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Leadership ranks of the Sturmabteilung were titles and positions held by the supreme commanders of the Sturmabteilung (SA) of the Nazi Party between the years of 1920 and 1945. The leadership corps of the SA was formed into the SA-Führerung which was overseen by an SA Chief of Staff (who, after 1930, was known as the Stabschef of "Chief of Staff"). The supreme commander of the entire SA was the Oberste SA-Führer (sometimes spelled as Oberster) which was a titular position while the highest rank of the SA was considered that of Stabschef.
Oberster SA-Führer (1920-1945)
Oberster SA-Führer was a title used by the Sturmabteilung from 1920 to 1945. The title was held by the Commander of the Nazi stormtroopers and was held by the following persons during the twenty five years of the SA's existence:
- Emil Maurice (1920–1921)
- Hans Ulrich Klintzsche (1921–1923)
- Hermann Göring (1923)
- None (1923–1925) SA abolished
- Franz Pfeffer von Salomon (1926–1930)
- Adolf Hitler (1930–1945)
In 1930, to centralize the loyalty of the SA, Adolf Hitler personally assumed command of the entire organization and remained the Oberste SA-Führer for the duration of the group's existence (1945). The day to day running of the SA was conducted by the SA Chief of Staff, known as the Stabschef. After 1931, it is those who held the rank of Stabschef, such as Ernst Röhm, who are generally accepted as Commanders of the SA.
Oberste SA-Führer had no particular uniform insignia and was a paramilitary title that could be denoted in a variety of ways. Hermann Göring, for instance, created an elaborate uniform, with swastika armband accompanied with white service stripes. In contrast, Emil Maurice wore simply a brown Nazi stormtrooper shirt, with no insignia, as did Adolf Hitler when he held the title of Oberste SA-Führer.
Stabschef (1930-1945)
Stabschef (Chief of Staff) was a paramilitary rank in the Sturmabteilung (SA), the paramilitary stormtroopers associated with the Nazi movement.
The SA rank of Stabschef was first created in 1931 after Adolf Hitler had assumed the title of Oberste SA-Führer. Although Hitler was the supreme commander of the stormtroopers, the day to day running of the organization was left to the Chief of Staff, and the men who held the rank of Stabschef are typically connected with being the actual leaders of the SA.
The rank of Stabschef was held by three different people between 1931 and 1945 and was, in each case of succession, inherited due to the death of a predecessor. The following Nazi officers held the rank of Stabschef:
- Ernst Röhm (1931 – 1934) Murdered
- Viktor Lutze (1934 – 1943) Accidental Death
- Wilhelm Schepmann (1943 – 1945) Fall of the SA
Early insignia for Stabschef consisted of an oak leaf patch worn on the collar of the stormtrooper uniform. Photographic evidence shows Ernst Röhm wearing such an insignia in his early days as the SA Chief of Staff. As Röhm's authority increased, so did his insignia and by mid 1931 photographic evidence shows him wearing a two and then three leaf design.
After 1933, the insignia for Stabschef consisted of a "crossed lances" pattern, wreathed by a half oak leaf circle. This insignia had been personally designed by Ernst Röhm and was based on the insignia of a Bolivian General (Röhm has served as a German military advisor to Bolivia in the late 1920s).
After 1934, when Ernst Röhm was murdered during the Night of the Long Knives, Viktor Lutze, the new SA-Stabschef changed the insignia to a wreathed tri-foil oak leaf pattern identical to the SS rank insignia of Reichsführer-SS. This insignia would remain as such until 1945.
With the fall of Nazi Germay, the Sturmabteilung ceased to exist and with it its Stabschef.
"Leadership ranks of the Sturmabteilung"