Fähnrich (short: Fähnr / in lists: FR) was a military rank in the Army of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1956 to 1990. It was also the designation of the autonomous “Fähnrich rank group” between commissioned officer (CO) and non commissioned officer (NCO) ranks.
The position of that career group might be compared to the Warrant Officer (WO) rank group in English speaking armed forces.
With that concept the NPA administration followed the Soviet military doctrine, who introduced to the Soviet Army the praporshchik (ru: пра́порщик) rank in 1972, along with the michman (ru: ми́чман; "midshipman") rank in the Soviet Navy. Most other Warsaw Pact countries followed this approach. However, most countries used historical rank designations in order to pursue national military traditions.
Fähnrichs served for at least fifteen years.
NPA Fähnrich ranks
⇒ see main article Ranks of the National People's Army ⇒ see main article Corps colours (NPA)