Ranks and insignia of the German Army (1935–1945)
The Heer as the German army and part of the Wehrmacht inherited its uniforms and rank structure from the Reichsheer of the Weimar Republic (1921–1935). There were few alterations and adjustments made as the army grew from a limited peacetime defense force of 100,000 men to a war-fighting force of several million men.
Army rank insignia
Specialty insignia (NCOs and enlisted)
Eagle/swastika and wreathed cockade used on the peaked cap (Schirmmütze).
Enlisted man's Koppelschloß
Uniforms and insignia of the Schutzstaffel
The uniforms and insignia of the Schutzstaffel (SS) served to distinguish its Nazi paramilitary ranks between 1925 and 1945 from the ranks of the Wehrmacht, the German state, and the Nazi Party.
SS–Gruppenführer Hans Heinrich Lammers in black Allgemeine SS uniform, 1938
2nd pattern SS Totenkopf, 1934–45
The earliest SS rank system, used during the year 1929
German poster showing uniforms and insignia of SS (to the right) and the Sturmabteilung (SA, to the left), published in English by the Chicago Sunday Tribune in 1933. The caption reads: Putting masculine Germany into uniforms of types portrayed above is only one aspect of complete regimentation of the German people – a regimentation which includes reshaping of thought in the Nazi mold, suppression of rights, and control and censorship over newspapers.
