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Hauptmann

Officer's rank in the German, Austrian, and Swiss armies

Summary

Officer's rank in the German, Austrian, and Swiss armies

Field	Value
name	Captain
native_name	Hauptmann
image	[File:HD H 43 Hauptmann HAufkl.svg
caption	Army and Air Force insignia
country	Germany
service branch

abbreviation	H or Hptm
NATO rank	[OF-2
formation	19th century
higher rank	Stabshauptmann
lower rank	Oberleutnant
equivalents	Kapitänleutnant (Navy)

Hauptmann () is an officer rank in the armies of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. It is usually translated as captain.

Background

While Haupt in contemporary German means 'main', it also has, and originally had, the meaning of 'head', i.e. Hauptmann literally translates to 'head-man', which is also the etymological root of captain (from Latin caput, 'head').

This rank is equivalent to the rank of captain in the British and US Armies, and is rated OF-2 in NATO. :

Currently, there is no female form within the German military (such as Hauptfrau): the correct form of address is "Frau Hauptmann."

More generally, a Hauptmann can be the head of any hierarchically structured group of people, often as a compound word. For example, a Feuerwehrhauptmann is the captain of a fire brigade, while Räuberhauptmann refers to the leader of a gang of robbers.

Official Austrian and German titles incorporating the word include Landeshauptmann, Bezirkshauptmann, Burghauptmann, and Berghauptmann.

In Saxony during the Weimar Republic, the titles of Kreishauptmann, and Amtshauptmann were held by senior civil servants.

Hauptmann (from Early Modern High German Heubtmann) is cognate with the Swedish hövitsman, which also has the root meaning 'head-man' or 'the man at the head', and is closely related to hövding, meaning 'chieftain'. Since medieval times, both titles have been used for state administrators rather than military personnel. Heubtmann may also be the origin of the title hetman, used in Central and Eastern Europe.

Military ranks

Austria

Main article: Ranks of the Bundesheer

File:Bundesheer - Rank insignia - Hauptmann.png|Army

Germany

Main article: Rank insignia of the German Bundeswehr

| Non-NATO rank =

Rank insignia

On the shoulder straps (Heer, Luftwaffe) there are three silver pips (stars).

Heer		Luftwaffe

Switzerland

Main article: Military ranks of Switzerland

File:OF-2 CH.gif|Army

Swiss Guard

Rank insignia of Hauptmann (OF-2) Pontifical Swiss Guard.svg|Army

References

"VSB-Statement "weibliche Dienstgrade"". Verband der Soldaten der Bundeswehr.
Hegmann, Gerhard. (March 8, 2019). "Wird "Frau Hauptmann" zur "Hauptmännin" oder "Hauptfrau"?". [[Die Welt]].

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

military-ranks-of-germany military-ranks-of-austria military-ranks german-words-and-phrases

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