General der Luftwaffe

General der Luftwaffe (en: General of the air force) was a three-start general of the Nazi Wehrmacht, comparable to modern armed forces OF-8 grade. Promotions to that particular rank appeared only twice in 1942, as special case within the sequence of ranks in the Nazi Luftwaffe. The reason was, because the Luftwaffe Generalleutnant, to be promoted, not could be dedicated to a specific branch of service, e.g. Flieger (flying air force), Flakartillerie (air defence artillery), or Luftnachrichtentruppe (Air Force communication troops). In order to solve the problem, the rank General der Luftwaffe was introduced.

It was equivalent to the Admiral three-star flag officer rank in the Nazi Kriegsmarine, and SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS.

Literature

 * Reinhard Stumpf: Die Wehrmacht-Elite - Rang und Herkunftsstruktur der deutschen Generale und Admirale 1933–1945, Harald Boldt Verlag, Boppard/Rhein 1982. ISBN 3-7646-1815-9
 * Karl Friedrich Hildebrandt: Die Generale der Luftwaffe 1935–1945 (3 Bde.), Biblio-Verlag, Osnabrück 1991. ISBN 376481701-1