Sturmbannführer
Encyclopedia
Sturmbannführer was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party equivalent to major, used both in the Sturmabteilung
(SA) and the Schutzstaffel
(SS). Translated as “Assault (or Storm) Unit Leader” (Sturmbann being the SA and early SS equivalent to a battalion
), the rank originated from German Shock Troop units of the First World War where the title of Sturmbannführer would occasionally be held by the battalion Commander.
of Sturmbannführer was first established in 1921. In 1928, the title became an actual rank and was also one of the first established SS ranks. The insignia of a Sturmbannführer was four silver pips centered on a collar patch.
The rank rated below Standartenführer
until 1932, when Sturmbannführer became subordinate to the new rank of Obersturmbannführer
. In the Waffen-SS
, Sturmbannführer was considered equivalent to a Major
in the German Wehrmacht
.
, who developed the V2 Rocket, and later designed the Saturn V
rocket for the U.S.. Also:
where the protagonist, Xavier March, is a Sturmbannführer in the Kriminalpolizei
.
Cinematically, in The Keep
(1983), Gabriel Byrne
portrays SS-Sturmbannführer Kaempffer, head of an SS-Einsatzkommando
.
In Apt Pupil
, Ian McKellen
portrays Sturmbannführer Kurt Dussander, a former Nazi concentration camp officer.
In the manga Hellsing, the main antagonist is Sturmbannführer Major Montana Max.
In the BBC
TV series Secret Army
, Clifford Rose
portrays Sturmbannführer Kessler
, of the Gestapo and, in the BBC series, 'Allo 'Allo, Gestapo
agent Herr Otto Flick
bears the rank, as does Major Hochstetter of Hogan's Heroes
. Also, in the manga Hellsing, the leader of Millennium, the Major, upholds the title.
Moreover, in the Medal of Honor
videogame series, Sturmbannführer Ratter is a recurring antagonist; once, in a secret level in Medal of Honor: Underground
, once at Dorne Manor, in Holland, in Medal of Honor: Frontline
, and once at the Steinberg Salt Mine in Alt Aussee, Austria, in the original Medal of Honor
game.
In 2008 Success SRPG Operation Darkness
, The main villain Alexander Vlado carries the rank of Sturmbannführer.
In Quentin Tarantino
's 2009 film Inglourious Basterds, the character Major Hellstrom carries the rank of Sturmbannführer.
In the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark
, one of the villains, Arnold Toht, carries the rank of Sturmbannführer.
In the 1968 World War II film Where Eagles Dare
, the character Major Von Hapen is a Sturmbannführer and member of Gestapo
.
In the Motörhead song "Death or Glory", Lemmy Kilmister
sings the line: "I was a Sturmbannführer fighting in Berlin".
Sturmabteilung
The Sturmabteilung functioned as a paramilitary organization of the National Socialist German Workers' Party . It played a key role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s...
(SA) and the Schutzstaffel
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
(SS). Translated as “Assault (or Storm) Unit Leader” (Sturmbann being the SA and early SS equivalent to a battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
), the rank originated from German Shock Troop units of the First World War where the title of Sturmbannführer would occasionally be held by the battalion Commander.
History
The SA titleRanks and insignia of the Sturmabteilung
The uniforms and insignia of the Sturmabteilung were Nazi party paramilitary ranks and uniforms used by SA stormtroopers from 1921 until the fall of Nazi Germany in 1945. The titles and phrases used by the SA were the basis for paramilitary titles used by several other Nazi paramilitary groups,...
of Sturmbannführer was first established in 1921. In 1928, the title became an actual rank and was also one of the first established SS ranks. The insignia of a Sturmbannführer was four silver pips centered on a collar patch.
The rank rated below Standartenführer
Standartenführer
Standartenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was used in the so-called Nazi combat-organisations: SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK...
until 1932, when Sturmbannführer became subordinate to the new rank of Obersturmbannführer
Obersturmbannführer
Obersturmbannführer was a paramilitary Nazi Party rank used by both the SA and the SS. It was created in May 1933 to fill the need for an additional field grade officer rank above Sturmbannführer as the SA expanded. It became an SS rank at the same time...
. In the Waffen-SS
Waffen-SS
The Waffen-SS was a multi-ethnic and multi-national military force of the Third Reich. It constituted the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel or SS, an organ of the Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions, and served alongside...
, Sturmbannführer was considered equivalent to a Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
in the German Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
.
Recipients
One of the most notable recipients of the title was Dr. Wernher von BraunWernher von Braun
Wernher Magnus Maximilian, Freiherr von Braun was a German rocket scientist, aerospace engineer, space architect, and one of the leading figures in the development of rocket technology in Nazi Germany during World War II and in the United States after that.A former member of the Nazi party,...
, who developed the V2 Rocket, and later designed the Saturn V
Saturn V
The Saturn V was an American human-rated expendable rocket used by NASA's Apollo and Skylab programs from 1967 until 1973. A multistage liquid-fueled launch vehicle, NASA launched 13 Saturn Vs from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida with no loss of crew or payload...
rocket for the U.S.. Also:
- Eberhard HederEberhard HederEberhard Heder was a Sturmbannführer in the Waffen SS during World War II who was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross which was awarded to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership by Nazi Germany during World War II...
- Otto GünscheOtto GünscheOtto Günsche was a Sturmbannführer in the Waffen-SS and a member of 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler before he became Adolf Hitler's personal adjutant. He was captured by soldiers of the Red Army on 2 May 1945...
Popular culture
The rank of Sturmbannführer appears frequently in fiction, as in the novel FatherlandFatherland (novel)
Fatherland is a bestselling 1992 thriller by the English writer and journalist Robert Harris. It takes the form of a high concept alternative history set in a world in which Nazi Germany won World War II.The novel was an immediate bestseller in Britain...
where the protagonist, Xavier March, is a Sturmbannführer in the Kriminalpolizei
Kriminalpolizei
is the standard term for the criminal investigation agency within the police forces of Germany, Austria and the German-speaking cantons of Switzerland. In Nazi Germany during 1936, the Kripo became the Criminal Police Department for the entire Reich...
.
Cinematically, in The Keep
The Keep (film)
The Keep is a 1983 horror film directed by Michael Mann and starring Scott Glenn, Gabriel Byrne, Jürgen Prochnow, Alberta Watson and Ian McKellen. It was released by Paramount Pictures. The story is based on the F...
(1983), Gabriel Byrne
Gabriel Byrne
Gabriel James Byrne is an Irish actor, film director, film producer, writer, cultural ambassador and audiobook narrator. His acting career began in the Focus Theatre before he joined Londo's Royal Court Theatre in 1979. Byrne's screen debut came in the Irish soap opera The Riordans and the...
portrays SS-Sturmbannführer Kaempffer, head of an SS-Einsatzkommando
Einsatzkommando
During World War II, the Nazi German Einsatzkommandos were a sub-group of five Einsatzgruppen mobile killing squads—up to 3,000 men each—usually composed of 500-1,000 functionaries of the SS and Gestapo, whose mission was to kill Jews, Romani, communists and the NKVD collaborators in the captured...
.
In Apt Pupil
Apt Pupil (film)
Apt Pupil is a 1998 American psychological thriller film based on the eponymous 1982 novella by Stephen King. The film was directed by Bryan Singer and stars Ian McKellen and Brad Renfro...
, Ian McKellen
Ian McKellen
Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...
portrays Sturmbannführer Kurt Dussander, a former Nazi concentration camp officer.
In the manga Hellsing, the main antagonist is Sturmbannführer Major Montana Max.
In the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
TV series Secret Army
Secret Army (TV series)
Secret Army is a television drama series made by the BBC and the Belgian national broadcaster BRT created by Gerard Glaister. The series chronicled the history of a Belgian resistance movement during the Second World War dedicated to returning Allied airmen, usually having been shot down by the...
, Clifford Rose
Clifford Rose
Clifford Rose is a British classical actor.He was born in Herefordshire. He was educated at the King's School, Worcester and King's College London, before appearing in rep and with the Royal Shakespeare Company....
portrays Sturmbannführer Kessler
Kessler
Kessler is a television series produced by the BBC in 1981, starring Clifford Rose in the title role.The six-part serial is a sequel to the Second World War drama series Secret Army, set in the present day and following the progress of former SS Sturmbannführer Ludwig Kessler, now living under the...
, of the Gestapo and, in the BBC series, 'Allo 'Allo, Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
agent Herr Otto Flick
Herr Otto Flick
Herr Otto Flick is a fictional character in the BBC sitcom Allo 'Allo!, which ran from 1982 to 1992. He was played by the actors Richard Gibson and David Janson...
bears the rank, as does Major Hochstetter of Hogan's Heroes
Hogan's Heroes
Hogan's Heroes is an American television sitcom that ran for 168 episodes from September 17, 1965, to March 28, 1971, on the CBS network. The show was set in a German prisoner of war camp during the Second World War. Bob Crane had the starring role as Colonel Robert E...
. Also, in the manga Hellsing, the leader of Millennium, the Major, upholds the title.
Moreover, in the Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor (series)
Medal of Honor is the name of a series of first-person shooter games set in World War II, with an October 2010 reboot based on the conflicts of present day Afghanistan. The first game was developed by DreamWorks Interactive and published by Electronic Arts in 1999 for the PlayStation game console...
videogame series, Sturmbannführer Ratter is a recurring antagonist; once, in a secret level in Medal of Honor: Underground
Medal of Honor: Underground
Medal of Honor: Underground is a videogame that is the prequel to the World War II hit Medal of Honor. In Underground, the player takes the role of Manon Batiste , a French woman who appeared in the first game as an advisor...
, once at Dorne Manor, in Holland, in Medal of Honor: Frontline
Medal of Honor: Frontline
-External links:*...
, and once at the Steinberg Salt Mine in Alt Aussee, Austria, in the original Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor (video game)
Medal of Honor is the first title in the long-running Medal of Honor series of video games. It was released for the PlayStation in November 1999...
game.
In 2008 Success SRPG Operation Darkness
Operation Darkness
Operation Darkness is a tactical role-playing game for the Xbox 360 developed and published by Japanese studio Success on October 11, 2007 in Japan. A North American version was released on June 24, 2008 by Atlus...
, The main villain Alexander Vlado carries the rank of Sturmbannführer.
In Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
's 2009 film Inglourious Basterds, the character Major Hellstrom carries the rank of Sturmbannführer.
In the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raiders of the Lost Ark is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, produced by George Lucas, and starring Harrison Ford. It is the first film in the Indiana Jones franchise...
, one of the villains, Arnold Toht, carries the rank of Sturmbannführer.
In the 1968 World War II film Where Eagles Dare
Where Eagles Dare
Where Eagles Dare is a 1968 World War II action-adventure spy film starring Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood and Mary Ure. It was directed by Brian G. Hutton and shot on location in Upper Austria and Bavaria....
, the character Major Von Hapen is a Sturmbannführer and member of Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
.
In the Motörhead song "Death or Glory", Lemmy Kilmister
Lemmy Kilmister
Ian Fraser "Lemmy" Kilmister is an English heavy metal musician....
sings the line: "I was a Sturmbannführer fighting in Berlin".
See also
| Junior Rank Hauptsturmführer Hauptsturmführer Hauptsturmführer was a Nazi rank of the SS which was used between the years of 1934 and 1945. The rank of Hauptsturmführer was a mid-grade company level officer and was the equivalent of a Captain in the German Army and also the equivalent of captain in foreign armies... |
SS rank Ranks and insignia of the Schutzstaffel The uniforms and insignia of the Schutzstaffel were paramilitary ranks and uniforms used by the SS between 1925 and 1945 to differentiate that organization from the regular German armed forces, the German state, and the Nazi Party.... Sturmbannführer |
Senior Rank Obersturmbannführer Obersturmbannführer Obersturmbannführer was a paramilitary Nazi Party rank used by both the SA and the SS. It was created in May 1933 to fill the need for an additional field grade officer rank above Sturmbannführer as the SA expanded. It became an SS rank at the same time... |
| Junior Rank Sturmhauptführer Sturmhauptführer Sturmhauptführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank used by both the Sturmabteilung and the SS. It was the equivalent of a Hauptmann in the German Army. This is the equivalent of Captain in western militaries.... |
SA rank Ranks and insignia of the Sturmabteilung The uniforms and insignia of the Sturmabteilung were Nazi party paramilitary ranks and uniforms used by SA stormtroopers from 1921 until the fall of Nazi Germany in 1945. The titles and phrases used by the SA were the basis for paramilitary titles used by several other Nazi paramilitary groups,... Sturmbannführer |
Senior Rank Obersturmbannführer Obersturmbannführer Obersturmbannführer was a paramilitary Nazi Party rank used by both the SA and the SS. It was created in May 1933 to fill the need for an additional field grade officer rank above Sturmbannführer as the SA expanded. It became an SS rank at the same time... |