Hauptmann
 (Heer / Luftwaffe) | |||
| |||
| Rank insignia | German officer rank | ||
| Introduction | 19th century | ||
| Rank group | Commissioned officers | ||
| Army / Air Force | Hauptmann | ||
| Navy | Kapitänleutnant | ||
| NATO equivalent | OF-2 | ||
| Army | Captain | ||
| Navy | Captain lieutenant | ||
Hauptmann is a German word usually translated as captain when it is used as an officer's rank in the German, Austrian and Swiss armies. While "haupt" in contemporary German means "main", it also has the meaning of "head", i.e. Hauptmann literally translates to "head man", which is also the etymological root of "captain" (from Latin caput head). It equates to Captain in the British and US Armies, and is rated OF-2 in NATO.
More generally, it can be used to denote the head of any hierarchically structured group of people, often as a compound word. For example, a Feuerwehrhauptmann is the captain of a fire brigade, while the word Räuberhauptmann refers to the leader of a gang of robbers.
Official Austrian/German titles incorporating the word include Landeshauptmann, Bezirkshauptmann, Burghauptmann and Berghauptmann.
In Saxony during the Weimar Republic, the titles of Kreishauptmann and Amtshauptmann were held by senior civil servants.
The word may cognate with the Swedish Hövitsman, which has the root meaning "Head man" or "the man at the head" and is closely related to the word "hövding," meaning Chieftain. Since medieval times, both titles have been used for state administrators rather than military personnel.
- See also
Rank insignia
On the shoulder straps (Heer, Luftwaffe) there are three silver pips (stars).
| Heer | Luftwaffe |
|---|---|
|
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| junior Rank Oberleutnant |
  German Bundeswehr officer rank Hauptmann |
senior Rank Major |
| Stabshauptmann |