# List of German colonel generals

The following is an incomplete list of German colonel generals.
Generals later promoted to general field marshal (GFM) are not included.

## German Empire
### German Army

See also: ⇒ de: List of the German Empire's colonel generals

#### Insignias

* Epaulette
| Promoted | Name | Born | Died | Notes |
| 1873 | Prince August of Württemberg | 1813 | 1885 | Commander-in-Chief in the so-called Marken and Governor of Berlin |
| 1888 | Frederick I, Grand Duke of Baden | 1826 | 1907 | with the rank of a GFM, Inspector of the Army |
| 1889 | Charles Alexander, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach | 1818 | 1901 | à la suite of the Royal Saxon Army |
| 1890 | Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg | 1815 | 1898 | with the rank of GFM à la suite of the army, Minister President of Prussia |
| 1905 | Bernhard III, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen | 1851 | 1928 | with the rank of a GFM, Inspector of the Army |
| 1905 | Frederick II, Grand Duke of Baden | 1857 | 1928 | with the rank of an Inspector of the Army |
| 1908 | Hans von Plessen | 1841 | 1929 | with the rank of a GFM, adjudant general of the Empire and commander of the HQ |
| 1909 | Prince Henry of Prussia | 1862 | 1929 | with the rank of a GFM, à la suite of the Prussian Army, also Großadmiral and Inspector-General of the Navy |
| 1910 | Prince Friedrich Leopold of Prussia | 1856 | 1931 | à la suite of the Prussian Army |
| 1911 | Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein | 1831 | 1917 | à la suite of the Prussian Army |
| 1911 | Gustav von Kessel | 1846 | 1918 | adjudant general of the Empire, Commander-in-Chief in the so-called Marken and Governor of Berlin |
| 1911 | Carl von Horn | 1847 | 1923 | War Minister of Bavaria |
| 1912 | Otto Kreß von Kressenstein | 1850 | 1929 | War Minister of Bavaria |
| 1913 | Duke Philipp of Württemberg | 1838 | 1917 | à la suite Army of Württemberg |
| 1913 | Maximilian von Prittwitz | 1848 | 1917 | Prussian army commander |
| 1914 | Moriz von Lyncker | 1853 | 1932 | Chief of the Military cabinet |
| 1914 | Friedrich von Scholl | 1846 | 1928 | adjudant general of the Empire |
| 1914 | Helmuth von Moltke the Younger | 1848 | 1916 | Chief of the German General Staff |
| 1914 | Josias von Heeringen | 1850 | 1926 | Prussian Minister of War and army commander |
| 1914 | Max Freiherr von Hausen | 1846 | 1922 | Minister-President of Saxony and German Army commander |
| 1914 | Alexander von Kluck | 1846 | 1934 | Prussian army commander |
| 1914 | Moritz von Bissing | 1844 | 1917 | Prussian General Governorate of Belgium |
| 1915 | Karl von Einem | 1853 | 1934 | Prussian army commander |
| 1915 | Otto von Marchtaler | 1854 | 1920 | War Minister of Württemberg |
| 1917 | Günther Graf von Kirchbach | 1850 | 1925 | Prussian army group commander |
| 1918 | Felix Graf von Bothmer | 1852 | 1937 | Bavarian army commander |
| 1918 | Karl Ludwig d'Elsa | 1849 | 1922 | Saxonian army commander |
| 1918 | Hans von Kirchbach | 1849 | 1928 | Saxonian army commander |

## Weimar Republic
### Reichswehr

* 1926 – Hans von Seeckt (1866–1936), Chief of the Oberste Heeresleitung.
* 1930 – Wilhelm Heye (1869–1946), Chief of the Oberste Heeresleitung.
* 1934 – Kurt Freiherr von Hammerstein-Equord (1878–1943), Chief of the Oberste Heeresleitung.

## Third Reich
### Heer

See also: ⇒ World War II German Army ranks and insignia

#### Insignia

| Epaulette | Collar tabs |
| Promoted | Name | Born | Died | Notes |
| 20 Apr 1936 | Werner von Fritsch | 1880 | 1939 | Commander-in-Chief of the Oberkommando des Heeres |
| 1 Nov 1938 | Ludwig Beck | 1880 | 1944 | Chief of the German General Staff |
| 1 Jan 1939 | Wilhelm Adam | 1877 | 1949 | Commander-in-Chief of the Heeresgruppe 2 in Kassel (1938) |
| 1 Oct 1939 | Johannes Blaskowitz | 1883 | 1948 | 8th Army (Wehrmacht) - 9th Army (Wehrmacht) - 1st Army (Wehrmacht) - Army Group G - Army Group H - 25th Army (Wehrmacht) |
| 19 July 1940 | Friedrich Dollmann | 1882 | 1944 | 7th Army (Wehrmacht) |
| 19 July 1940 | Nikolaus von Falkenhorst | 1885 | 1968 | Army HC Norwegen |
| 19 July 1940 | Friedrich Fromm | 1888 | 1945 | Replacement Army |
| 19 July 1940 | Heinz Guderian | 1888 | 1954 | Panzer Group Guderian - 2nd Panzer Army -Chief of the German General Staff |
| 19 July 1940 | Curt Haase | 1881 | 1943 | 15th Army (Wehrmacht) |
| 19 July 1940 | Franz Halder | 1884 | 1972 | Chief of the German General Staff |
| 19 July 1940 | Hermann Hoth | 1885 | 1971 | 17th Army (Wehrmacht) - 4th Panzer Army - Panzer Group Hoth |
| 19 July 1940 | Erich Hoepner | 1886 | 1944 | 4th Panzer Army |
| 19 July 1940 | Eugen Ritter von Schobert | 1883 | 1941 | 11th Army (Wehrmacht) |
| 19 July 1940 | Adolf Strauß | 1879 | 1973 | 9th Army (Wehrmacht) |
| 1 Jan 1942 | Georg-Hans Reinhardt | 1887 | 1963 | 3rd Panzer Army - Army Group Center |
| 1 Jan 1942 | Rudolf Schmidt | 1886 | 1957 | 2nd Panzer Army |
| 1 Apr 1942 | Richard Ruoff | 1883 | 1967 | 4th Panzer Army - 17th Army (Wehrmacht) - Panzer Group Ruoff - 17th Army (Wehrmacht) |
| 1 June 1942 | Eduard Dietl | 1890 | 1944 | Lapland Army - 20th Mountain Army |
| 5 July 1942 | Georg Lindemann | 1884 | 1963 | 18th Army (Wehrmacht) - Army Group North |
| 4 Dec 1942 | Hans-Jürgen von Arnim | 1889 | 1962 | 5th Panzer Army - Army Group Africa |
| 1 Jan 1943 | Gotthard Heinrici | 1886 | 1971 | 4th Army (Wehrmacht) - 1st Panzer Army - Army Group Vistula |
| 1 Jan 1943 | Hans von Salmuth | 1888 | 1962 | 2nd Army (Wehrmacht) - 15th Army (Wehrmacht) |
| 30 Jan 1943 | Walter Heitz | 1878 | 1944 | VIII Army Corps (Wehrmacht) |
| 6 July 1943 | Eberhard von Mackensen | 1889 | 1969 | 1st Panzer Army - 14th Army (Wehrmacht) |
| 1 Sep 1943 | Heinrich Gottfried von Vietinghoff-Scheel | 1887 | 1952 | 9th Army (Wehrmacht) - 15th Army (Wehrmacht) - 10th Army (Wehrmacht) - Army Group Kurland - Army Group C |
| 1 Sep 1943 | Karl-Adolf Hollidt | 1891 | 1985 | 6th Army (Wehrmacht) |
| 30 Jan 1944 | Alfred Jodl | 1890 | 1946 | Chief of the Operations Staff of the Armed Forces High Command (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, or OKW) |
| 30 Jan 1944 | Erwin Jaenecke | 1890 | 1960 | 17th Army (Wehrmacht) |
| 30 Jan 1944 | Walter Weiß | 1890 | 1967 | 2nd Army (Wehrmacht) - Army Group North |
| 30 Jan 1944 | Kurt Zeitzler | 1895 | 1963 | Chief of the German General Staff |
| 20 Apr 1944 | Josef Harpe | 1887 | 1968 | 9th Army (Wehrmacht) - 4th Panzer Army - Army Group North Ukraine - Army Group A - 5th Panzer Army |
| 1 Apr 1944 | Lothar Rendulic | 1887 | 1971 | 2nd Panzer Army - 20th Mountain Army |
| 1 Apr 1944 | Hans-Valentin Hube | 1890 | 1944 | 1st Panzer Army |
| 23 July 1944 | Johannes Frießner | 1892 | 1971 | Army Group Friessner - Army Group North - Army Group South Ukraine - Army Group South |
| 15 Aug 1944 | Erhard Raus | 1889 | 1956 | 4th Panzer Army - 1st Panzer Army - 3rd Panzer Army |
| 7 May 1945 | Carl Hilpert | 1888 | 1947 | 16th Army (Wehrmacht) - Army Group Kurland |

### Luftwaffe

⇒ See also: Military Ranks of the Luftwaffe (1935–1945)

#### Insignia

| Epaulette | Collar tabs | Sleeve badge |
| Promoted | Name | Born | Died | Notes |
| 1943 | Otto Deßloch | 1889 | 1977 | Commanding general Luftflotte 4 |
| 1940 | Ulrich Grauert | 1889 | 1941 | |
| 1942 | Hans Jeschonnek | 1899 | 1943 | |
| 1940 | Alfred Keller | 1882 | 1974 | |
| 1944 | Günther Korten | 1898 | 1944 | posthumous promotion |
| 1941 | Alexander Löhr | 1885 | 1947 | |
| 1943 | Bruno Loerzer | 1891 | 1960 | |
| 1942 | Günther Rüdel | 1883 | 1950 | |
| 1944 | Kurt Student | 1890 | 1978 | |
| 1940 | Hans-Jürgen Stumpff | 1889 | 1968 | |
| 1940 | Ernst Udet | 1896 | 1941 | |
| 1940 | Hubert Weise | 1884 | 1950 | |

### SS

SS Oberst-Gruppenführer and Generaloberst of the Waffen-SS:

#### Insignia

| Epaulette | Collar tabs | Sleeve badge |
* 1942 - Paul Hausser (1880–1972)
* 1944 - Sepp Dietrich (1892–1966)
SS Oberst-Gruppenführer and Generaloberst of the Police:

#### Insignia

| Epaulette | Collar tabs |
* 1942 - Kurt Daluege (1897-1946)

## German Democratic Republic (GDR)
### National People's Army

⇒ See also: Rank insignias

#### Insignias

| Epaulette | Collar tabs |
| Promoted | Name | Born | Died | Notes |
| 1966 | Kurt Wagner | 1903 | 1989 | Deputy Defence minister and Chief of Training |
| 1972 | Herbert Scheibe | 1914 | 1991 | Commanding General of the Kommando LSK/LV |
| 1976 | Horst Stechbarth | 1925 | 2016 | Commanding General of the Land Forces |
| 1977 | Werner Fleißner | 1922 | 1985 | Deputy Defence minister and Chief of the Technology and Armament Department |
| 1979 | Erich Peter | 1919 | 1987 | Deputy Defence minister and Commanding General of the Border Troops |
| 1979 | Fritz Streletz | 1926 | | Deputy Defence minister and Chief of Staff of the Defence Ministry |
| 1979 | Wolfgang Reinhold | 1923 | 2012 | Deputy Defence minister and Commanding General of the Kommando LSK/LV |
| 1986 | Joachim Goldbach | 1929 | 2008 | Deputy Defence minister and Chief of the Technology and Armament Department |
| 1987 | Horst Brünner | 1929 | 2008 | Deputy Defence minister and Chief of the Central Political Administration of the NVA |
| 1988 | Klaus-Dieter Baumgarten [de] | 1931 | 2008 | Deputy Defence minister and Commanding General of the Border Troops |
| 1989 | Fritz Peter [de] | 1927 | | Chief of the Civil defense of the GDR |

### Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (MfS)

* Bruno Beater (1914–1982)
* Werner Großmann (1929–2022)
* Rudi Mittig (1925–1994)
* Markus Wolf (1923–2006)

### German Volkspolizei (DVP)

* Karl Maron (1903–1975)
* Karl-Heinz Wagner (1928–2011)