General der Luftwaffe

General der Luftwaffe (en: General of the air force) was a General of the branch rank of the Deutsche Luftwaffe (en: German Air Force) in Nazi Germany. Until the end of World War II in 1945, this particular general officer rank was on three-star level (OF-8), equivalent to a US Lieutenant general.

General of the Air Force General der Luftwaffe
Collar patch and flying suit insignia
Luftwaffe shoulder board
Country	Nazi Germany
Service branch	Luftwaffe
Rank	Three-star
NATO rank code	OF-8
Non-NATO rank	O-9
Next higher rank	Generaloberst
Next lower rank	Generalleutnant
Equivalent ranks	See list

The "General of the branch" ranks of the Luftwaffe were in 1945:

• General of parachute troops
• General of anti-aircraft artillery
• General of the aviators
• General of air force communications troops
• General of the air force

The rank was equivalent to the General of the branch ranks of the Heer (army) as follows:

Heer

• General of artillery
• General of mountain troops
• General of infantry
• General of cavalry
• General of the communications troops
• General of panzer troops (armoured troops)
• General of engineers
• General of the medical corps
• General of the veterinary corps

junior Rank Generalleutnant

(German officer rank) General der Luftwaffe

senior Rank Generaloberst

Other services

The rank was also equivalent to the German three-star ranks:

• Admiral of the Kriegsmarine, equivalent to (US Vice admiral) and
• SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS in the Waffen-SS.

Officers in this rank

Name	Dates of life	Promotion	Remark
Wilhelm Schubert [de]	1879–1972	July 1, 1942	Expert of war economy and armament
Walther Wecke [de]	1885–1943	December 1, 1942	First commanding officer of the Hermann Görings police Stabswache

See also

• General of the branch
• Military ranks of the Luftwaffe (1935–45)

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