Sturmbannführer
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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.
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[edit] History
The SA title 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.
[edit] Recipients
One of the most notable recipients of the title was Dr. Wernher von Braun, who developed the V2 Rocket, and later designed the Saturn V rocket for the U.S.. Also:
[edit] Popular culture
The rank of Sturmbannführer appears frequently in fiction, as in the novel Fatherland where the protagonist, Xavier March, is a Sturmbannführer in the Kriminalpolizei. Cinematically, in The Keep (1983), Gabriel Byrne is SS-Sturmbannführer Kaempffer, head of an SS-Einsatzkommando. In Apt Pupil, Ian McKellen is 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 is Sturmbannführer Kessler, of the Gestapo, and, in the BBC series, 'Allo 'Allo, Gestapo agent Herr Otto Flick bears the rank.
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.
[edit] See also
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Look up Sturmbannführer in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
| Junior Rank Hauptsturmführer |
SS rank Sturmbannführer |
Senior Rank Obersturmbannführer |
| Junior Rank Sturmhauptführer |
SA rank Sturmbannführer |
Senior Rank Obersturmbannführer |
