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The Heer as the German army and part of the Wehrmacht inherited its uniforms and rank structure from the Reichsheer of the Weimar Republic (1921–1935). There were few alterations and adjustments made as the army grew from a limited peacetime defense force of 100,000 men to a war-fighting force of several million men.
These ranks and insignia were specific to the Heer and in special cases to senior Wehrmacht officers in the independent services; the uniforms and rank systems of the other branches of the Wehrmacht, the Luftwaffe (Air Force) and Kriegsmarine (Navy), were different, as were those of the SS which was a Party organization outside the Wehrmacht. The Nazi Party also had its own series of paramilitary uniforms and insignia.
Insignia
National Emblem: Hoheitszeichen or Wehrmachtsadler
The Reichswehr's visual acknowledgement of the new National Socialist reality came on 17 February 1934, when the Commander-in-Chief, Werner von Blomberg, ordered the Nazi Party eagle-and-swastika, then Germany's National Emblem, to be worn on uniform blouses and headgear effective 1 May.[1] The design adopted, in silver for the Reichsheer (army) and in gold for the Reichsmarine (navy), was a stylized eagle with outstretched, beveled wings clutching a wreathed mobile swastika, later to be called the Wehrmachtsadler ("armed forces eagle").[a]
Breast eagle
On tunics this took the form of a cloth patch about 9 cm (3.5 in) wide worn on the right breast, above the pocket. For enlisted uniforms it was jacquard-woven ("BeVo") or sometimes machine-embroidered in silver-grey rayon, for officers machine- or hand-embroidered in white silk or bright aluminum wire, and for generals hand-embroidered in gold bullion.[b] The backing was "badge-cloth" (Abzeichentuch), a close-woven velvetish fabric; this was originally Reichsheer grey, but in late 1935 the renamed Wehrmacht Heer changed its Abzeichentuch color to a dark blue-green called flaschengrün (bottle-green).
The war brought several variations to the breast eagle, although it should be kept in mind that none of them was replaced or de-authorized, and all were being worn side by side at war's end. When hostilities began in 1939, on the enlisted Feldbluse or field blouse the eagle was changed from silver-white to matte grey for reduced visibility; and in 1940 backings began to be produced in field-grey (feldgrau). Another version appeared with the advent of the Model 1944 Field Blouse, which used a triangular backing for speed and simplicity of manufacture. Very late in the war some Hoheitszeichen were simply printed on thin fabric.
There were also versions for other uniforms: both white and grey variants on black for the Panzer uniform, and in dull grey-blue on tan backing for the tropical (Afrikakorps) uniform. A stamped metal pin-on breast eagle was worn with the officers' white summer tunic.
Headgear
Caps and helmets bore two common insignia elements, in various forms: the National Emblem and the national colors. World War I caps had carried dual cockades or roundels, one in Imperial black-white-red and one in the colors of the particular State within the Empire. The Reichswehr changed this to a single cockade in the Weimar Republic's black, red and gold; almost as soon as Hitler took power he restored the pre-1919 tricolor flag, and ordered the Army to return to black-white-red.
Belt buckles (Koppelschlösser)
Belt buckles for enlisted men were of box type, made of aluminum or stamped steel and bearing a circular device with a version of the Hoheitszeichen called the Army eagle or Heeresadler (an eagle with downswept wings clutching an unwreathed swastika) surmounted by the motto Gott mit uns ("God with us"). For field wear these were usually painted field-grey to reduce visibility and had a smooth finish; on the other hand, dress buckles were silver-washed with a pebbled surface surrounding the Hoheitszeichen.
Officers' field and service buckles were of a two-pronged frame type. With dress uniform officers wore a belt of silver braid with a circular silver-washed or -plated aluminum buckle, in the form of an oakleaf wreath surrounding a Heeresadler. Generals' were the same but gilt or gold-plated.
With the tropical uniform and its belt of cotton webbing, officers wore a buckle identical to the dress buckle but painted olive-drab.
Collar patch (Kragenpatte, Kragenspiegel)
In 19th century German armies, Guard and other elite regiments wore lengths of double braid (Doppellitze) encircling all or most of the collar as a mark of distinction. By the middle of World War I these ornate collars had been reduced to an embroidered representation of short lengths of braid joined at the ends, sewn to patches worn at the front of the collar. When the Reichsheer was established in 1921 as Germany's first national army[c] Litzen were prescribed as the universal collar device for all personnel other than generals, and the Third Reich continued the practice.
For clarification, however, a distinction must be made between a "collar patch" (German: Kragenpatte or Kragenspiegel), and NCO braid (Unteroffizierslitze or Kragenlitze – the badge of rank of all German NCO ranks), encircling the collar of the uniform tunic. An NCO wore both collar patches and the braid encircling the collar. Commissioned officers wore collar patches only.
Design and versions
On both collar points of any uniform jacket there was a collar patch. Each patch consisted of the padding, and two parallel facings (German: Patten), the so-called Litzenspiegel, symbolising the double braid of the 19th century.
The padding of full-dress collar patches showed the wearer's Waffenfarbe (corps color). The dress tunic version was embroidered in fine aluminum thread on a patch of badge cloth (German: Abzeichentuch). The backing also showed through in the space between the two parallel facings of the collar patch, and formed so a colour center stripe.
On field – and service uniforms, beginning in late 1935, the collar patch was dark bottle-green to match the collar; the Waffenfarbe "showed through" (in fact colored cord was sewn into) the center strip of each braid, the Litzenspiegel.
For enlisted men, service collar patches were machine-woven in silver-grey rayon; COs' were embroidered more elaborately in white silk or aluminium thread, and were somewhat larger to match their higher collars.
NCOs (German: Unteroffiziere) wore standard enlisted collar patches but were distinguished by a strip of 9mm silver-grey diamond-woven rayon braid (Unteroffoziers-Tressen, NCO-Tressen), sewn around the collar, except on the dress, where the NCO-Tresse was bright aluminum. However, the aluminum-embroidered NCO-Tressen on dress uniforms (German: Ausgangsuniform, Paradeuniform) encircled the collar's upper edge, the simpler NCO-Tressen on service – or field uniform encircled the collar's lower edge.
Universal design from 1938
By 1938 the fast-growing Heer had found that it was impractical, for the enlisted field uniform, to manufacture and stock a multitude of collar patches in assorted Waffenfarben which also had to be sewn on and frequently changed by unit tailors. Accordingly, new universal collar patches were introduced with the Litzenspiegel and Mittelstreifen[further explanation needed] woven in dark green to match the backing patch, and which could be applied at the factory; Waffenfarbe was now displayed on the shoulder-straps, which simply buttoned on and were easily switched.
With the wartime change to lower-visibility insignia enlisted collar patches were woven in matte "mouse-grey" stripes, which were at first sewn to green collar patches as before but increasingly directly to the collar, which beginning in 1940 was made in feldgrau like the uniform; grey collar patches were never produced. The troops however preferred the green patches (and collars) if they had or could get them, especially on "clean" uniforms for walking-out; and long-service veterans took particular pride in pre-38 versions.
In contrast, officers' service uniform collar patches never changed. While most officers in the front lines wore the enlisted field uniform as per wartime regulations, many opted to have their green-and-silver collar patches added instead of (or on top of) the factory versions.
On olive tropical uniforms the collar patches were tan with dull grey-blue Litzenspiegel for all personnel; officers again sometimes added their green collar patches. Tropical NCO collar Tressen were copper-brown, or sometimes olive drab.
Armored vehicle uniforms
A major exception to the wearing of Litzen was the "panzer wrap" (German: Panzerjacke), the double-breasted jacket worn by crews of tanks and other armored vehicles. When the Panzertruppe were established in 1935 they were issued a distinctive black uniform and as a badge the Totenkopf or Death's-head, versions of which had formerly been worn by the Imperial tank corps and various cavalry units. These skulls took the form of white-metal pins attached to black Kragenpatten which were edged in Waffenfarbe piping.
In mid-1940 crews of assault guns (Sturmgeschütze) received a uniform of their own, identical in cut to the Panzerjacke but in standard field-grey, which they wore with red artillery piping. Over the course of the war a bewildering and changing series of regulations governed the uniforms and insignia for assault guns, tank destroyers, armored cars and self-propelled guns (SPG). Depending on the unit and the date either the black or grey wrap or the standard Feldbluse might be authorized, and on the grey "assault gun" jacket the regulation collar patches could be black with skulls, or grey with skulls, Litzen, or no device at all. The result in practice was chaos; wartime photos show a mix of uniforms and insignia worn not only in the same battalion, but even in the same vehicle.
Officially both colours of panzer wrap were working and field uniforms to be worn only in or around the vehicle; this regulation was universally ignored. Panzertruppen were issued standard uniforms for service-dress and walking out but rarely wore them, much preferring their unique jackets.
In North Africa, AFV crews wore the same tropical uniform as the other branches, including collar patches; many tankers however pinned their Totenkopf badges to their lapels.
Infanterie Regiment "Großdeutschland"
In June 1939, the Wehrmacht Heer wanted to renew its ties with the Old Army tradition by introducing a new uniform for its most prestigious unit: Wachregiment "Berlin" which was renamed Infantry Regiment "Großdeutschland". The new dress uniform for I.R. "Großdeutschland" had an elongated collar patch with single Litzenspiegel for NCOs and two for enlisted. Although shown to the press, this new uniform was not provided to the unit due to the outbreak of World War II and was placed in depot storage.
General Staff Corps Officers
Generalstaboffiziere were officers carefully selected and trained to represent the German General Staff Corps in both command and staff functions. They ranked from Hauptmann im Generalstab (captain) through Oberst i.G. (colonel). All were, before 1939, graduates of the Military Academy, the Kriegsakademie. On division staffs they held the position of Ia (operational chief of staff) or Ib (chief of the rear echelon). In the higher echelons, the intelligence and training staff sections were most of the time in the personal charge of General Staff Corps officers. The General Staff Officers had their own distinctive Litzen called alt-Preußische (old Prussian), or Kolbenstickerei ("lobe-embroidery"). These were the same whether on carmine dress Kragenpatten or green service patches; colored Litzenspiegel were unnecessary. General Staff officers assigned to the supreme headquarters (the Reichskriegsministerium, later the OKH and the OKW), the Kriegsakademie, and military attaches were further distinguished by having their Litzen in gold rather than silver. These Generalstaboffiziere were called "des Generalstabs", Oberst d.G., etc. The special golden Litzen were abolished in November 1942. Only Military attaches kept their Litzen as long as they were in their present position. The Führer wanted a closer union between the front and the OKW and OKH.
In addition to their collar patches, General Staff Officers wore trouser-stripes, of the same design as generals' but in carmine rather than scarlet.
Generals
From 1900 and on Prussian generals had worn ornate collar patches embroidered in a style called alt-Larisch, which had first been worn in the 18th century by the 26th (älterer von Larisch) Infantry Regiment; the Reichsheer and the Wehrmacht continued the tradition. These devices, sometimes called Arabesken (arabesques), were embroidered in gold bullion or golden synthetic Celleon on Hochrot (scarlet) backing.
Field Marshals wore the same Arabesken as generals until April 1941, when they were authorized a longer variant with three rather than two iterations of the repeating pattern, for a total of six "prongs".[2] In some cases GFM did not bother to replace their generals' tabs, or did so only on their dress uniforms.
General officers of the Special Troop Service (Truppensonderdienst – TDS) and of the specialist careers (medical, veterinary, ordnance, and motor park) wore the same insignia until April 1944, when they were ordered to exchange their scarlet Kragenpatten for alt-Larisch tabs backed in their respective Waffenfarbe:
- bright blue – TDS administrative;
- cornflower blue – medical;
- orange – ordnance;[d]
- pink – motor park;
- carmine – veterinary;
- wine red – TDS judiciary.
In October 1944, the wear-out period of the scarlet backing color for Generals of the specialist careers was extended for an undetermined period.
These arabesque collar patches are still worn today by general officers of the present-day Bundeswehr.[3]
Chief
In the Wehrmacht Heer, upon retirement, certain senior German generals were awarded the honorary post of Chef (Chief) of a regiment, much like the Honorary Colonel in the British Army. It was a German custom dating from the late 18th century. These generals were authorized to wear the tunic and insignia of an officer of the regiment, including ordinary officers' Litzen. Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, Chef of the 18th Infantry Regiment, wore a big 18 on his shoulder boards, and for everyday wear favored the ornamented tunic of an infantry officer with white piping rather than a general's uniform.
Hitler appointed first Generaloberst Hans von Seeckt, the old Chef der Heeresleitung, to be Chef of the 67th Infantry Regiment on his 70th birthday in April 1936, a few months before he died. Only seven German generals were appointed Chefs: in addition to Seeckt and Rundstedt they were General der Infanterie Ritter von Epp (Chef of the 61st Infantry Regiment in Munich); Generalfeldmarschall von Mackensen (Chef of the 5th Cavalry Regiment in Stolp); Generaloberst von Fritsch (Chef of the 12th Artillery Regiment in Schwerin); and Generalfeldmarschall von Böhm-Ermolli (Chef of the 28th Infantry Regiment in Troppau). Generalfeldmarschall von Blomberg was appointed Chef of the 73rd Infantry Regiment and wore a big 73 superimposed over the crossed batons of his shoulder board, but on 4 February 1938 he was dismissed and his name was deleted from the seniority list.[4]
Shoulder-straps (Schulterklappen) and shoulder boards (Schulterstücke)
Enlisted men
The Reichsheer's shoulder-straps to enlisted men (German: Mannschaften) were very similar to those of World War I, made of feldgrau uniform cloth with pointed or "gable" button ends. In December 1934 the material was changed to grey badge-cloth (Abzeichentuch) and in September 1935 changed again to dark bottle-green (flaschengrün). These "first pattern" shoulder-straps were not edged in Waffenfarbe piping.
In 1938, simultaneous with the removal of Waffenfarbe from field-uniform collar patches, new shoulder-straps were issued. These "second pattern" straps had round rather than pointed ends, and were edged on three sides with wool (later rayon) piping in Waffenfarbe. This pattern would be used through the end of the war, although in 1940 manufacture reverted to field-grey uniform cloth, and as usual alternate versions were made to go with the Panzer uniform (black), tropical uniform (olive cotton) and HBT summer uniform (reed-green twill). Schulterklappen were not worn with the fatigue uniform, nor with camouflage smocks and parkas which used an alternate system of rank insignia.
For junior enlisted men (Mannschaften), rank insignia if any was worn on the left sleeve. However the epaulettes did indicate the wearer's unit (usually regiment or independent battalion) together with his sub-branch if any, machine-embroidered in branch-color. For example, a Schulterklappe with rose-pink piping and number "4" would indicate the 4th Panzer Regiment; but if it carried a pink number "4" and letter "A" it would indicate the 4th Armored Reconnaissance (Aufklärungs) Battalion. The German Army used a very large assortment of Latin initials, Gothic initials, script ciphers, Arabic numerals, Roman numerals and symbols to designate all its various service branches and installations. Before the war, shoulder-buttons were embossed with the number of the wearer's company as well, this practice was discontinued "for the duration."
Beginning in January 1940, shoulder-straps with unit insignia were (supposed to be) phased out as a security measure, and removable fabric loops with devices were issued instead. In May 1944 the embroidery was changed from waffenfarbe to light gray.
NCOs
Non-commissioned officers (German: Unteroffiziere) wore their rank insignia on their shoulder-straps, consisting of braid and white-metal rank stars. An Unteroffizier's epaulette was edged with Tresse on three sides and an Unterfeldwebel's on all four. Senior NCO's (Unteroffiziere mit Portepee) added one to three stars; in addition, their unit identifiers took the form of white-metal insignia rather than embroidery.
Shoulder-straps were made in both a standard width (4.5 cm, 1.8 in) and a wider one for three-digit unit numbers (5.3 cm, 2.1 in), and in three lengths depending on the size of the man. There was in addition an extra-large size for the overcoat (Mantel).
Officers
Officers' shoulder boards were constructed from "Russia" braid, an aluminum-thread double piping. Company-grade officers (Leutnant through Hauptmann/Rittmeister) wore epaulettes constructed by wrapping two side-by-side lengths of braid around the buttonhole and back, giving the appearance of eight parallel cords; the whole was sewn to an underlay (Unterlagen) of Waffenfarbe badge-cloth. Until 1938 the underlay was of the same outer dimensions as the braid, and only visible edge-on; in that year the underlay was made wider, so as to create the impression of edge piping like the enlisted shoulder-strap. Rank was indicated by zero to two gilt-metal rank stars; unit designators were also of gilt metal.
Field-grade officer (Stabsoffizier) shoulder boards were made by plaiting together double widths of Russia braid and looping them to form a buttonhole, sewn to a Waffenfarbe underlay; rank again was displayed by zero to two gilt stars.
Once the war began, dull grey aluminum braid appeared, but bright aluminum continued in use.
Generals
- 1 Generalfeldmarschall (Shoulder strap from April 1941)
- 2 Generalfeldmarschall (Shoulder strap prior to April 1941)
- 3 Generaloberst
- 4 General of the branch
- 5 Generalleutnant
- 6 Generalmajor
Generals' shoulder boards were constructed similarly to those of field-grade officers, but comprised a length of silver Russia braid between two braided cords of gold bullion or Celleon. Since the resulting combination was wider, generals' boards were plaited in four 'loops' rather than five. Their buttons were gilt, and rank was indicated by zero to three silver rank stars, or crossed batons in the case of field marshals. The underlay was scarlet, except (from 1944) for generals of staff corps, who were instructed to wear Waffenfarbe instead.
In April 1941, Generalfeldmarschall epaulettes were changed to incorporate a central gold cord instead of silver.[5]
Colonels-in-chief wearing that uniform wore gold generals' shoulder boards underlaid with the Waffenfarbe of the regiment rather than scarlet; GFM von Rundstedt sometimes simply pinned his crossed batons to an infantry colonel's epaulettes.
Retired personnel
By order of Marshal Hindenburg in March 1932, soldiers who retired after 15 years of service received the right to wear the uniform of the unit they left. The shoulder boards and shoulder straps of retired soldiers had a bridle 1.5 cm wide attached under the middle.
Other insignia
Denim insignia
During the winter of 1938, certain rank were issued insignia to the wear with the denim uniform (German: Drillichrock).[6]
| Drillichrock | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Oberschütze | Gefreiter | Unteroffizier | Feldwebel | Oberfeldwebel | Stabsfeldwebel | Hauptfeldwebel |
Smock/parka rank insignia
When wearing uniforms without epaulettes, such as smocks, parkas and mountain windbreakers; generals, officers and NCOs instead wore sleeve rank insignia. These were made up of bars & oak leaves and were introduced by the late summer of 1942.[7][6] The ranks were used by the army and the Waffen-SS.[6] By 1943, the ranks were also introduced to the Wehrmachtbeamte and the Sonderführer.[7]
Tassels
First introduced in the Prussian army in 1808, the coloured sidearm tassels were used as a decorative piece of equipment and to differentiate between companies within a regiment. Ranks below Fänrich were issued either the Troddel or Faustriemen depending on their unit.[8] The Troddel was used by infantry, artillery, pioneer, signal, anti-tank and supply troops. While the Faustriemen was worn by cavalry and rifle troops. Additionally, some units would wear honorary tassels of Russian red leather, to indicate their relation to the 1st Regiment of (Prussian) Grenadier Guards.[8] Unteroffiziere mit Portepee would wear tassels independently of their company relations.[8]
The tassels are shown below, where Arabic numerals refer to the company/battery/squadron:[9]
| Troddel | |||||||||||||||||
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| Infantry | Staff | I | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | II | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | III | 9 | 10 | 11 | ||
| Artillery | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | ||||||||
| Horse artillery & Artillery instruction |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |||||||||||
| Rifle | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |||||||
| Troddel | |||||||||||||||||
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| Infantry | 12 | IV | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | V | 18 | 19 | 20 | E | 9t | 10t | 11t | 12t | NCO |
| Faustriemen | |||||||||||||||||
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| Cavalry & Rifle |
Staff | I | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | II | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | III | 11 | ||
| Horse artillery, Motorised & Armoured |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | ||||||||
| Roman numerals: Battalion staff t: Honorary knots (Erinnerungstroddeln) E: Supplementary company | |||||||||||||||||
Ranks and rank insignia
Rank tablesedit
Enlisted personnel (Mannschaften)edit
