Hauptmann

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Template:Lang (Template:IPA) is an officer rank in the armies of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. It is usually translated as captain.

Background

While Template:Lang in contemporary German means 'main', it also has, and originally had, the meaning of 'head', i.e. Template:Lang literally translates to 'head-man', which is also the etymological root of captain (from Latin Template:Lang, 'head').

This rank is equivalent to the rank of captain in the British and US Armies, and is rated OF-2 in NATO.

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Currently, there is no female form within the German military (such as Hauptfrau): the correct form of address is "Frau Hauptmann."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

More generally, a Hauptmann can be the head of any hierarchically structured group of people, often as a compound word. For example, a Template:Lang is the captain of a fire brigadeTemplate:Cn{{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B= Template:Fix }}, while Template:Lang refers to the leader of a gang of robbers.

Official Austrian and German titles incorporating the word include Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, and Template:Lang.

In Saxony during the Weimar Republic, the titles of Template:Lang, and Template:Lang were held by senior civil servants.

Template:Lang (from Early Modern High German Template:Lang) is cognate with the Swedish Template:Lang, which also has the root meaning 'head-man' or 'the man at the head', and is closely related to Template:Lang, meaning 'chieftain'. Since medieval times, both titles have been used for state administrators rather than military personnel. Template:Lang may also be the origin of the title hetman, used in Central and Eastern Europe.