German Field marshals

A work in progress detailing the German field marshals and their decorations, etc.


 
Newly promoted Generalfeldmarshalls 1940

• 20 April 1936 – Werner von Blomberg (1878–1946)

• 4 February 1938 – Hermann Göring (1893–1946) Göring was later promoted to the even-higher rank of Reichsmarshal and was the only German to have held this rank. He was further the only field marshal to have 2 batons, one for Field Marshal (blue) and the other for Reichsmarshal (Ivory).

• 19 July 1940 – Fedor von Bock (1880–1945)

Snyder's treasures compares the original FM baton to a replica.

• 19 July 1940 – Walther von Brauchitsch (1881–1948)

• 19 July 1940 – Albert Kesselring (1885–1960)

• 19 July 1940 – Wilhelm Keitel (1882–1946)

• 19 July 1940 – Günther von Kluge (1882–1944)

• 19 July 1940 – Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb (1876–1956)

• 19 July 1940 – Wilhelm List (1880–1971)

• 19 July 1940 – Erhard Milch (1892–1972)

• 19 July 1940 – Walther von Reichenau (1884–1942)

• 19 July 1940 – Gerd von Rundstedt (1875–1953)

• 19 July 1940 – Hugo Sperrle (1885–1953)

• 19 July 1940 – Erwin von Witzleben (1881–1944)

• 31 October 1940 – Eduard Freiherr von Böhm-Ermolli (1856–1941)

This warrior from WWI was given an honorary field marshal promotion when he became a German citizen.

In the picture above, he is wearing his Oak Leaves and Swords to the Pour le Merite at the neck. This is one of the few pictures I have found of this man in WWII uniform.

• 22 June 1942 – Erwin Rommel (1891–1944)

Military awards and decorations according to Wikipedia include:

Military Merit Order (Wurttemberg)

Iron Cross:

     2nd class 24 Sept. 1914

     1st class 29 Jan. 1915

Pour le Merite 18 Dec 1917

----end WWI----

Clasp to the Iron Cross

     2nd class 13 May 1940

     1st class 15 May 1940

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 27 May 1940

     Oak Leaves 20 March 1941 (10th Recipient)

     Swords  20 Jan 1942   (6th Recipient)

     Diamonds  11 March 1943  (6th Recipient)

Italian Gold Medal of Military Valour Feb. 1942

Knight of the Colonial Order of the Star of Italy Feb 1942

This Getty images photo shows Rommel with his ceremonial field marshal's baton. At his neck he is wearing his Knight's Cross to the Iron Cross with Oak leaves, Swords and Diamonds over his Pour le Merite. On his left breast pocket is the 1939 clasp to the Iron Cross First Class.

• 30 June 1942 – Georg von Küchler (1881–1968)

• 1 July 1942 – Erich von Manstein (1887–1973)

• 31 January 1943 – Friedrich Paulus (1890–1957)

• 1 February 1943 – Ernst Busch (1885–1945)

• 1 February 1943 – Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist (1881–1954)

• 1 February 1943 – Maximilian Reichsfreiherr von Weichs (1881–1954)

• 16 February 1943 – Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen (1895–1945)

• 1 March 1944 – Walter Model (1891–1945)

• 5 April 1945 – Ferdinand Schörner (1892–1973)

• 25 April 1945 – Robert Ritter von Greim (1892–1945)

The field marshals of Nazi Germany were the leaders of the Wermacht or war machine. Not all were members of the SS. Not all were convicted of atrocities; some longed for the grand days of the German military.

An excellent resource of photos of Goering, Donitz and von Kluge's batons. Some online dealers have replicas for sale. Very few of the authentic batons are sold (and in my humble opinion and the words of Indiana Jones, "It[they] belong[s] in a museum!")

An excellent article describing field marshal's batons with video of the awarding ceremony of 1940.

The definitive book on German field marshal's batons, Mythos Marschallstab,  seems to be out of print, but there is a description here.

An page in Afrikkans dedicated to the Pour le Merite (great pics!).

All photos from Wikipedia unless otherwise noted.

Selected Bibliography
Mitcham, S. (1989). Hitler's Field Marshals and their Battles