Editing Sturmmann

{{Short description|Nazi paramilitary rank}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Infobox military rank
| name           = ''Sturmmann''
| image          = [[File:SS-Sturmmann.svg|150px]]
| caption        = SS Gorget patch
| image2         = {{nowrap|[[Image:SS-Mannschaft.svg|100px]] [[Image:WSS-Stuma OF2 slv 1945.svg|100px]]}}
| image3         =
| caption2       = SS Shoulder and sleeve insignia
| country        = {{flag|Nazi Germany}}
| service branch = {{flagicon image|Hitlerjugend Allgemeine Flagge.svg}} [[Hitler Youth]]<br>{{flagicon image|NSKK Hausflagge.svg}} [[National Socialist Motor Corps]]<br>{{flagicon image|NSFK Wimpel Fördernde Mitglieder.svg|border=|size=25px}} [[National Socialist Flyers Corps]]<br>{{flagicon image|Flag of the Schutzstaffel.svg}} [[Schutzstaffel]]<br>{{flagicon image|SA-Logo.svg|border=|size=25px}} [[Sturmabteilung]]
| abbreviation   = 
| rank           =
| NATO rank      = 
| Non-NATO rank  =
| formation      = 1921
| abolished      = 1945
| higher rank    = ''[[Rottenführer]]''
| lower rank     = ''[[Oberschütze]] (Waffen-SS)<br/>[[Mann (military rank)|Mann]] (Allgemeine SS and SA)''
| equivalents    = ''[[Gefreiter]]''
| history        =
}}

'''''Sturmmann''''' ({{IPA|de|ˈʃtʊʁmman|lang}}, {{literally|Storm man}}) was a [[Nazi Party]] paramilitary rank that was first created in the year 1921. The rank of ''Sturmmann'' was used by the ''[[Sturmabteilung]]'' (SA) and the ''[[Schutzstaffel]]'' (SS).

The word originated during [[World War I]] when ''Sturmmann'' was a position held by soldiers in German pioneer assault companies, also known as "[[shock troops]]".

== Creation ==
Following the defeat of Germany in 1918, ''Sturmmann'' became a paramilitary rank of the ''[[Freikorps]]'', violent groups of military veterans who opposed Germany's loss of World War I and the subsequent [[Treaty of Versailles]].

In 1921, ''Sturmmann'' became a paramilitary title of the [[Nazi Party]]'s private army, the ''[[Sturmabteilung]]'' (SA or "Assault Detachment").{{sfn|McNab|2009b|p=15}} ''Sturmmann'' would eventually become a basic paramilitary rank of almost every Nazi organization, but is most closely associated as an [[Ranks and insignia of the Sturmabteilung|SA rank]] and as a [[Ranks and insignia of the Schutzstaffel|rank of the SS]].

The rank of ''Sturmmann'' was bestowed upon those members of the SA and [[Schutzstaffel|SS]] who had served for six months in the organization and had demonstrated basic abilities and competence.{{sfn|Lumsden|2000|p=109}}

==Use==
[[File:Gerardus Mooijman (1943).jpg|thumb|150px|''SS-Sturmmann'' [[Gerardus Mooyman]]]]
{{WWII German enlisted ranks}}

''Sturmmann'' was senior to the rank of ''[[Mann (military rank)|Mann]]'' in the ''[[Allgemeine-SS]]'' (general-SS).{{sfn|McNab|2009|p=30}} In organizations which did not use the rank of ''Mann'' (such as the [[National Socialist Motor Corps]]), the rank of ''Sturmmann'' was the equivalent of a [[Private (rank)|private]] and wore a blank collar patch with no insignia.{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=148}} Within the [[Waffen-SS]], an SS-''Sturmmann'' was senior to an SS-''[[Oberschütze]]''.{{sfn|McNab|2009|p=30}}

The rank of ''Sturmmann'' was junior, in both the SS and SA, to the rank of ''[[Rottenführer]]''.{{sfn|McNab|2009b|p=15}}{{sfn|McNab|2009|p=30}} It was considered the equivalent to the rank of ''[[Gefreiter]]'' in the German Army and a lance-corporal in the British Army.{{sfn|Stein|1984|p=297}} The insignia for ''Sturmmann'' consisted of a bare collar patch with a single silver stripe.{{sfn|Flaherty|2004|p=148}} The [[field grey]] uniforms of the Waffen-SS also displayed the sleeve chevron of a ''Gefreiter''.

==Insignia== 
<gallery class="center">
SS Mannschaften.jpg| [[Shoulder strap]] in [[Feldgrau]]<br /><small>(all other enlisted ranks OR-1 to OR-3 of the Waffen-SS)</small>
SS-Sturmmann.svg| SS [[Gorget patches]]
WSS-Stuma OF2 slv 1945.svg| SS [[Sleeve|Sleeve badge]]
SA-Sturmmann.svg| SA gorget patch
NSKK-Sturmmann.svg| NSKK gorget patch
NSFK-Sturmmann.svg| NSFK gorget patch
</gallery>

== Post-war use ==
The term and rank has not been used in Germany since World War II.

== See also ==
* [[Table of ranks and insignia of the Waffen-SS]]

{| class="toccolours" border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0.5em auto; clear: both;"
|-
|width="30%" align="center"|Junior rank<br>'''[[Mann (military rank)|SS-Mann]]''' 
|width="40%" align="center"|'''[[Ranks and insignia of the Schutzstaffel|Rank Allgemeine SS]]'''<br>'''SS-Sturmmann'''
|width="30%" align="center"|Senior rank<br>'''SS-[[Rottenführer]]'''
|-
|width="30%" align="center"|Junior ranks<br>'''SS-[[Oberschütze]]'''
|width="40%" align="center"|'''[[Ranks and insignia of the Schutzstaffel|Rank Waffen-SS]]'''<br>'''SS-Sturmmann'''
|width="30%" align="center"|Senior rank<br>'''SS-[[Rottenführer]]'''
|-
|width="30%" align="center"|Junior rank<br>'''SA-Mann'''<br />
|width="40%" align="center"|'''[[Ranks and insignia of the Sturmabteilung|SA rank]]'''<br>'''SA-Sturmmann'''
|width="30%" align="center"|Senior rank<br>'''SA-[[Rottenführer]]'''<br />
|-
|width="30%" align="center"|Junior rank<br>'''''[[Oberschütze]]''''' also<br>''Oberkanonier<br />Obergrenadier (from 1942)<br />    Oberpionier<br />Oberfahrer<br />Oberfunker, etc.
|width="40%" align="center"|'''Rank Wehrmacht (Heer)'''<br>'''[[Gefreiter]]'''
|width="30%" align="center"|Senior rank<br>'''[[Obergefreiter]]'''{{sfn|McNab|2009|p=30}}
|}

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book | last = Flaherty | first = T. H. | title = The Third Reich: The SS | publisher = Time-Life Books, Inc | year = 2004 | orig-year = 1988 | isbn = 1-84447-073-3 }}
* {{cite book | last = Lumsden | first = Robin | title = A Collector's Guide To: The Waffen–SS | year = 2000 | publisher = Ian Allan Publishing, Inc | isbn = 0-7110-2285-2 }}
* {{cite book | last = McNab | first = Chris | title = The SS: 1923–1945 | publisher = Amber Books Ltd | year = 2009 | isbn = 978-1-906626-49-5 }}
* {{cite book | last = McNab | first = Chris | title = The Third Reich | publisher = Amber Books Ltd | year = 2009b | isbn = 978-1-906626-51-8 }}
* {{cite book | last = Stein | first = George | title = The Waffen-SS: Hitler's Elite Guard at War 1939–1945 | url = https://archive.org/details/waffensshitlers00stei | url-access = registration | publisher = Cornell University Press | year = 1984 | orig-year = 1966 | isbn = 0-8014-9275-0 }}
{{refend}}

{{Nazi Germany Paramilitary Ranks}}

[[Category:SS ranks]]