German Bundeswehr Officer Aspirant ranks Fähnrich (Army) / Fähnrich zur See (Navy), equivalent to Cadet sergeant / Midshipman in Anglophone armed forces. | ||
| ||
| Rank insignia | NPA Fänrich rank | |
| Introduction | 1973 | |
| Rank group | Fähnrichs | |
| Army / Air Force | Fähnrich | |
| Navy | Fähnrich | |
| NATO equivalent |
WO-1 | |
| Army | Warrant Officer 1 | |
| Navy | Warrant Officer 1 | |
Fähnrich (short: Fähnr / in lists: FR) was a military rank in the Army of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1956 to 1990. It was also the designation of the autonomous “Fähnrich rank group” between commissioned officer (CO) and non commissioned officer (NCO) ranks.[1]
The position of that career group might be compared to the Warrant Officer (WO) rank group in English speaking armed forces.
With that concept the NPA administration followed the Soviet military doctrine, who introduced to the Soviet Army the praporshchik (ru: пра́порщик) rank in 1972, along with the michman (ru: ми́чман; "midshipman") rank in the Soviet Navy. Most other Warsaw Pact countries followed this approach. However, most countries used historical rank designations in order to pursue national military traditions.
Fähnrichs served for at least fifteen years.[2]
- Countries with otheer rank designations
Czechoslovakia ⇒ Praporčík or also Poddůstojník- Hungary ⇒ Zászlós
- Poland ⇒ Chorąży / Chorąży marynarki
- Romania ⇒ Meistru militar principal (Military master class IV, III, II, I and Senior-military-master)
- Russian Federation ⇒ Прапорщик (Praporshchik) / мичмван (michman)
- Soviet Union ⇒ Прапорщик (Praporshchik) / мичман (michman)
- Yugoslavia ⇒ Заставник (Sastawnik)
NPA Fähnrich ranks[]
| Air Force, land forces, and border troops | Volksmarine | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colour | Armor | Engineers | Airborne troops | Border toops | Field suit | Navy blue | ||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Stabsoberfähnrich | Stabsfähnrich | Oberfähnrich | Fähnrich | Fähnrichschüler | Stabsoberfähnrich | Stabsfähnrich | Oberfähnrich | Fähnrich | Fähnrichschüler | |
| (Staff-senior-fähnrich) | (Staff-fähnrich) | (Senior-fähnrich) | (Fähnrich) | (Fähnrich-student 2nd year of studies) |
(Staff-senior-fähnrich) | (Staff-fähnrich) | (Senior-fähnrich) | (Fähnrich) | (Fähnrich-student 2nd year of studies) | |
 rank |
WO-4 | WO-3 | WO-2 | WO-1 | WO-4 | WO-3 | WO-2 | WO-1 | ||
⇒ see main article Ranks of the National People's Army ⇒ see main article Corps colours (NPA)
| Junior Rank Stabsfeldwebel |
 (NPA rank) Fähnrich |
Senior Rank Oberfähnrich |
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ Dictionary to the German military history, 1st edition (Liz.5, P189/84, LSV:0547, B-Nr. 746 635 0), military publishing house of the GDR (VEB) – Berlin, 1985, Volume 1, page 190, definition: Fähnrich.
- ↑ http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field%28DOCID+gx0154%29
The original article can be found at Fähnrich (East Germany) and the edit history here.