Flakartillerie (anti-aircraft), General der Nachrichtentruppen (communications troops) and General der Luftnachrichtentruppen (air communications troops). A General of the branch was usually a corps commander. Generalleutnant The German Generalleutnant was usually a senior division commander. Generalmajor The German Generalmajor was usually a junior division commander The staff corps of the Wehrmacht, medical, veterinary, judicial and chaplain, used special designations for their general officers, with Generalarzt, Generalveterinär, Generalrichter and Feldbischof being the equivalent of Generalmajor; Generalstabsarzt, Generalstabsveterinär and Generalstabsrichter the equivalent of Generalleutnant; and (the unique) Generaloberstabsarzt, Generaloberstabsveterinär and Generaloberstabsrichter the equivalent of General. With the formation of the Luftwaffe, air force generals began to use the same general ranks as the German army. The shoulder insignia was identical to that used by the army, with the addition of special collar patches worn by Luftwaffe general officers. The supreme rank of Reichsmarschall (Reich Marshal) was created in 1940 for Hermann Göring. Waffen-SS In 1941, the Waffen-SS began using general ranks in addition to standard SS ranks. An Oberst-Gruppenführer of the Waffen-SS, for example, would be titled Oberst-Gruppenführer und Generaloberst der Waffen-SS. The Ordnungspolizei (Orpo) also used similar police ranks. The Waffen-SS had no field marshals, but the rank of Reichsführer-SS held by Heinrich Himmler was considered to be the equivalent of a field marshal (Generalfeldmarschall) during the war years. The senior colonel rank of SS-Oberführer has sometimes been considered to be a brigadier general equivalent; however, this is incorrect. The rank (in particular among the Waffen-SS) was not considered equivalent to a general officer, was not entitled to the grey lampasses and lapel facings of a general, and wore the shoulderboards of an army full-colonel or Oberst. Modern usage After World War II, the West German Bundeswehr and the East German Nationale Volksarmee adopted the rank systems of their respective military blocs. In the Bundeswehr, the rank of Brigadegeneral was inserted below the rank of Generalmajor. While the rank titles of Generalmajor, Generalleutnant and General were retained, each of those titles now denotes a higher rank than before (e.g. the Generalleutnant is now a three-star general). Prior to the reunification of Germany, general officer rank designations in the German Democratic Republic were based on the Soviet model. Generalmajor was still the lowest general officer grade, followed by Generalleutnant, Generaloberst (now three stars instead of four) and Armeegeneral. In 1982, the GDR government established the rank of Marschall der DDR, although no one