Obersturmführer

Obersturmführer ([ˈoːbɐ.ʃtʊʁm.fyːʀɐ], lit. 'Senior storm leader'[1][2]) was a Nazi Germany paramilitary rank that was used in several Nazi organisations, such as the SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK.

Obersturmführer
Gorget patch
Shoulder and camo insignia
Country	Nazi Germany
Service branch	Schutzstaffel Sturmabteilung National Socialist Motor Corps National Socialist Flyers Corps
Abbreviation	Ostuf
NATO rank	OF-1
Formation	1932
Abolished	1945
Next higher rank	Hauptsturmführer
Next lower rank	Untersturmführer
Equivalent ranks	Oberleutnant

SS-Obersturmführer Franz Abromeit serving in KZ Mauthausen

Pio Filippani Ronconi in the uniform of a foreign volunteer of the Waffen-SS. He is wearing the collar tabs of the 1st battalion of the Waffen-Grenadier-Brigade der SS (italienische Nr. 1).

The rank of Obersturmführer was first created in 1932 as the result of an expansion of the Sturmabteilung (SA) and the need for an additional rank in the officer corps. Obersturmführer also became an SS rank at that same time.[3]

An SA-Obersturmführer was typically a junior company commander in charge of fifty to a hundred men. Within the SS, the rank of Obersturmführer carried a wider range of occupations including staff aide, Gestapo officer, concentration camp supervisor, and Waffen-SS platoon commander. Within both the SS and SA, the rank of Obersturmführer was considered the equivalent of an Oberleutnant in the German Wehrmacht.[4]

The insignia for Obersturmführer was three silver pips and a silver stripe centered on a uniform collar patch. The rank was senior to an Untersturmführer (or Sturmführer in the SA[1]) and junior to the rank of Hauptsturmführer.[4]

Insignia

• 
  Shoulder mark
• 
  Gorget patches
• 
  SS smock insignia

See also

• Comparative ranks of Nazi Germany
• Table of ranks and insignia of the Waffen-SS

Junior Rank Untersturmführer	SS rank Obersturmführer	Senior Rank Hauptsturmführer
Junior Rank Sturmführer	SA rank Obersturmführer	Senior Rank Sturmhauptführer

Notes

1. McNab 2009b, p. 15.
2. Stein 1984, p. 297.
3. McNab 2009, pp. 29, 30.
4. Flaherty 2004, p. 148.

Bibliography

• Flaherty, T. H. (2004) [1988]. The Third Reich: The SS. Time-Life Books, Inc. ISBN 1 84447 073 3.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• McNab, Chris (2009). The SS: 1923–1945. Amber Books Ltd. ISBN 978-1-906626-49-5.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• McNab, Chris (2009b). The Third Reich. Amber Books Ltd. ISBN 978-1-906626-51-8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Stein, George (1984) [1966]. The Waffen-SS: Hitler's Elite Guard at War 1939–1945. Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-9275-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)