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Generalfeldmarschall

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The General Field Marshal (or simply Field Marshal, in German Generalfeldmarschall or Feldmarschall) was a rank in the Prussian Army which could be granted to active officers only in the war. In the Prussian Army and in the Third Reich the rank had several privileges, e.g. a constant escort/protection. In 1870 Prince Friedrich Karl and Kronprinz Friedrich William became the first Prussian princes appointed field marshals. Still, in the year 1854 the rank of Colonel-General had been invented, in order to be able to carry prince Wilhelm, without breaking this rule.

In the German armies the rank of General Field Marshal was the highest military rank until 1945. Its equivalent in the navy was Grand Admiral. The rank was, in effect, abolished after the fall of the Third Reich and the reconstituted Bundeswehr adopted a rank system modelled on that used by the US Army: currently, the highest rank in the German armed forces is General.

The Nationale Volksarmee (NVA) of the GDR knew the rank of the Marschall der DDR (Marshal of the GDR). A general could be appointed to this rank by the Staatsrat (head of state of the GDR) during war or for exceptional military achievement. During the few years between the rank's creation in the early 1980's to the end of the GDR in 1990, nobody had been appointed to the rank of Marschall der DDR.

The rank of Generalfeldmarschall existed in the Electorate and Kingdom of Saxony separate from Prussia until the latter's incorporation in republican Germany after 1918. Listed below are Marshals, sorted by year and political affiliation.

Electorate and Kingdom of Saxony

Electorate and Kingdom of Bavaria

Electorate of Brandenburg and Kingdom of Prussia

Holy Roman Empire

Austrian Empire


Imperial Germany

Austria-Hungary

Germany (WW2)

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