Admiral, short Adm, (, ) is the most senior

flag officer A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which that officer exercises command. Different countries use the term "flag officer" in different ways: * ...

rank in the

German Navy The German Navy (, ) is part of the unified (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Marine'' (German Navy) became the official ...

. It is equivalent to

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

in the

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

or German Air Force. In the Central Medical Services there is no equivalent. In the German Navy ''Admiral'' is, as in many navies, a

four-star rank Military star ranking is military terminology, used in mainly English speaking countries, to describe general and flag officers. Within NATO's armed forces, the stars are equal to OF-6–10. Star ranking One-star A one-star rank is usual ...

with a NATO code of OF-9. The most recent officer of the German Navy to hold the rank is

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

Joachim Rühle, who serves as Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (

SHAPE A shape is a graphics, graphical representation of an object's form or its external boundary, outline, or external Surface (mathematics), surface. It is distinct from other object properties, such as color, Surface texture, texture, or material ...

) in Mons, Belgium since 2020. However, in other German speaking naval forces, e.g. Imperial German Navy, ,

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official military branch, branche ...

, Volksmarine, and the Austro-Hungarian K.u.K. Kriegsmarine, admiral was an OF-8 three-star flag officer rank.

Address

The official manner of formal addressing of military people with the rank ''Admiral'' (OF-9) is "Herr/Frau Admiral". However, as to German naval traditions the addressing in seamen's language of military people with any ''flag officer rank'' (OF-6 to OF-9) is "Herr/Frau Admiral". In the Imperial German Navy, an admiral would be addressed as "Eure Exzellenz" (Your Excellency)

Rank insignia and rating

Its rank insignia, worn on the sleeves and shoulders, are one five-pointed star above a big gold stripe and three normal stripes (without the star when rank loops are worn). The rank is rated OF-9STANAG 2116
/ref> in

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

, and equivalent to

in Heer, and

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

. It is grade B10 in the pay rules of the Federal Ministry of Defence.

History

German navies until 1945

Admiral as a rank first appeared in Germany in the 19th century and was expanded in the early 20th century as part of a build-up and mobilization in preparation for the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The rank again saw a resurgence during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

National People's Army

Admiral was the second highest flag officer grade of the Volksmarine, equivalent to the three-star rank

Generaloberst A ("colonel general") was the second-highest general officer rank in the German '' Reichswehr'' and ''Wehrmacht'', the Austro-Hungarian Common Army, the East German National People's Army and in their respective police services. The rank w ...

. In the GDR Volksmarine there have been the three flag officer ranks ''Konteradmiral'', ''Vizeadmiral'', and ''Admiral''. By decision of the GDR State Council from March 25, 1982, the rank ''Flottenadmiral'' was introduced.

Insignia

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Admiral Naval ranks of Germany Admirals Three-star officers of Nazi Germany Four-star officers of the Bundeswehr de:Admiral