsturmführer was a mid-level commander and had equivalent seniority to a captain (Hauptmann) in the German Army and also the equivalency of captain in foreign armies.^[1]

The rank of Hauptsturmführer evolved from the older rank of Sturmhauptführer, created as a rank of the Sturmabteilung (SA). The SS used the rank of Sturmhauptführer from 1930 to 1934 at which time, following the Night of the Long Knives, the name of the rank was changed to Hauptsturmführer although the insignia remained the same.^[2]^[3] Sturmhauptführer remained an SA rank until 1939/40.^[4]

Some of the most infamous SS members are known to have held the rank of Hauptsturmführer. Among them are Josef Mengele, the infamous doctor assigned to Auschwitz; Joseph Kramer, commandant of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp; Franz Stangl, commandant of Sobibor and Treblinka; Alois Brunner, Adolf Eichmann's assistant; and Amon Göth, who was sentenced to death and hanged for committing multiple waves of mass murder (liquidations of the ghettos at Tarnów and Kraków, the camp at Szebnie, the Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp, as portrayed in the film Schindler's List).

The insignia of Hauptsturmführer was three silver pips and two silver stripes on a black collar patch, worn opposite a unit insignia patch.^[1] On the field grey duty uniform, the shoulder boards of an army Hauptmann were also displayed. The rank of Hauptsturmführer was senior to the rank of Obersturmführer and junior to Sturmbannführer.^[1]

Rank insignia

Hauptsturmführer SS, SA, NSKK, and NSFK

Rank insignia

Shoulder mark
Camo insignia
Gorget patch

Schutzstaffel (SS)

Sturmabteilung (SA)

NS Motor Corps (NSKK)

NS Flyers Corps (NSFK)

Waffen-SS

Allgemeine-SS
Waffen-SS

collar insignia

Sequence of ranks in comparison with the Wehrmacht (Heer)
junior rank SA-Obersturmführer	SA rank Hauptsturmführer (until 1939/40: Sturmhauptführer)	senior rank SA-Sturmbannführer
junior rank SS-Obersturmführer	SS rank Hauptsturmführer (until 1934: Sturmhauptführer)	senior rank SS-Sturmbannführer
junior rank Oberleutnant (OF-1)	Wehrmacht rank Hauptmann / Rittmeister (OF-2)	senior rank Major (OF-3)

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Flaherty 2004, p. 148.
^ McNab 2009a, pp. 29, 30.
^ Miller 2006, p. 521.
^ McNab 2009b, p. 15.

Bibliography

Flaherty, T. H. (2004) [1988]. The Third Reich: The SS. Time-Life Books, Inc. ISBN 1-84447-073-3.
McNab, Chris (2009a). The SS: 1923–1945. Amber Books Ltd. ISBN 978-1-906626-49-5.
McNab, Chris (2009b). The Third Reich. Amber Books Ltd. ISBN 978-1-906626-51-8.
Miller, Michael (2006). Leaders of the SS and German Police, Vol. 1. R. James Bender Publishing. ISBN 93-297-0037-3.