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{{Italic title}}{{Short description|General officer rank in many militaries}}{{refimprove|date=January 2023}} is the Germanic variant of major general, used in a number of Central and Northern European countries.

Austria

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Belgium

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Denmark

{{see also|Ranks and insignia of Royal Danish Army|Ranks and insignia of Royal Danish Air Force}}

factoids

| image_size = | alt =| caption = Army and Air force insignia| image2 = | image_size2 = | alt2 =| caption2 = Denmark}}Denmark}}{{air force|Denmark}}TITLE=DEN LANDMILITæRE EMBEDSETAT OG CENTRALADMINISTRATIO (1763 - 1848) URL=HTTPS://WWW.SA.DK/AO-SOEGESIDER/DA/BILLEDVISER?EPID=18484855#237833,45188656 DATE=1999 PAGE=9, | rank group = General officerTwo-star rank>Two-star Ranks and insignia of NATO armies officers#Officers (OF 1–10)>OF-7| Non-NATO rank = | pay grade = M404| formation = Before 1671| abolished = is the second lowest general officer rank in the Royal Danish Army and Royal Danish Air Force. As a two-star rank it is the equivalent to the rank of counter admiral in the Royal Danish Navy.{{sfn|STANAG 2116|p=B-2}}The rank is rated OF-7 within NATO.{{sfn|STANAG 2116|p=A-2}} It has the grade of M404 within the Ministry of Defence's pay structure.{{sfn|Ministry of Defence|2017}} The rank of major general is reserved for the Chief of the army and air force.{{sfn|Hedegaard|1986}}

History

On 25 May 1671, the ranks were codified, by King Christian V, with the publication of the Danish order of precedence. Here generals of the branch were placed below Lieutenant field marshal (), and above the noble rank of Count and the military rank of Lieutenant general.{{sfn|danmarkshistorien.dk|2017}}As part of the Army Reform of 1867, the ranks of Major, Lieutenant colonel were removed and only a single "General" rank was kept.{{sfn|Klint|1965|p=8}} After the 1880 reform, the general officer ranks were reintroduced.{{sfn|Ministry of War|1880|p=35}} Commanding generals of the 1st and 2nd General Command were made Lieutenant generals while everyone else were made Major general.{{sfn|Ministry of War|1880|p=35}}

Insignia

The first official uniform was instituted on 29 September 1737.{{sfn|Petersen|2014|p=31}} The first few uniform designs have not survived, though they were likely red, highly ornamented coats without collar.{{sfn|Petersen|2014|pp=31-32}} The red coat remained until 1768, when Comte de Saint-Germain instituted white uniforms for generals, these were however removed shortly after, in 1769.{{sfn|Petersen|2014|p=36}} In 1772, the first real ranks were introduced to the Danish Army; these were gold rings on the cuffs, with three for full generals, two for Lieutenant generals, and one for major generals.{{sfn|Petersen|2014|p=39}} This uniform saw a number of changes until 1785, when the cuff ranks were removed.{{sfn|Petersen|2014|p=41}}In 1801, new uniforms were introduced for the whole army. Along with the new uniforms, epaulette ranks were introduced for officers, with generals wearing six-pointed stars on their epaulettes.{{sfn|Petersen|2014|p=42}}{{sfn|Hedegaard|1986}} The general ranks remained largely unchanged from their introduction until 1979, and the adoption of NATO STANAG 2116.{{sfn|Hedegaard|1986}} The adoption created the new rank of Brigadier general, which would receive the one star, meaning the major general would receive two stars.{{sfn|Hedegaard|1986}}

Rank insignia

Denmark-Army-OF-7 1801.svg|Army uniform {{small|(1801–1822)}}Blank.svg|Full dress {{small|(1822–1869)}}Field uniform {{small|(1822–1849)}}Blank.svg|Full dress {{small|(1869–1889)}}Field uniform {{small|(1849–1889)}}Blank.svg|Full dress {{small|(1889–1989)}}Denmark-Army-OF-7-1911 sleeve.svg|Field uniform {{small|(1910–1915)}}Danish-Army-OF-7-M15.svg|... {{small|(1915–1923)}}Danish-Army-OF-7-M23.svg|... {{small|(1923–1952)}}Danish-Army-OF-7-M58.svg|... {{small|(1952–1963)}}Rank insignia of brigadegeneral of the Royal Danish Army.svg|... {{small|(1963–1979)}}Rank insignia of generalmajor of the Royal Danish Army.svg|... {{small|(1979–2018)}}Blank.svg|Full dress {{small|(1989–present)}}Denmark-Army-OF-7-M11.svg|Field uniform {{small|(2018–present)}}RDAF Maj Gen.svg|Air ForceFile:RDAF-OF-7 Sleeve.svg|Air Force sleeve

Finland

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Germany

factoids

| image_size = | caption = Army and Air Force insignia| image2 = | image_size2 = | caption2 = Germany}}25px) German Army(File:Bundeswehr Logo Luftwaffe with lettering.svg|25px) German Air Force| abbreviation = GenMajTwo-star rank>Two-star Ranks and insignia of NATO armies officers#Officers (OF 1–10)>OF-7Four-star rank>O-8| formation = 1956| abolished = | higher rank = Generalleutnant| lower rank = Brigadegeneral| equivalents = Konteradmiral}}It is the third-highest general officer rank in the German Army (Heer) and German Air Force (Luftwaffe). This rank is also used in the Austrian Armed Forces, but is abbreviated as GenMjr.Historically, German Army ranks for its generals prior to 1945 were offset by one from those of most other major European armies. Thus, prior to 1945, the Generalmajor rank in the German Army was equivalent to the brigadier general rank in other armies, and so forth.

Generalmajor in modern Germany

The rank is rated OF-7 in NATO, and is grade B7 in the pay rules of the Federal Ministry of Defence. It is equivalent to Konteradmiral in the German Navy (Marine) or to Generalstabsarzt, and Admiralstabsarzt in the Zentraler Sanitätsdienst der Bundeswehr.{{clear}}On the shoulder straps (Heer, Luftwaffe) there are two golden pips (stars) in golden oak leaves.{| class="wikitable centered" style="background-color:#CEDAF2"! Heer || Luftwaffe || ... to service uniform|HA OS5 62 Generalmajor.svg|{{center|Generalmajor(field suit)}}HA OS5 62 Generalmajor a.D..svg|{{center|Generalmajor(retired)}}SanH 321-Generalstabsarzt-(Zahnmedizin).png|{{center|General-stabsarzt(dental medicine)}}|LA OS5 62 Generalmajor.svg|{{center|Generalmajor(field suit)}}LA OS5 62b Generalstabsarzt HM L.svg|{{center|General-stabsarzt(human medicine)}}|HD S Kragenspiegel Gen R.svg|{{center|Arabesque(right)}}HD S Kragenspiegel Gen L.svg|{{center|Arabesque(left)}}

Bundeswehr sequence of ranks ascending:{| align="left" class="toccolours" border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0.5em auto; clear: both;"junior rank:Brigadegeneral

(File:Bundeswehr Logo Heer with lettering.svg63px)((Rank insignia of the German Bundeswehr#Commissioned officers (CO/ de: Offiziere)|German officer rank))Generalmajorsenior rank:Generalleutnant{{clear}}

Generalmajor in East Germany

Generalmajor was in the so-called "armed organs of the GDR" (), represented by Ministry of National Defence, and Ministry for State Security, the lowest general officer rank, comparable to the one-star rank in many NATO-Armed forces (Rangcode OF-6). This was in reference to Soviet military doctrine and in line with other armed forces of the Warsaw Pact.The equivalent rank of the Volksmarine (GDR Navy) was the Konteradmiral, often called simply Herr Admiral for short. {| class="toccolours" border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0.5em auto; clear: both;"Junior rankOberst(File:Flag of NVA (East Germany).svg|30px)National People's Army rankGeneralmajor(Konteradmiral)Senior rankGeneralleutnant{| class=wikitable bgcolor="#CCCCCC" align="center"!colspan="10"| Rank insignias Generalmajor / Konteradmiral (OF-6) bgcolor="#CCCCCC" align="center"! (File:Emblem Stasi.svg|25px) Stasi! (File:Emblem of the Ground Forces of NVA (East Germany).svg|25px) Land forces! (File:Emblem of aircraft of NVA (East Germany).svg|25px) Air Force! (File:Vehicle roundel of Border Troops of GDR.svg|25px) GDR Border troops!colspan="2"| (File:Flag of warships of VM (East Germany).svg|30px) Volksmarine align="center" (File:OF-7 Generalmajor.png|55px)55px)70px)55px)50px)!colspan="4"| Generalmajor!colspan="2"| Konteradmiral

Generalmajor of the Wehrmacht

Generalmajor was in the German Reich and Nazi Germany the lowest general officer rank, comparable to the one-star rank in many NATO-Armed forces (Rangcode OF-6). It was equivalent to Konteradmiral in the Kriegsmarine, and SS-Brigadeführer in the Waffen-SS until 1945.

Rank insignia Generalmajor / Konteradmiral:{| style="border:1px solid #8888aa; background-color:#f7f8ff; padding:5px; font-size:95%; margin: 0px 12px 12px 0px;" bgcolor="#CCCCCC"

! Branch! German Army! Luftwaffe! Waffen-SS! Kriegsmarine style="text-align:center;"! Collar65px)100px)100px)| None style="text-align:center;"! Shoulder100px)100px)100px)100px) style="text-align:center;"! Sleeve100px)100px)100px)50px) style="text-align:center;"! Rankdesignation Generalmajor{{hr}}Brigadeführer>SS-Brigadeführer'und Generalmajor'der Waffen-SS| Konteradmiral

Sequence of ranks ascending:{| align="left" class="toccolours" border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0.5em auto; clear: both;"Junior rank:Oberst

(File:Balkenkreuz.svg|28px)(German officer rank)GeneralmajorSenior rank:Generalleutnant{{clear}}

Norway

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Sweden

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See also

• Comparative officer ranks of World War I
• Comparative officer ranks of World War II
• Ranks of the National People's Army

References

{{reflist}}

Bibliography

• WEB, danmarkshistorien.dk, Rangforordningen, 25. maj 1671,weblink danmarkshistorien.dk, 15 March 2021, da, 17 May 2017,
• WEB, Hedegaard, Ole A., Nyt militært gradstegn - en ny/gammel tradition!,weblink Krigsvidenskab.dk, 28 August 2018, da, 1 January 1986,weblink 28 August 2018,
• JOURNAL, Klint, Helge, Træk af Hærstabens historie, Hærkommandoens Ã…rsskrift, 1965, 5–11, Nyt Nordisk Forlag, da,
• BOOK, Military Committee Land Standardization Board, STANAG 2116, 13 January 2021, NATO Standardization Agency, 7th, {{harvid, STANAG 2116, }}
• WEB, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Defence (Denmark), Historik,weblink forpers.dk, Forsvarsministeriets Personalestyrelse, 8 April 2021,weblink 22 February 2019, da, 9 January 2017,
• BOOK, Ministry of War, Kundgjørelser for hæren samt Love og Bestemmelser, som angaae hæren, 1880, Copenhagen, da, Love og Bestemmelser, som angaae hæren,
• BOOK, Petersen, Karsten Skjold, Kongens klæder - Hærens uniformer og udrustning i Danmark-Norge, 2014, Historika, Slovenia, 9788793229006, 1st, da,

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