General of the Infantry (Germany) explained

See also: General of the Infantry (disambiguation).

General of the Infantry (German: General der Infanterie, abbr. German: General d. Inf.) is a former rank of the German army (German: Heer). It is currently an appointment or position given to an OF-8 rank officer, who is responsible for particular affairs of training and equipment of the infantry.

Former rank in the German ground forces

General of the Infantry
Image Size2:150px
Rank:Three-star
Nato Rank:OF-8
Non-Nato Rank:O-9
Equivalents:See list

General of the Infantry was a former rank of General of the branch OF-8 in the German land forces (Imperial Army, Reichswehr and Wehrmacht) and also in the Prussian Army and the Austro-Hungarian Army. It was the third-highest general officer rank, subordinate only to Colonel General and Feldmarschall (Field Marshal). It is equivalent to a three-star rank today. The same rank was adopted by the Finnish Army (Finnish: Jalkaväenkenraali) between the world wars.

German cavalry officers of equivalent rank were called and those in the artillery corps were . In 1935 the Wehrmacht added the ranks of (tank troops), General der Gebirgstruppen (mountain troops), General der Fallschirmtruppen (parachute troops), and General der Nachrichtentruppen (communications troops). In the Luftwaffe, the equivalent rank was . The rank was generally referred to only in the form of General, without specifying the specific forces the bearer commanded.

In the modern German armed forces, the, the rank of (Lieutenant General) corresponds to the traditional rank of . There was no equivalent rank in the army of East Germany, where it was merged into that of .

junior Rank
(German officer rank)
senior Rank

General der Infanterie in the Bundeswehr

In the Bundeswehr, the position of an infantry officer responsible for certain questions of troop training and equipment, usually with the rank of Brigadier Generals. The position of general of the infantry is connected with that of commander of the infantry school. Corresponding service positions also exist for other branches of the army. Since in this usage it refers to a position not a rank, an Oberst is sometimes "General of" his respective type of troops. The form of address is usually Herr General and/or Herr Oberst; the form of address Herr General der Infanterie is unorthodox, since it does not refer to a rank.

List of officers who were

Note that a number of these officers may also have gone on to higher ranks during their careers.

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

R

S

T

U

V

W

Z

See also