I like that the guy gets old when he becomes a general. Nice touch, my dude

As a native german speaker its such a funny thing listening to english speakers pronoucing german words. Good job buddy btw

My grandpa served trim 1939 to 1945 and was a Feldwebel at war's end. He was in the 1st Panzer Division in a Schütze regiment which were later called Panzergrenadier. He managed to survive from the Invasion Of Poland in 1939 to their division surrendering in Austria in 1945. He was wounded in the chest in early 1943 in the Rhzev meat grinder. A few months later he was back at his unit. He was quite lucky to survive the entirety of the war. My grandpa's oldest brother wasn't as lucky. He was at Stalingrad and no one knows what became of him.

More research than the CoD:WW2 and BFV dev teams did

What most people could benefit from I believe, is a flow chart. One for enlisted, officers, etc. A proper one, well done could be printed & sold as a poster. 😉

We won the war but they won the fashion show.

Ich bin kein Mensch, Ich bin kein Tier, Ich bin Panzer-Grenadier

You produced a video with exactly the info I was looking for, thanks.

So, I'm a lifelong military historian and admitted uniform junkie. Let me congratulate you on an informative, helpful video for the beginner WWII historian /reenactor. Your commentary is clear, concise and well thought out. The illustrations are *excellent* , especially when describing Waffenfarbe. Reenacting can be a socially dangerous hobby... people often misunderstand the Confederate [I'm an ACW reenactor] or Axis reenactor and this can lead to some very unfortunate consequences at home or in the workplace. Providing factual information without getting lost in the moral narrative can be very helpful for someone new to the hobby.

As a Finn the German military ranks are quite easy for me to understand as our ranks are similarly based on Prussian military tradition. There are however some differences and thus I found this video helpful. Thank you!

My Grandpa served in the Invasion of Poland, He served from 1932-1954 in the German Army, His Rank was pretty high, in 1932 he graduated the Offcer training, He was very lucky in WW2, but in the end He got the rank of Oberst in the end. But he didnt told me he was in an Panzer division or Tiger.....

A gentleman, an excellent scholar, and a fine judge of dead horses. But seriously, your drive for research and acquisition of knowledge is fantastic. Looking forward to the video series.

I should be sleeping but here i am watching a video on the german army rank structure from 1939 to 1945

My great-uncle was a Oberstabsarzt on the eastern front and had a field hospital under his command, after the war he worked as a doctor in the American military hospital in Heidelberg, they offered him to go to the US and work there in a hospital with the Chance of citizenship. My grandfathers were both lieutenants and had a company under their command, one was missed in action during the last two weeks of the war in Yugoslavia and Isnt found until today, may the soil of the east keep is corpse in eternity and let a beautiful flower grow above him, grandpa, you're not forgotten!

teacher: the test wont be that difficult the test:

Here before your channel blows up Literally, careful with those hand grenades.

Excellent info. Keep this kind of content coming.

this is so well done. Congrats!

Really interesting! Hope to see many more of this,. I love the detail as well, not a lot can be found on youtube as extensive as this. Keep it up!

I really love the comment at the end about how even the average German soldier had problems keeping it all straight. Very well done video, thanks so much!

Fantastic video, I dont think theres been another proper easily accessible breakdown like this in English before. It'll be interesting to see what is produced down the line

I took notes on every signal rank you listed besides officer candidates. Yet I had to watch it again to fix spelling. Very helpful

Thanks for all of the complex information you researched.

Excellent video, HGD. Well done.

Wow thanks! I learned a lot more about ranks.

Prepare for the boom of this channel,keep going!

Thanks very interesting, haven't ever been able to find a video with this much info!

Wow! This is amazing research on your part! Well done sir!

Very well done and acurate, as far as I can tell from a German perspective! Even small details as "Hauptfeldwebel" and Spieß" included.

My great grandfather was a Hauptfeldwebel . He was both in the west and in the east (Stalingrad). He would have received the „eiserner Kreuz“ , he survived the war.

This is a great video, very interesting and informative. Excellent work!

Noice, This guy made the german ranks so beautifully, Thanks for this awesome info!! Keep up the great work!

Nice, great job, keep it up.

Interesting proposal.... I see it's your first video... What are u planning to do? I will.subs

Great compilation of rank distinctions !

Amazing stuff, hope to see more, top-notch informative material. GL.

Of course the Germans had to over engineer their rank structures 😆

This is the most convoluted rank structure I think I've ever seen. Interesting.

Good video. Helped clear a lot up.

Very detailed and well illustrated. Outstanding you get my sub

That's very very well put togheter, theres everything one needs to know about WW2 German land army rank, many thanks for making it 👌🏼👍

Great video.

That was complicated but well delivered, thank you

Very good video. Sehr gut gemacht. Danke.

This video was informative and well presented. Thank you.

I'm setting up some historical table top battles and this helps with painting and planning greatly thank you

Thank you! Great job! Keep it up. Weighting for the next video

Okay so how simplistic are we going to rank our soldiers Hitler: Nein

I left this feeling even more confused. Think I might need another watch or two, but great work.

Thank you for clarifying all this. Great video!!!

This video helped me identifying the rank on one of my grandfathers pictures, thanks a lot.

My dad was with the US Army Air Force in WW2. This video was very well researched and I learned A LOT! Thanks! :)

The ranks often had a different command significance. For example a captain could be a battalion commander in the German Army, and also the Red Army, whereas it would be a lieutenant colonel in the British and American armies, or sometimes a major.

Thank you for this video this is so good

Beautiful analysis!

I never knew that the Wehrmacht Heer officer candidates had to serve in ranks before they became officers, My respect and gratitude to you for uploading such an informative video explaining the various ranks and insignia of the German Army soldiers. This channel has become one of my most favourite channel on youtube,looking forward to more amazing videos like this from you.

Always pondered this subject. Could never really get my head around it. Appreciate the clarification. Thank you sir.

Very impressive quality! Instant Subscribe!

very nicely done ! i learned a lot.

It might be complicated, but I really think it was a way to get the best people into the best specialty niche, which was why the German Army was so resilient to the worst punishments. I have some pictures of a relative that fought in France, Russia, and finally captured when the Afrika Korps surrendered in Tunisia. He was in the Panzer branch with the 'Death's Head' collar tabs and pink piping.

I like how everyone tells their stories of their grand parents. While being so respectful to each other, why isn't this a common thing? Usually when i see someone tell a story of their german uncle i see a lot of hate comments. What a world do we live in.

Outstanding video!!!

Very informative! Thanks for the video and lesson.

Wow, the work you have put into this! Amazing, thank you very much..

Good video!! Thought I pretty knowledgeable about WWII German rank structure, but definitely ;earned quite a bit from this short video. How about a video about German WWII decorations????? They had a decoration for just about anything.

Wow! Great video!

Well this is cool keep up the work dude

Nice little timeline for all those of us who come back here regularly for reference. 0:00 - 0:28 - Introduction 0:28 - 1:36 - Categories 1:36 - 1:47 - Categories of Soldiers 1:48 - 3:45 - Men (Mannschaften) and Aspirant NCOs 3:45 - 3:57 - Categories of NCOs (Unteroffiziere) 3:57 - 4:25 - Junior NCOs (Unteroffiziere ohne Portepee) 4:25 - 5:39 - Senior NCOs (Unteroffiziere mit Portepee) and "Der Speiß" 5:39 - 6:48 - Officer Candidates (Fahrenjunker/Offizierbewerber) 6:48 - 6:54 - Categories of Officers 6:48 - 7:26 - Officers 7:27 - 8:48 - General Officers 8:48 - 9:17 - Conclusion 9:18 - 9:30 - Credits ((EDIT - I TOTALLY FORGOT TO DIVIDE THE UFFZ CHAPTER INTO UFFZ MIT PORTEPEE AND UFFZ OHNE PORTEPEE THE FIRST TIME AROUND))

Decoding the enigma code machines work was a walk in the park compared to this system of military ranking. Thank you for your hard work, well done.

Very good video.

love your vids.

Here before the channel explodes. Hope it's going to be a blast!

Bloody great format. Love it! Keep it! Greetings from Germany :)

Great research Grenadier!

Great video 👍

"Der Spiess" some old memories about my time in the Bundeswehr start with these 2 words not many pleasant ones :D

Great info, thanks for putting this video together. Take care, -Scott

Facinating... and informative. Tyvm for this video.

Awesome video!!

Exemplary video. This is an individual who knows their field extremely well and does not get caught out by elementary mistakes, which could easily happen with such a topic. I thought it was explained concisely and clearly and I learned from something which I thought I already understood. Thank you.

Wow, pretty complex rank structure!

I'm happy you bothered to include different variations of the same rank like the gebirgsjäger ranks.

oh I like your video a lot, many years I had difficulties to explain my former rank in the german military in english to foreign personel. My english it not bad, but definetly not perfect. so, your video and choice of words came in very handy. THX a lot.

Thank you for that Video, I have an old Wehrmachtsuniform from my grandfather I always wondered what rank he had, now I know is was an Senior NCO or a Feldwebel in the Infantry

My greatgrandfather fought in the Wehrmacht. He was as every young man forced to serve his country. At that time every household had to have a picture of Adolf Hitler at home. Once it was clear that he chosen to serve the army he often stood in front of Hitlers portrait and yelled at him: "Because of you fucker I have to leave my family behind and fight a war which is not my war". He first was somewhere stationed in the western part of Germany for training. By the time he left the training camp towards the eastern front he knew he would be passing the train station of his home town. Althrough the train wasnt allowed to stop at any station he managed the train driver to slow down the train to at least to walking speed when the train entered his hometown station. He jumped off the train, ran to my greatgrandmother who was waiting for him and gave her a last kiss. (my grandmother cried when she told me the story heard from her mum). My greatgrandfather jumped back on the train and headed towards east. He never returned. A year later, in 1944 comrades reported that on the general retreat he had been ambushed by a group of czech partisans. They found his body with all his feet and hands cut off and the open wounds treated with salt for extra suffering. My greatgrandfather never saw his daughter. It was a horrible time for all humans on both sides. A tragedy for an endless count of humans.

That was interesting. Thank you.

Great vid! Your channel will be big soon

So many ranks has left me a "Headwobble ".

my great grandfather was Hauptmann, may he rest in peace

Really informative thank you

Nice video thanks for sharing

08:50 Funny fact. When Paulus learned that he was promoted to Feldmarschall there were no appropriate epaulettes available. So he just added a 4th star literally creating a phantasy insignia! (Report came from the russian/german interpreter who encountered him after his captivation)

Piano Music: "Ein Helller und ein Batzen"

Thanks uploader 👍

Nice video mann pls make more of them

Great video but i think if you lower the music we can hear you more clearly

You got a new subscriber mister....😊😊😊

Wow this is so accurate and simplified

Well sir good job making those videos... Cant wait to see more

In the Bundeswehr Oberstabsgefreite are commonly known as NATO Zebra, because of their impressive looking shoulder pieces.