Gruppenführer

Gruppenführer (literally "group leader") was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party, first created in 1925 as a senior rank of the SA. The term Gruppenführer is also used for leaders of groups/teams of the police, fire departments, and several other organizations.

In 1930, Gruppenführer became an SS rank and was originally bestowed upon those officers who commanded SS-Gruppen and also upon senior officers of the SS command staff. In 1932, the SS was reorganized and the SS-Gruppen were reformed into SS-Abschnitte. A Gruppenführer commanded an SS-Abschnitt while a new rank, that of Obergruppenführer, oversaw the SS-Oberabschnitte which were the largest SS units in Germany.

Initially in the SA, NSKK, and SS, the rank of Gruppenführer was considered equivalent to a full general, but became regarded as equivalent to Generalleutnant after 1934. During the Second World War, when the Waffen-SS began using the rank, an SS-Gruppenführer was considered equal to a Generalleutnant in the Wehrmacht and was referred to as SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Waffen-SS. Waffen-SS Gruppenführer also displayed the shoulder boards of a Wehrmacht Generalleutnant.

The insignia for SS-Gruppenführer consisted of three oak leaves centred on both collars of an SS uniform. From 1930 to 1942, the SS insignia was the same as the SA badge of rank; however the SS modified the Gruppenführer insignia slightly to include a collar pip (stern, a star), upon the creation of the rank SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer in April 1942.

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