Oberst

The rank is rated OF-5 in NATO, and is grade A16 or B3 in the pay rules of the Federal Ministry of Defence. It is comparable in NATO to OF-5 and equivalent to:

• Oberstarzt, Oberstapotheker, and Oberstveterinär in the Joint Medical Service of the German Bundeswehr;
• Kapitän zur See and Flottenarzt in the German Navy.

On the shoulder straps (Heer, Luftwaffe) there are three silver pips (stars) in silver oak leaves.

Bundeswehr sequence of ranks ascending

junior rank: Oberstleutnant

(German officer rank) Oberst

senior rank: Brigadegeneral

Oberst is a German word. Spelled with a capital O, "Oberst" is a noun and defines the military rank of colonel or group captain. Spelled with a lower case o, or "oberst", it is an adjective, meaning "top, topmost, uppermost, highest, chief, head, first, principal, or supreme". Both usages derive from the superlative of ober(e), "the upper" or "the uppermost".

As a family name, Oberst is common in the southwest of Germany, in the area known as the Black Forest (Schwarzwald). The name is also concentrated in the north-central cantons of Switzerland (Aargau & Zürich). Here the Swiss version of Oberst is spelled Obrist. The name first appeared in the thirteenth century in the German-Swiss border area, and early forms were Zoberist and Oberist. The name most likely refers to the "tribe that lives the highest on the mountain" or "the family that lives the highest in the village".

Translated as "superior" or "supreme", the rank of Oberst can trace its origins to the Middle Ages where the term most likely described the senior knight on a battlefield or the senior captain in a regiment. With the emergence of professional armies in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, an Oberst became the commander of regiment or battalion-sized formations.

By the eighteenth century, Obersten were typically afforded aides or lieutenants, often titled Oberstleutnant. This led to formation of the modern German rank of the same name, translated as lieutenant colonel. The rank of Oberst is equivalent to that of colonel in English-speaking armies, although its more accurate meaning of "supreme" refers to the fact that Oberst is the highest-ranking officer below general officers.

Oberst (en: colonel) was in the so-called armed organs of the GDR (German: Bewaffnete Organe der DDR), represented by Ministry of National Defence, and Ministry for State Security, the highest field officer rank, comparable to the colonel in many NATO-Armed forces (Rangcode OF-5). This was in reference to Soviet military doctrine and in line with other armed forces of the Warsaw Pact.

The equivalent rank of the Volksmarine (en: GDR Navy) was the Kapitän zur See, often called simply Genosse Kapitän for short.

For the use of this OF-5 ranks in modern NATO armed forces, see Colonel and Captain (Navy).

junior rank Oberstleutnant

National People's Army rank Oberst (Kapitän zur See)

senior rank Generalmajor

Rank insignias Oberst / Kapitän zur See (OF-5)
Stasi	Land forces	Air Force	GDR Border troops	Volksmarine
		N/A	N/A
Oberst				Kapitän zur See

See also

Ranks of the National People's Army

Oberst (English: Colonel) was in the German Reich, and Nazi Germany the highest field officer rank, comparable to the OF-5 rank in many NATO-Armed forces. It was equivalent to Kapitän zur See in the Kriegsmarine, and SS-Standartenführer in the Waffen-SS until 1945.

Rank insignia Oberst, Kapitän zur See, and SS-Standartenführer

Branch	German Army	Luftwaffe	Waffen-SS	Kriegsmarine
Collar				None
Shoulder
Sleeve
Rank designation	Oberst		Standartenführer der Waffen-SS	Kapitän zur See

Sequence of ranks ascenting

junior rank: Oberstleutnant

(German officer rank) Oberst (Kapitän zur See)

senior rank: Generalmajor