Flügeladjutant
Flügeladjutants were officers who were assigned to the staff of a king, duke, prince, or a senior commander to serve as an administrative or executive assistant.
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Definition
The German translation of Flügel is “wing.” The military entourage of a monarch also included the wing adjutants, most of whom had the rank of staff officer. Personal aides-de-camp or orderly officers (German: Ordonnanzoffiziere) were available to princes from ruling houses; they could hold the rank of general or staff officer. In the German Reich, adjutants were on horseback because of their function, later motorized.
History
The diensttuender (on duty or active serving) Flügeladjutant was a special assistant or personal aide to the German rulers at all levels (Kingdom, Grand Duchy, Duchy, Principality, etc.) and served at all ranks from general on-down as a kind of private secretary, a liaison officer between the outside world and the ruler. They often came from the German nobility.
In the German-speaking world, an aide-de-camp used to be referred to as a Flügeladjutant (wing adjutant). This was originally the general's adjutant, who was responsible for transmitting orders to the individual wings of the fighting army. Later it became the term for an aide-de-camp personally assigned to a prince for military and representative services, or an aide-de-camp to a high general.
Higher adjutants
Higher adjutants were called the adjutants at the higher command posts, that is, from brigades upwards. The area of responsibility of an adjutant in a brigade, division, army corps, army or army group was personnel work, i.e. replenishment, decorations, promotions and officer appointments. The area of responsibility corresponded roughly to that of a G1 (A1) officer in staff positions at NATO and the modern German Armed Forces. The external insignia of adjutants in the German army was an adjutant sash or adjutant lanyard worn over the right shoulder.
When the Flügeladjutant as Oberst (colonel) was promoted to Generalmajor, he retired from service as such and was often given command of a brigade. Some, although, were named "Generaladjutant".
Generaladjutant
Adjutant generals of Germany were initially the adjutants of a general, later only those of a reigning prince (in Prussia since 1758); in the latter case, as a rule, they themselves held the rank of general. Theodor Eschenburg was the last adjutant general of the abdicated German Emperor. In Britain and the United States, the Adjutant General is the senior staff officer in an army and is subordinate only to the Chief of Staff. He is responsible for organizational issues and the military training of officers and men.
Personal adjutants of Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler employed a personal staff, which represented different branches and offices throughout his political career. He maintained a group of aides-de-camp and adjutants. This list does not contain the many military adjutants of the Wehrmacht like Rudolf Schmundt (Army), Karl-Jesko von Puttkamer (Kriegsmarine), Nicolaus von Below (Luftwaffe) and others nor valets (Diener) like Hans-Hermann Junge from the "Personal Service to the Führer" (Persönlicher Dienst beim Führer):
- Albert Bormann (National Socialist Motor Corps; NSKK) 1931–45
- Alwin-Broder Albrecht (National Socialist Motor Corps) 1938–45
- Fritz Darges (Schutzstaffel) 1943–44
- Julius Schaub (NSDAP) 1925–45
- Max Wünsche (Schutzstaffel) 1938–41
- Otto Günsche (Schutzstaffel) 1940–41; 1943; 1944–45
- Richard Schulze-Kossens (Schutzstaffel) 1941-44
- Wilhelm Brückner (NSDAP) 1930–40
