Rare General Officer Ranks Reichsmarschall Reichsfuhrer SS Reichschancellor Reichsleiter Reichsjugendfuhrer And other assorted political and paramilitary equivalent ranks

These are rare military General Officer equivalent high ranks in which it was the highest rank within the respective branch of service and was held by either one person or a very few. For now I am including some of the political and paramilitary high ranks as a matter of interest and similarity in insignia design and construction.

Reichsmarschall

Reichsmarschall Hermann Goring Hermann Goring was one of the more interesting and flamboyant characters of the Third Reich, traits reflected in his personal direction of the design of both his rank insignia and unique uniforms. His appointment in 1940 as Reichsmarschall of the Greater German Reich made Goring the highest ranking military officer of World War Two, with the rank equivalent of a six-star General. Goring chose a soft, pearl gray as the color for his uniform, departing from the blue-gray uniform scheme of the Luftwaffe. He had endless variations of his uniforms, with numerous different styles and minor alterations and was known to change them multiple times within the same day. Goring also had a preference for wearing white uniforms, a habit ridiculed by the German people while watching newsreels in the theater as they wondered how he kept his uniforms so white when many of them could not even obtain soap to launder their own clothes. To the left is what many consider the ‘typical’ Reichsmarschall uniform of the Imperial style Flyers Blouse in a soft pearl gray with a closed collar. At Goring’s neck hang the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross (he was the only recipient), the Knights Cross and the Pour le Merite (commonly known as the Blue Max), an award Goring earned while flying with the Richthofen squadron during World War I.

Reichsmarschall Insignia

Hermann Goring’s left and right shoulderboard insignia for the rank of Reichsmarschall. Notice how the eagles face different directions on each board, so that during wear the eagle would always face forward.

What is interesting about the gold RM shoulderboard rank devices are the lack of detail on the crossed batons in comparison to the silver baton devices on GFM boards (which were finely detailed accurate representations, see Luft GFM or Heer GFM pages). The RM batons are also shorter and do not have an accurate representation of the number of Iron Cross/Wehrmacht eagle/Balkan cross symbols that are on the actual RM baton.

Reichsmarschall shoulderboard for the right shoulder.

1941 pattern Reichsmarschall collar tab for the right collar showing the crossed marshals batons surrounded by laurel leaves. The left collar tab was also a mirror image of this design (as seen on the Goring uniform example above). In an earlier pattern (from August of 1940 until March of 1941), the right collar patch had exhibited the image of a Wehrmacht Eagle with downturned wings.

(private collection)

Construction detail of the Reichsmarschall tab. Age and corrosion has taken away some of the color detail of the silver and gold bullion, but still reveals a high amount of quality in the workmanship and materials used to make the highest rank of World War Two.

(private collection)

A pair of 1941 pattern Reichsmarschall collar tabs. Notice the very distinct brocade background fabric that all of the Goring tabs exhibit. (former private collection, current whereabouts unknown)

Another matched pair of 1941 pattern Reichsmarschall collar tabs.

(private collection)

Goring also had his own special breast eagle designed, which had longer more pointed wings than what was typically found on a Luftwaffe General officer’s breast eagle. Most of the period photos show that the breast eagle always had a white backing, regardless of the color of uniform that he was wearing, but it is known that he also had breast eagles on a backing of dove gray.

Reichsmarschall Uniforms

Closed Collar White Flyer’s Blouse for Reichsmarschall

This summer white tunic of RM Goring resides in the Imperial War Museum of London. It is typical of his favored style of tunic and is the design most often associated with the Reichsmarschall.

Hermann Goring’s white summer tunic. The breast eagle is missing but the many loops for his ribbons and decorations are still intact. (photo courtesy of samlerforumet.net)

A close up of Goring’s Reichsmarschall shoulderboard on the flyers blouse tunic. It appears as though the board may have been restored to the tunic at some point due to the poor sewing job on the seam and the fact the retaining button is silver (it should be gold).

(Imperial War Museum collection – photo courtesy Colin Findlay)

The Undress White Kleiner Rock Tunic for Reichsmarschall

Another example of a RM Goring white tunic in the double breasted, open neck, Kleiner Rock style. Goring also wore this style of tunic in dove gray with and without white lapel facings.

1941 pattern Reichsmarschall collar tab from the white undress Kleiner Rock.

Reichsmarschall shoulderboard from the white undress Kleiner Rock.

Reichsmarschall Headgear

One example of Hermann Goring’s many visor variants for his rank as Reichsmarschall, this one exhibiting a laurel wreath that is hand embroidered completely around the cap band. Notice how the eagle is stitched directly to the visor cloth.

(Paul Sack collection)

This example of a Reichsmarschall “crusher” visor was captured from Goring’s train by a 101^st Airborne veteran.

(private collection)

Goring in his full Reichsmarschall uniform and regalia (his RM baton can be seen affixed to his belt in the lower right).

Reichsmarschall Hermann Goring Car Pennant

(private collection)

Reichsfuhrer SS

Reichsfuhrer SS Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Himmler will be forever known as the head of the feared SS, which earned a reputation both as being responsible for the operation of concentration camps and as the equally feared Waffen SS elite fighting unit that was nearly always on the front lines of every major battle. Himmler himself was a very odd character, somewhat shy with a low public profile, yet positioned himself to where he had an awesome amount of power that struck fear in the hearts of not only the German people but the others in Hitler’s immediate circle. Very little of Himmler’s possessions have survived the war and it is extremely rare to find any of his insignia or personal items available on the collector market. To date, only one of Himmler’s uniforms has surfaced in the collecting world, an example which is highlighted below. Himmler wore the same, basic open collared service tunic throughout the war, the only major differences being in color with examples in black, field gray and gray appearing in period photographs. The candid photograph at left is typical of what he wore.

Himmler wearing his standard field gray Reichsfuhrer uniform.

Reichsfuhrer SS Insignia

Shoulderboard for the rank of Reichsfuhrer SS. This board is from the same outstanding white tunic that the above collar tabs came from. It’s a standard Allgemeine SS General’s shoulderboard with the addition of a rank device consisting of three oakleaves (as in the RFSS collar tab). This device was colored silver from 1934 until December of 1939 at which time it was changed to bronze. April of 1942 found another regulation changing it back again to silver. (private collection)
	As a note of interest, there were FIVE men that held the rank or title of Reichsfuhrer-SS, in chronological order: (1) Julius Schreck, April 1925 to April 1926 (2) Josef Berchtold, April 1926 to March 1927 (3) Erhard Heiden, March 1927 to 20 January 1929 (4) Heinrich Himmler, 20 January 1929 to 30 April 1945 (5) Karl Henke, 30 April 1945 to his murder 7 May 1945 at the hands of Czech partisans near Neudorf in the Sudetenland.

Left and right collar tabs for Reichsfuhrer SS. This pattern was used from 1934 until the end of the war. (private collection)

Another original example of Himmler’s RFSS rank tab. Only five of the original brass beads remain on this specimen.

(private collection)

Additional examples of original Reichsfuhrer SS collar tabs can be found in the SS Personality Insignia page.

Reichsfuhrer SS Uniform

German Reichsfuhrer SS – Heinrich Himmler

Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler’s white summer tunic. This is the only known surviving example of one of Himmler’s uniforms and resides in a private collection in the United States.

(private collection)

View of the unique Reichsfuhrer collar tabs and single shoulderboard.

(private collection)

Reichschancellor

Reichschancellor Adolf Hitler’s Brown Political Leaders Tunic

Hitler was, of course, the highest ranking individual in the Third Reich, being not only the Chancellor and President of Germany, but also self appointed Supreme Commander of all the German Armed Forces. (private collection)

Reichsleiter

Reichsleiter Martin Bormann’s White Tunic

This White Summer Tunic Of Martin Bormann's Was Retrieved From The Basement Of The Berghof By Warrant Officer Robert G. Eiland, 3rd Infantry Division, U. S. Army. (private collection)

	Replica High Ranking uniforms and insignia are now available. Click on the links below. Replica Uniforms Replica Insignia

Reichsjugendfuhrer

Reichsjugendfuhrer Artur Axmann

A pair of matching collar tabs for the rank of Reichsjugendfuhrer, a position held by Artur Axmann. The collector who owns these tabs has two letters from Axmann stating that these were the very tabs that he wore while in the position of Reichsjugendfuhrer. These are the only known surviving set of collar insignia for this position. (private collection)

A period photograph of Artur Axmann wearing the above insignia.

(private collection)

Other Rare High Ranks

SA-Stabschef Viktor Lutze

A single collar tab for the rank of SA-Stabschef, a position held by Viktor Lutze, who held this position from 1934 until his death in 1943. Stabschef was basically the leader of the SA and the highest rank within that organization. (private collection)

A period photograph of Viktor Lutze along with his personal awards and insignia.

(private collection)

Der Oberste Richter Der Partei Reichsleiter

A single collar tab for the rank of leader (Reichsleiter) of the party courts (Parteigericht), a rare political rank within the NSDAP held by three individuals. (private collection)

The above insignia in wear by Walter Buch.

Reichsleiter of the NSDAP

This was the highest Nazi party rank (below Hitler, who was Fuhrer) and was held by several different men. For a study of this interesting rank and the individuals who held it, see the Reichsleiter Overview. (private collection)

Reichsleiter Walter Buch’s collar tabs

These tabs belonged to NSDAP Reichsleiter and SS Obergruppenfuhrer Walter Buch and were veteran acquired.

This rare grouping was acquired by Joe Stepnick (pictured above) when he removed them from Walter Buch’s cabin on Lake Amersee while with the Third Army in the Spring of 1945. Stepnick picked up this insignia, a photo album and Buch’s SS insignia as well (which can be viewed in detail in the SS Personality insignia page).

NSDAP Gauleiter Collar Tabs, 1938 – 1945 Pattern

(private collection)

German WW2 Luftwaffe Leitender Fliegeringenieur Chefingenieur (Generalstabsingenieur)

This was the highest rank of the Luftwaffe Corps of Engineers, roughly the equivalent of a Generalleutnant and was held by a single person. (Holzauge collection)

Generalstabsingenieur collar tab for wear on the left collar. (Holzauge)

German WW2 Luftwaffe Fliegeringenieur Chefingenieur

(Boward collection)

I’m always looking for rare high ranks for this page. If you have something you’d like to contribute, whether its something not shown here or additional examples of the above ranks, please visit the submitting photos page.