The term Germany is used to cover "Greater Germany" or "Grossdeutschland":
- Germany in 1933
- Countries absorbed into Germany before 1939 and considered "German" such as Austria
- Territories absorbed into Germany before 1939 such as Sudetenland and Memel
- Territories absorbed into Germany after the start of War such as Danzig, Alsace-Lorraine, Wartheland etc.
- Territories occupied and administered by Germany such as Bohemia-Moravia, the General-Government, Slovenia and Serbia
Units listed under Germany also include volunteer units raised from other countries both occupied and allied.
Units of the Italian Social Republic which was created as a Puppet Regime in 1943 after the Italian Armistice are also listed under Germany; because the Kingdom of Italy became an Allied co-belligerent after the Armistice.
Units of the Axis-Allied countries such as Hungary, Romania, Croatia and Bulgaria will be listed separately under the appropriate country in due course.
This database will include ground units for the following services and Organisations :
- Heer (Army)
- Kriegsmarine (Navy)
- Luftwaffe (Air Force)
- Waffen-SS (Armed SS)
- Wehrmacht (Armed Services)
Please see state-specific
To prevent needless duplication, all Notes which are listed as Notes for the Heer apply to other Services as well unless the Note indicates otherwise.
It should be noted that for many German units, detailed information as to history and creation/destruction dates are lacking; in some cases this is the result of the destruction of archival materials and records during the War. However, a huge amount of information is available.
A table of German Unit terminology follows.
| German Title | Translation | Description |
| Oberbefehlshaber | Commander in Chief | An Army Group HQ in command of other Army Group HQs |
| Befehlshaber | Commander | An HQ for an area, city or country |
| Heersgruppe | Army Group | A permanent HQ which commanded 2 or more Army HQs |
| Armeegruppe | Army Group | Ad-hoc HQ where an Army HQ was in command of another Army HQ |
| Armee | Army | A permanent HQ which commanded 2 or more Corps HQs |
| Armeeabteilung | Army Detachment | Ad-hoc HQ where a Corps HQ was in command of other Corps HQs |
| Korps | Corps | A permanent HQ which commanded 2 or more Division HQs |
| Korpsabteilung | Corps Detachment | Ad-hoc HQ where several Division remnants were combined |
| Division | Division | A permanent HQ which commanded 2 or 3 Regiment HQs |
| Brigade | Brigade | An HQ mid-way in size between a Division and a Regiment |
| Regiment | Regiment | A permanent HQ which commanded 2-3 Battalion HQs |
| Bataillon | Battalion | A permanent HQ which commanded 2-3 Companies |
| Abteilung | Detachment | Equivalent to a Battalion; used to describe Panzer Battalions |
| Kampfgruppe | Battle Group | Ad-hoc HQ created to control elements of different arms in a battle |
| Gruppe | Group | Equivalent to a Kampfgruppe but often of a greater size |