Obersturmführer

(, Template:Literally;Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn short: Ostuf) was a Nazi Germany paramilitary rank that was used in several Nazi organisations, such as the SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK.

The rank of Obersturmführer was first created in 1932 as the result of an expansion of the Sturmabteilung (SA) and the need for an additional rank in the officer corps. Obersturmführer also became an SS rank at that same time.Template:Sfn

An SA-Obersturmführer was typically a junior company commander in charge of fifty to a hundred men. Within the SS, the rank of Obersturmführer carried a wider range of occupations including staff aide, Gestapo officer, concentration camp supervisor, and Waffen-SS platoon commander. Within both the SS and SA, the rank of Obersturmführer was considered the equivalent of an Oberleutnant in the German Wehrmacht.Template:Sfn

The insignia for Obersturmführer was three silver pips and a silver stripe centered on a uniform collar patch. The rank was senior to an Untersturmführer (or Sturmführer in the SATemplate:Sfn) and junior to the rank of Hauptsturmführer.Template:Sfn

Rank insignia

Obersturmführer SS, SA, NSKK, and NSFK
Rank insignia Shoulder mark Camo insignia Gorget patch	Schutzstaffel (SS)			Sturmabteilung (SA)	NS Motor Corps (NSSKK)	NS Flyers Corps (NSFK)
	File:WSS Pi OF1a Ostuf 1945.png	File:OLt Ostuf OF1a cam slv 1945.svg	File:SS-Obersturmführer.svg	File:SA-Obersturmführer.svg	File:NSKK-Obersturmführer.svg	File:NSFK-Obersturmführer.svg
	Waffen-SS		Allgemeine-SS Waffen-SS	collar insignia

Sequence of ranks in comparison with Wehrmacht
junior rank SS-Untersturmführer	SS Rank Obersturmführer	senior rank SS-Hauptsturmführer Sturmhauptführer (until 1934)
SA-Sturmführer	SA Rank Obersturmführer	SA-Hauptsturmführer Sturmhauptführer (until 1939/40)
Leutnant (OF-1b)	File:Balkenkreuz.svg Wehrmacht rank Oberleutnant (OF-1a)	Hauptmann / Rittmeister (OF-2)

See also

• Comparative ranks of Nazi Germany
• Table of ranks and insignia of the Waffen-SS