Leutnant (OF-1b) is the lowest Lieutenant officer rank in the armed forces of Germany (Bundeswehr), Austrian Armed Forces, and Military of Switzerland. ==History== The German noun (with the meaning `Stellvertreter” [en: deputy], from Middle High German «locum tenens» Platzhalter [en: place holder] was derived from the French word «Lieutenan..... Found on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leutnant