View source for Reichsführer-SS

{{Short description|German Nazi paramilitary commander rank}}
{{for|the military unit|16th SS Panzergrenadier Division Reichsführer-SS}}
{{pp-semi-indef}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Infobox official post
| post                    = {{lang|de|Reichsführer-SS}}
| body                    =
| native_name             = SS Reichsführer
| insignia                = Reichsadler der Deutsches Reich (1935–1945).svg
| insigniasize            = 100
| insigniacaption         = [[Reichsadler|Eagle of Nazi Germany]]
| flag                    = Kfz-Stander für den Reichsführer SS.svg
| flagsize                =
| flagborder              =
| flagcaption             = Command flag
| image                   = Heinrich Himmler Portrait (3x4 cropped).jpg
| imagesize               =
| alt                     = Head shot of Heinrich Himmler
| imagecaption            = '''Longest-serving<br />[[Heinrich Himmler]]'''<br />6 January 1929 – 29 April 1945
| department              = {{flag|Schutzstaffel}} (SS)
| style                   =
| type                    = [[Commanding officer]]
| status                  = Abolished
| abbreviation            = RfSS
| member_of               = {{lang|de|[[Kommandostab Reichsführer-SS|Kommandostab]]}}
| reports_to              = [[File:Standarte Adolf Hitlers.svg|23px]] [[Adolf Hitler]]
| residence               =
| seat                    =
| nominator               =
| appointer               = [[File:Standarte Adolf Hitlers.svg|23px]] Adolf Hitler
| appointer_qualified     =
| termlength              = Not fixed
| termlength_qualified    =
| constituting_instrument =
| precursor               =
| formation               = 4 April 1925
| first                   = [[Julius Schreck]]
| last                    = [[Karl Hanke]]
| abolished               = 8 May 1945
| succession              =
| unofficial_names        =
| deputy                  = [[#Deputy|Deputy Reichsführer-SS]]
| salary                  =
| website                 =
}}
{{multiple image
| align             = right
| direction         = vertical
| header            = Collar and shoulder insignia in 1934
| width             =
| image1            = Reichsführer-SS Collar Rank.svg
| caption1          =
| width1            = 150
| image2            = Reichsführer-SS shoulder.svg
| caption2          =
| width2            = 200
| footer            =
| footer_background =
}}

'''{{lang|de|Reichsführer-SS}}''' ({{IPA|de|ˈʁaɪçsˌfyːʁɐ ˌʔɛsˈʔɛs|lang|De-reichsfuehrer-ss.ogg}}, {{literally|''[[Reich]]'' Leader-SS}}) was a special title and rank that existed between the years of 1925 and 1945 for the commander of the {{lang|de|[[Schutzstaffel]]}} (SS), and it was the highest [[Uniforms and insignia of the Schutzstaffel|rank of the SS]]. The longest-serving and most noteworthy office holder was [[Heinrich Himmler]].

==Definition==
{{lang|de|Reichsführer-SS}} was both a title and a rank. The title of {{lang|de|Reichsführer}} was first created in 1926 by the second commander of the SS, [[Joseph Berchtold]].{{sfn|Weale|2010|p=30}} [[Julius Schreck]], founder of the SS and Berchtold's predecessor, never referred to himself as {{lang|de|Reichsführer}}. Yet, the title was retroactively applied to him in later years.{{sfn|McNab|2009|pp=16, 17}} In 1929, Heinrich Himmler became {{lang|de|Reichsführer-SS}} and referred to himself by his title instead of his regular SS rank of {{lang|de|[[Obergruppenführer]]}}.{{sfn|McNab|2009|pp=18, 29}}{{sfn|Weale|2010|p=47}} This set the precedent for the commander of the SS to be called {{lang|de|Reichsführer-SS}}.

Prior to the [[Night of the Long Knives]], the SS was an elite corps of the {{lang|de|[[Sturmabteilung]]}} (SA or storm troopers), and the {{lang|de|Reichsführer-SS}} was subordinate to the SA's operating head, the {{lang|de|[[Stabschef]]}}. On 20 July 1934, as part of the purge of the SA, the SS was made an independent branch of the [[Nazi Party]], responsible only to Hitler. From that point on, the title of {{lang|de|Reichsführer-SS}} became an actual rank, and in fact the highest rank of the SS.{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|pp=309–314, 316}} In this position, Himmler was on paper the equivalent of a {{lang|de|[[Generalfeldmarschall]]}} in the [[German Army (1935–1945)|German Army]].{{sfn|CIA|1999|p=30}}{{sfn|Zabecki|2014|p=1639}} As Himmler's position and authority grew in [[Nazi Germany]], so did his rank in a "de facto" sense.{{sfn|McNab|2009|pp=9, 17, 26–27, 30, 46–47}} Further, there was never more than one {{lang|de|Reichsführer-SS}} at any one time, with Himmler holding the position as his personal title from 1929 (becoming his actual rank in 1934) until April 1945.{{sfn|McNab|2009|pp=9, 17}}

==Duties==
Under its original inception, the title and rank of {{lang|de|Reichsführer-SS}} was the designation for the head of the {{lang|de|[[Allgemeine SS]]}} (General-SS).{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|pp=313, 316}} In this capacity, the SS Reich Leader was the direct commander of the SS Senior District Leaders (''SS-Oberabschnitt Führer''); by 1936, the {{lang|de|Reichsführer-SS}} was head of the three main SS branches: the {{lang|de|Allgemeine SS}}, {{lang|de|[[SS-Verfügungstruppe]]}} (SS-VT; political action troops), and the {{lang|de|[[SS-Totenkopfverbände]]}} (SS-TV; concentration camp service).{{sfn|Stein|2002|p=23}}{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=156}}

During the [[Second World War]], the {{lang|de|Reichsführer-SS}} in effect held several additional roles and wielded enormous personal power. He was responsible for all internal security within [[Nazi Germany]]. He was overseer of the concentration camps, extermination camps (through the [[Concentration Camps Inspectorate]] and SS-TV), and the ''[[Einsatzgruppen]]'' mobile death squads (through the [[Reich Security Main Office]]; RSHA).{{sfn|McNab|2009|pp=9, 35–36, 46–47}} Over time, his influence on both civil and foreign policy became marked, as the ''Reichsführer'' reported directly to Hitler and his actions were not tempered by checks and balances. This meant the office holder could implement broad policy, such as the [[Final Solution|Nazi plan]] for the [[Genocide]] or extermination of the [[Jews]], or order criminal acts such as the [[Stalag Luft III murders|''Stalag Luft&nbsp;III'' murders]], without impediment.

It is difficult to separate the office from the duties assigned to the individual. As of 20 April 1934, Himmler in his position of {{lang|de|Reichsführer-SS}} already controlled the [[Sicherheitsdienst|SD]] and the [[Gestapo]].{{sfn|Evans|2005|p=54}} On 17 June 1936 Himmler was named chief of all [[Police forces of Nazi Germany|German police]], thereby placing all uniformed police ([[Ordnungspolizei|Orpo]]) and criminal police ([[Kriminalpolizei (Nazi Germany)|Kripo]]) in Germany under his control. In the latter role, he was nominally subordinate to the [[List of German interior ministers|Interior Minister]], [[Wilhelm Frick]].{{sfn|McNab|2009|pp=9, 46–47}} It is not clear how much of this power would technically reside in the office of the ''Reichsführer-SS'' were those duties to be split up.{{efn|As noted in the book ''The SS'': "Himmler...was now the head of two important, '''separate''' organizations – the SS and the national police (emphasis added)." Much of his power and influence as ''Reichsführer-SS'' resided from control of the police, duties separate, yet linked.{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|pp=70–73}}}} These questions became moot by the time Himmler became the Interior Minister in 1943.

It is difficult to define precisely the full detailed duties and responsibilities of the {{lang|de|Reichsführer-SS}} beyond that of leader and senior member of the SS, since, in the words of historian [[Martin Windrow]], "by the outbreak of the (Second World) war it would have been impossible to define exactly the role within the state" of the entire SS itself.{{sfn|Windrow|1982|p=7}}

==Relationship with the ''Waffen-SS''==
The rank of {{lang|de|Reichsführer-SS}} was defined in the SS hierarchy as the highest possible rank of the {{lang|de|Allgemeine-SS}}. The exact position of the rank within the ''[[Waffen-SS]]'' evolved over many years, ranging from clearly defined to vaguely associated. The ''Waffen-SS'' was originally the small armed SS unit known as the {{lang|de|SS-Verfügungstruppe}} (SS-VT), and in the 1930s was under the command of Himmler who, in his position as {{lang|de|Reichsführer-SS}}, issued directives and orders to SS-VT commanders. Hold-outs existed for some aspects of the armed SS however, as well as within the special bodyguard unit known as the {{lang|de|[[1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler|SS-Leibstandarte]]}}. Although the unit was nominally under Himmler, [[Sepp Dietrich]] was the real commander and handled its day-to-day administration.{{sfn|Cook|Bender|1994|pp=19, 33}}

The ''Waffen-SS'' eventually grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions and served alongside the German Army, but was never formally part of it.{{sfn|McNab|2009|pp=9, 35–36, 46–47, 61, 64, 66–70}}{{sfn|Christensen|Poulsen|Smith|2015|p=438}} During World War II, the authority of the {{lang|de|Reichsführer-SS}} over the ''Waffen-SS'' was mainly administrative in that certain General-SS offices controlled supply and logistics aspects of it. Himmler also held authority to create new ''Waffen-SS'' divisions as well as order the formation of various smaller SS combat units. The daily association with the ''Waffen-SS'', however, encompassed primarily inspecting ''Waffen-SS'' troops and presenting high-ranking medals to its members.

The {{lang|de|Reichsführer-SS}} further never exercised direct operational authority over ''Waffen-SS'' units until the very end of the war and then only through his capacity as an Army Group commander and not as the head of the SS. Top ''Waffen-SS'' commanders, such as Sepp Dietrich, [[Wilhelm Bittrich]], and [[Matthias Kleinheisterkamp]], further held a certain derision for Himmler, describing him as "sly and unmilitary".{{sfn|Messenger|2005|p=51}}

== {{lang|de|Kommandostab Reichsführer-SS}} ==
{{Main|Kommandostab Reichsführer-SS{{!}}''Kommandostab Reichsführer-SS''}}
Attached to the office was the 18,438-strong SS formations managed by the {{lang|de|[[Kommandostab Reichsführer-SS]]}} ("Command Staff {{lang|de|Reichsführer-SS}}") reporting directly to Himmler. To head the Command Staff, Himmler appointed career army officer [[Kurt Knoblauch]], who acted as chief of staff for the units.{{sfn|Hale|2011|pp=160–162}} Prior to the launch of the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, these formations included two motorized SS-Infantry Brigades, two SS-Cavalry Regiments combined into the [[SS Cavalry Brigade]], a bodyguard battalion, flak units and a number of companies of support troops. Units were temporarily placed under army command for operations, but the {{lang|de|Reichsführer}} could call them back at any time. Despite the name, it was not employed as a unified HQ unit. Instead, its individual units were sent to occupied areas, subordinated to local [[SS and police leader|Higher SS and Police Leader]]s (HSSPFs) and used for so-called "pacification actions" alongside the {{lang|de|[[Einsatzgruppen]]}}. Often these actions were atrocities and mass murders, targeting Jews, political prisoners and "suspected partisans".{{sfn|Stein|2002|pp=108, 109}}

==Office holders==
In all, five people held the title of {{lang|de|Reichsführer-SS}} during the twenty years of its existence. Three persons held the position as a title while two held the actual SS rank.

{{Officeholder table start
| showorder          = y
| showimage          = y
| image_title        = Portrait
| officeholder_title = ''Reichsführer-SS''
| showtermlenght     = y
| showelection       = n
| showcabinet        = n
| party_col          = 1
| showref            = y
}}
{{Officeholder table
| order2            = {{white|1}}
| image             = Schreckj.jpeg
| military_rank     =
| officeholder      = [[Julius Schreck]]
| officeholder_sort = Schreck, Julius
| officeholder_note =
| born_year         = 1898
| died_year         = 1936
| term_start        = 4 April 1925
| term_end          = 15 April 1926
| timeinoffice      = {{ayd|1925|04|04|1926|04|15}}
| alt_party         = Nazi Party
| ref               = {{sfn|McNab|2009|pp=16, 17}}
}}
{{Officeholder table
| order2            = {{white|2}}
| image             = Joseph Berchtold.jpg
| military_rank     =
| officeholder      = [[Joseph Berchtold]]
| officeholder_sort = Berchtold, Joseph
| officeholder_note =
| born_year         = 1897
| died_year         = 1962
| term_start        = 15 April 1926
| term_end          = 1 March 1927
| timeinoffice      = {{ayd|1926|04|15|1927|03|01}}
| alt_party         = Nazi Party
| ref               = {{sfn|McNab|2009|pp=16, 17}}
}}
{{Officeholder table
| order2            = {{white|3}}
| image             = <!-- DO NOT PLACE NON FREE IMAGE Reichsführer-SS Erhard Heiden.jpg HERE -->
| military_rank     =
| officeholder      = [[Erhard Heiden]]
| officeholder_sort = Heiden, Erhard
| officeholder_note =
| born_year         = 1901
| died_year         = 1933
| term_start        = 1 March 1927
| term_end          = 6 January 1929
| timeinoffice      = {{ayd|1927|03|01|1929|01|06}}
| alt_party         = Nazi Party
| ref               = {{sfn|McNab|2009|pp=16, 17}}
}}
{{Officeholder table
| order2            = {{white|4}}
| image             = Heinrich Himmler (3x4 cropped).jpg
| military_rank     =
| officeholder      = [[Heinrich Himmler]]
| officeholder_sort = Himmler, Heinrich
| officeholder_note =
| born_year         = 1900
| died_year         = 1945
| term_start        = 6 January 1929
| term_end          = 29 April 1945
| timeinoffice      = {{ayd|1929|01|06|1945|04|29}}
| alt_party         = Nazi Party
| ref               = {{sfn|McNab|2009|pp=16, 17}}
}}
{{Officeholder table
| order2            = {{white|5}}
| image             = Karl Hanke (1945).jpg
| military_rank     =
| officeholder      = [[Karl Hanke]]
| officeholder_sort = Hanke, Karl
| officeholder_note =
| born_year         = 1903
| died_year         = 1945
| died              = 
| term_start        = 29 April 1945
| term_end          = 8 May 1945
| timeinoffice      = {{ayd|1945|04|29|1945|05|08}}
| alt_party         = Nazi Party
| ref               = {{sfn|McNab|2009|pp=16, 17}}
}}
{{Officeholder table end}}

Hanke was appointed SS leader in April 1945, but not informed until early May. He was captured by [[Resistance in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia|Czech partisans]] on 6 May and interned.{{sfn|Miller|Schulz|2012|p=437}} He was killed on 8 June, while attempting to escape a [[Prisoner-of-war camp|POW camp]]. Historians have often speculated that [[Reinhard Heydrich]] would have eventually held the rank had Himmler in some way been killed or removed from his position earlier in World War&nbsp;II, and indeed Heydrich was often seen as Himmler's [[heir apparent]] by senior SS leaders. However, at a diplomatic function in [[Fascist Italy|Italy]] in 1941, Heydrich was reported as stating that he had no desire to succeed Himmler.{{sfn|Yerger|1997|p=}}

===Timeline===
{{#tag:timeline|
ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:12
PlotArea  = top:10 bottom:50 right:80 left:20
AlignBars = late

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy
Period     = from:01/01/1925 till:01/06/1945
TimeAxis   = orientation:horizontal
ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1925
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:1925

BarData =
  barset:PM

PlotData =
  width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till
  barset:PM

 from: 04/04/1925 till: 15/04/1926 color:black text:"[[Julius Schreck|Schreck]]" fontsize:10
 from: 15/04/1926 till: 01/03/1927 color:black text:"[[Joseph Berchtold|Berchtold]]" fontsize:10
 from: 01/03/1927 till: 06/01/1929 color:black text:"[[Erhard Heiden|Heiden]]" fontsize:10
 from: 06/01/1929 till: 29/04/1945 color:black text:"[[Heinrich Himmler|Himmler]]" fontsize:10
 from: 29/04/1945 till: 08/05/1945 color:black text:"[[Karl Hanke|Hanke]]" fontsize:10

}}

==Deputy==
{{Officeholder table start
| showorder          = n
| showimage          = y
| image_title        = Portrait
| officeholder_title = ''Stellvertretender RfSS''
| showtermlenght     = y
| showparty          = y
| showelection       = n
| showcabinet        = n
| showref            = y
}}
{{Officeholder table
| image             = Heinrich Himmler (3x4 cropped).jpg
| military_rank     = SS-{{lang|de|Oberführer}}
| officeholder      = [[Heinrich Himmler]]
| officeholder_sort = Himmler, Heinrich
| officeholder_note = 
| born_year         = 1900
| died_year         = 1945
| term_start        = September 1927
| term_end          = 6 January 1929
| timeinoffice      = {{age in years and months|1927|09|1|1929|01|06}}
| party             = Nazi Party
| ref               = {{sfn|McNab|2009|p=18}}
}}
{{Officeholder table
| image             = Reinhard Heydrich (3x4 cropped).jpg
| military_rank     = SS-{{lang|de|Obergruppenführer}}
| officeholder      = [[Reinhard Heydrich]]
| officeholder_sort = Heydrich, Reinhard
| officeholder_note = 
| born_year         = 1904
| died_year         = 1942
| died              = y
| term_start        = 17 June 1936
| term_end          = [[Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich|4 June 1942]]
| timeinoffice      = {{age in years and months|1936|06|17|1942|06|04}}
| party             = Nazi Party
| ref               = {{sfn|McNab|2009|pp=17, 23, 151}}
}}
{{Officeholder table end}}

==See also==
* [[Personal Staff Reichsführer-SS]]
* [[Freundeskreis der Wirtschaft]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
===Citations===
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===
{{refbegin|2}}
* {{cite book |last1=Christensen |first1=Claus Bundgård |author-link1=Claus Bundgård Christensen |last2=Poulsen |first2=Niels Bo |last3=Smith |first3=Peter Scharff |date=2015 |title=Waffen-SS : Europas nazistiske soldater |trans-title= Waffen-SS: Europe's Nazi soldiers |language= da |edition=1 |location=Lithuania |publisher=Gyldendal A/S |isbn=978-87-02-09648-4 }}
* {{cite web |author1=CIA |author-link1=CIA |title=Records Integration Title Book |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP78-02646R000600030012-6.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170123031622/https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP78-02646R000600030012-6.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 23, 2017 |access-date=11 December 2018 |date=24 August 1999}}
* {{cite book |last1=Cook |first1=Stan |last2=Bender |first2=R. James |title=Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler: Uniforms, Organization, & History |publisher=R. James Bender |location=San Jose, CA |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-912138-55-8}}
* {{cite book |last1=Evans |first1=Richard |title=The Coming of the Third Reich |year=2005 |location=New York |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0-14-303469-8}}
* {{cite book |last1=Flaherty |first1=T. H. |title=The Third Reich: The SS |date=2004 |orig-year=1988 |publisher=Time-Life Books, Inc |isbn=0-8094-6950-2 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/ss00time202}}
* {{cite book |last1=Hale |first1=Christopher |author-link1=Christopher Hale |title=Hitler's Foreign Executioners: Europe's Dirty Secret |year=2011 |publisher=The History Press |isbn=978-0-7524-5974-5 |url=http://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/publication/hitlers-foreign-executioners/9780752459745/ |access-date=2016-11-25 |archive-date=2020-10-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023145215/https://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/publication/hitlers-foreign-executioners/9780752459745/ |url-status=dead }}
* {{cite book |last1=Kershaw |first1=Ian |title=Hitler: A Biography |year=2008 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |location=New York |isbn=978-0-393-06757-6}}
* {{cite book |last1=McNab |first1=Chris |title=The SS: 1923–1945 |year=2009 |publisher=Amber Books Ltd |isbn=978-1-906626-49-5}}
* {{cite book |last1=Messenger |first1=Charles |title=Hitler's Gladiator |year= 2005 |edition=Re-issue |publisher=Conway Maritime Press |location=London |isbn=1844860221}}
* {{cite book |last1=Miller |first1=Michael |last2=Schulz |first2=Andreas |title=Gauleiter: The Regional Leaders of the Nazi Party and Their Deputies, 1925–1945 |year=2012 |volume=1 |publisher=R. James Bender Publishing |isbn=978-1-932970-21-0}}
* {{cite book |last=Stein |first=George |title=The Waffen-SS: Hitler's Elite Guard at War 1939–1945 |year=2002 |orig-year=1966 |publisher=Cerberus Publishing |isbn=978-1841451008}}
* {{cite book |last=Weale |first=Adrian |author-link=Adrian Weale |title=The SS: A New History |year=2010 |publisher=Little, Brown |location=London |isbn=978-1-4087-0304-5}}
* {{cite book |last1=Windrow |first1=Martin |author-link1=Martin Windrow |title=The Waffen-SS |year=1982 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |isbn=0-85045-425-5}}
* {{cite book |last1=Yerger |first1=Mark C. |title=Allgemeine-SS: The Commands, Units and Leaders of the General SS |year=1997 |publisher=Schiffer Publishing Ltd. |isbn=0-7643-0145-4}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Zabecki |editor1-first=David T. |title=Germany at War: 400 Years of Military History |date=2014 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1598849806}}
{{refend}}

{| class="toccolours" border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0.5em auto; clear: both;"
|- align="center"
| width=33%| Junior Rank<br />'''[[Oberstgruppenführer]]'''
| width=33%| '''[[Ranks and insignia of the Schutzstaffel|SS rank]]'''<br />'''Reichsführer-SS'''
| width=33%| Senior Rank<br />'''[[Uniforms and insignia of the Schutzstaffel#SS titles|Oberster Führer der Schutzstaffel]]'''
|}

{{Reichsführer-SS}}
{{SS organizations}}
{{Nazi Germany paramilitary ranks}}
{{Heinrich Himmler}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reichsfuhrer-Ss}}
[[Category:Reichsführer-SS| ]]
[[Category:SS ranks]]
[[Category:Nazi paramilitary ranks]]
[[Category:German words and phrases]]
[[Category:Heinrich Himmler]]
[[Category:Five-star officers of Nazi Germany]]