Gefreiter (, abbr. Gefr.; plural Gefreite) is a military rank used in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria since the 16th century. It is typically the second rank or grade to which an enlisted soldier, airman, or sailor can be promoted.
The word has also been lent into the Russian language as () and is in use in several Russian and post-Soviet militaries.
History
thumb|right|Illustration - uniform tunic rank insignia description of the (), Light Infantry, Royal Prussian Army.
Historically, the military rank of (female and plural form: ) emerged in 16th-century Europe for the German foot soldiers. These soldiers were predominantly composed of German and Swiss mercenary pikemen and supporting infantry foot soldiers. Soldiers who proved especially reliable and experienced were appointed to (exempted/freed servants/soldiers,<!--Nouns are always capitalised in German. It's not necessary to do the same in translation--> a cognate to 'knight'). They were positioned in critical battlefield roles and, along with their extra rank privileges, they were generally exempted from sentry duties.
From the 18th century, were the frontline members of a military company, with every leading and commanding a section or squad of (ordinary-rank soldiers). The rank existed in the cavalry, infantry, pioneers, and artillery, where rank held a higher rank-class status. rank.
Austria
Gefreiter (abbr. Gfr) is a military rank of the Austrian Bundesheer. It is officially translated as lance corporal.
Austro-Hungarian Army
In the Austro-Hungarian Army (1867–1918), () corresponded to and . It was used by the as well as the , troops, cavalry, medical corps, and infantry.
Then rank insignia was a single white celluloid star on the stand-up collar of the so-called (tunic) on gorget patch (). The stand-up collar and background of the gorget patch displayed a particular egalisation colour.
{| class="toccolours" border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0.5em auto;"
|-
|style="text-align: center; background-colour:#cfcfcf;"|Junior rank<br />Soldat (Honvéd)
|width="40%" align="center" style="background:#bfbfbf;"|30px<br />Rank insignias of the Austro-Hungarian armed forces<br />Gefreiter<br /><small>Patrouilleführer</small><br /><small>Vormeister</small>
|width="30%" align="center" style="background:#afafaf;"|Senior rank<br />Korporal
|}
{| style="border:1px solid #8888aa; background-color:#f7f8ff; padding:5px; font-size:95%; margin: 0px 12px 12px 0px;"
|+ Rank insignia
|- bgcolor="#CCCCCC"
!Desigahntion !! colspan=10 | Austrian Imperial and Royal (k. u. k.) Army enlisted ranks
|- align="center"
!
! rowspan=3 | 100px
! rowspan=3 | 100px
! rowspan=3 | 100px
! rowspan=3 | 100px
! rowspan=3 | 100px
! rowspan=3 | 100px
! rowspan=3 | 100px
|- align="center"
! rowspan=1 | insignia
|- align="center"
!
|- align="center"
! style="background:#ff8800; color:black;"| description
| colspan=3 | <big>Patrouilleführer</big>
| colspan=3 | <big>Gefreiter</big>
| <big>Vormeister</big>
|- align="center"
|
|<small>k. u. k. Mountain<br />troops</small>
|<small>k. u. k.<br />Rifles</small>
|
| <small>Machine-gun<br />units</small>
| <small>Infantry<br />IR 7</small>
|
|- align="center"
! branch
| colspan=2 |Rifles
| colspan=1 |Cavalry
| colspan=2 |Infantry
| Military<br />engineering
| Artillery
|-
|}
Gefreiter in the context of infantry
<gallery widths="100px">
Gefreiter im k.u.k. InfRgt 7.png|
Gefreiter im k.u.k. InfRgt 25.png|
Gefreiter im k.u.k. InfRgt 33.png|
Gefreiter im k.u.k. InfRgt 37.png|
Gefreiter im k.u.k. InfRgt 41.png|
Gefreiter im k.u.k. InfRgt 50.png|
Gefreiter im k.u.k. InfRgt 62.png|
Gefreiter im k.u.k. InfRgt 69.png|
Gefreiter im k.u.k. InfRgt 77.png|
Gefreiter im k.u.k. InfRgt 87.png|
Gefreiter im k.u.k. InfRgt 92.png|
Gefreiter im k.u.k. InfRgt 99.png|
Gefreiter im k.u.k. InfRgt 101.png|
</gallery>
Germany
Bundeswehr
(abbr. Gefr. or G.) is the second enlisted rank grade within the modern-day Army (), Air Force (), and Navy () of the Bundeswehr. Following the NATO ranking system, equates to OR-2 on the NATO-standard rank scale, making the rank equivalent to either private, private first class, vice corporal, lance corporal, or corporal, depending on the chosen NATO-allied force used for the comparison.
Russia
Yefreytor () is a German loanword in Russian and denotes a similar rank in the Russian army.
In Russia, the rank of yefreytor was introduced by Peter I in 1716 to the infantry, cavalry, and engineer forces. The rank was not used after 1722. During the reign of Paul I, it was made an equivalent rank to private which, after the reign of Alexander I, was used only for the Imperial Guard. Yefreytor was re-introduced in the course of the military reforms of 1826.
In the armed forces of the Soviet Union (and later the Russian Federation), yefreytor is the highest rank of enlisted personnel. According to NATO-rank system, the rank might be comparable to OR-4 in Anglophone armed forces.
<div align=center>
{| class="wikipedia sortable" border="1"
|-
|+ Sequence of ranks
|-
|width="30%" align="center" style="background:#cfcfcf;" | junior rank:<br />Ryadovoy
|width="35%" align="center" style="background:#bfbfbf;"|<br />30px<br />Yefreytor
|width="30%" align="center" style="background:#afafaf;" | senior rank:<br />Junior sergeant<br />
|}</div>
Rank insignia
Imperial Russian Army
<gallery>
1908ur03-e02.png|
1911-ir001-p02-1.png|
1914 Gefreiter of Russian Life Guards Uhlan Regiment of Her Majesty p02 (re-enlistee 2nd category in Guard).png|
</gallery>
Red Army (RA) and Soviet Armed Forces (SA)
<gallery>
RA A R2PVT col 1943.PNG|
1943avia-p19-1.png|
Rank insignia of ефрейтор of the Soviet Army.svg|
Rank insignia of ефрейтор of the Soviet Air Force.svg|
</gallery>
Russian Armed Forces
<gallery>
RAF AF-ABTr R2Kursant 2010.png|
Rus efreitor.png|
Rus efreitor field.svg|
Russia-Army-OR-2-2010.svg|
Russia-Airforce-OR-2-2010.svg|
2efr.png|
</gallery>
Other uses of Yefreytor
<gallery class="center">
<!-- In alphabetic order of Country please -->
File:Armenia-Army-OR-2.svg|<br /><br />(Armenian Ground Forces)
File:Russia-Army-OR-2-1994-field.svg|<br /><br />(Belarusian Ground Forces)
File:Bulgaria-Army-OR-4.svg|<br /><br />(Bulgarian Land Forces)
File:02-RKGF-SPV.svg|<br /><br />(Kazakh Ground Forces)
File:02.Kyrgyzstan Army-PFC.svg|<br /><br />(Kyrgyz Army)
File:Tajikistan-Army-OR-4.png|<br /><br />(Tajik Ground Forces)
</gallery>
Switzerland
See also
- Military ranks of the German Empire
- World War II German Army ranks and insignia
- Rank insignia of the German armed forces
- Ranks and insignia of NATO armies enlisted
- History of Russian military ranks