Schutztruppe Officers Rank Insignia

German Schutztruppe Officers ranks were distinguished on both the home and tropical uniforms by their shoulder straps in the manner of the regular Imperial army. Junior officers wore silver black and red twisted shoulder straps with one or two pips. Senior officer wore silver braid with pips on a backing of the colony colour.
Leutnant
Second Lieutenant		 Oberleutant
Lieutenant		 Hauptmann
Captain		 Major
Major		 Oberstleutnant
Lieutenant Colonel		 Oberst
Colonel
 
The same system as for the regular imperial army extended up to the rank of field marshal in the Schutztruppe, but for the study of the Schutztruppe in action during the First World War these higher ranks are purely hypothetical. There were no Generals on active service in the German Colonies in 1914. The highest ranking Schutztruppe officers in 1914 in each colony were Oberstleutnant von Lettow-Vorbeck (German East Africa), Oberstleutnant von Heydebrerck (German South West Africa) and Major Zimmerman (Cameroon).

In addition officers were distinguished by wearing silver cords around the tropical helmet, carrying swords on parade and sword knots rather than bayonet knots and having privately purchased uniforms, generally of better quality, with higher standing collars.


A Schutztruppe Leutnant's Shoulder Straps
 (See Schutztruppe Insignia Details Page)
Damien Doppler Collection

 


A Seebatallion Leutnant's Shoulder Strap
 (See Seebatallion Officers White Uniform Page)
Damien Doppler Collection

A Comparative Table of Schutztruppe and British Army Officer's Ranks

  Leutnant - 2nd Lieutenant  
  Oberleutnant - Lieutenant  
  Hauptmann - Captain  
  Major - Major  
  Oberstleutnant - Lieutenant Colonel  
  Oberst - Colonel  
  Generalmajor - Brigadier General  
  Generalleutnant - Major General  
  General der Schutztruppe - Lieutenant General  
  Generaloberst - General  
  Generalfeldmarschal - Field Marshall  
         

Notes on Imperial German Officer Ranks

  • As can be seen from the above table several ranks that sound similar in German and English do not exactly equate (eg. Leutnant/Lieutenant and Generalmajor/Major General). This has caused errors in translation in several English language sources (probably including this website on occasion).
     
  • Prior to 1st January 1899, the rank of Leutnant was called "Sekonde-Lieutenant", while Oberleutnant was known as "Premier-Lieutenant" in the Imperial army and also the Schutztruppe.
     
  • The rank of Hauptmann was called a "Rittmeister" in cavalry units. While this did not apply to the colonial troops in Africa where no true cavalry units existed, it did apply to the East Asian cavalry in China and also to the Asienkorps cavalry in Palestine.
     
  • The rank of General was defined by the addition of "der Schutztruppe". In the case of Imperial Army Generals this could be "der Infanterie", der Kavallerie", "der Artillerie" and so forth.
     
  • Officer shoulder straps for the Seebatallion were similar to those of the Schutztruppe but had a brass Imperial crown on the shoulder strap above any pips.
     
  • This system of ranks and insignia was common to all officers of the Imperial Army, Schutztruppe and Seebatallione. The Imperial Navy and Colonial Police Forces had their own system of officer ranks which will hopefully be covered in future updates to this website.

 

The shoulder strap illustrations on this page were originally drawn by RJ Marrion and DJ Hagger for the now out of print book "Cuirassiers and Heavy Cavalry of the German Imperial Cavalry 1900-14" published by Almark 1973. They have been re-scanned and coloured by the webmaster to suit the colours worn by the Schutztruppe.


Please email me here if you have more information or photos on this topic. 

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