() is an
officer
An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...
rank in the armies of
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
,
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
, and
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
. It is usually translated as ''captain''.
Background
While in contemporary German means 'main', it also has, and originally had, the meaning of 'head', i.e. ' literally translates to 'head-man', which is also the etymological root of ''captain'' (from
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
, 'head').
This rank is equivalent to the rank of captain in the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
and
US Armies, and is rated
OF-2
A NATO standard grade scale is used by the NATO and its partners for the purpose of comparing military ranks across the member nations militaries, as well as for a number of administrative tasks.
Rank codes
NATO maintains a "standard rank sc ...
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 ...
.
:
Currently, there is no female form within the German military (such as ''Hauptfrau''): the correct form of address is "''Frau Hauptmann''."
More generally, a Hauptmann can be the head of any hierarchically structured group of people, often as a compound word. For example, a is the captain of a fire brigade, while refers to the leader of a gang of robbers.
Official Austrian and German titles incorporating the word include , , , and .
In
Saxony
Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...
during the
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...
, the titles of , and were held by senior civil servants.
(from
Early Modern High German
Early may refer to:
Places in the United States
* Early, Iowa, a city
* Early, Texas, a city
* Early Branch, a stream in Missouri
* Early County, Georgia
* Fort Early, Georgia, an early 19th century fort
Music
* Early B, stage name of Jamaican d ...
) is cognate with the Swedish , which also has the root meaning 'head-man' or 'the man at the head', and is closely related to , meaning '
chieftain
A tribal chief, chieftain, or headman is a leader of a tribe, tribal society or chiefdom.
Tribal societies
There is no definition for "tribe".
The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of weste ...
'. Since medieval times, both titles have been used for state administrators rather than military personnel. may also be the origin of the title
hetman
''Hetman'' is a political title from Central and Eastern Europe, historically assigned to military commanders (comparable to a field marshal or imperial marshal in the Holy Roman Empire). First used by the Czechs in Bohemia in the 15th century, ...
, used in Central and Eastern Europe.
Military ranks
Austria
File:Bundesheer - Rank insignia - Hauptmann.png, Army
Germany
Rank insignia
On the shoulder straps (Heer, Luftwaffe) there are three silver pips (stars).
Switzerland
File:OF-2 CH.gif, Army
Swiss Guard
Rank insignia of Hauptmann (OF-2) Pontifical Swiss Guard.svg, Army
See also
*
World War II German Army ranks and insignia
The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk of a "plu ...
*
Ranks of the German Bundeswehr
The ranks of the German Armed Forces, (in German: Bundeswehr), were set up by the President of Germany, President with the ''Anordnung des Bundespräsidenten über die Dienstgradbezeichnungen und die Uniform der Soldaten'' on the basis osection 4 ...
*
Rank insignia of the German Bundeswehr
The rank insignia of the Federal Defence Forces () indicate rank and branch of service in the German Army (), German Air Force (), or the German Navy ().
They are regulated by the "presidential order on rank designation and military uniform".
Th ...
References
External links
Deutsches Wörterbuch, Hauptmann
{{German military ranks
Military ranks of Germany
Military ranks of Austria
Military ranks
German words and phrases