Original German WWII General of the Branch M36 Uniform Tunic with WWI-WWII Medal Bar and Officer Belt

Original Items: Only One Set Available. This is a lovely early pattern German WWII Heer Army Generäle (Generals) M36 uniform tunic, outfitted for the rank of General der Truppengattung (General of the Branch), complete with a very nice officer's belt. It has a great medal bar attached above the pocket, as well as some separate awards, and makes a fantastic display piece. It is definitely "well rested", and shows no signs of modification, looking to have been on display for decades, long enough for the leather belt to slightly discolor the area it has lain on top of for years. Just a great honest tunic with no signs of being messed with, just like we love to see.

As one would expect for a Generals uniform, it is bespoke, and still has the original tailor label on the inside of the left breast lining pocket:-

G. SCHMID & SOHN
MÜNCHEN 2
MAILLINGERSTR. 53
TEL. 54153

We checked all over the uniform, and we were unfortunately not able to find any information on who owned the tunic. It is very possible that any identifying markings were removed when it was originally brought back to the U.S.. Normally an officer of this rank would be referred to as the General of a specific branch, but without knowing their name, we are not able to identify which branch of the Heer Army this tunic is for.

The tunic is really a great example of a private purchased Wehrmacht Heer Generäle Dienstbluse (General Officer Service Tunic). It is constructed from a fine quality field-gray "whipcord" wool woven exterior, with five button front closure and olive grey cotton-rayon blended faux silk interior lining. There is a left interior slash pocket, and also the large "eyelet" that is part of the left waist pocket, where a dagger hanger could be hung through. The sleeves with gray rayon, which does not have any stripes on it.

The collar is constructed of flaschengrün (dark bottle-green) wool, and is adorned by a set of General grade collar tabs, known as alt-Larisch or Arabesque style, which were used for all General ranks below Feldmarschall. These have the correct red backgrounds with gold bullion embroidery. There is also the original pins for a collar insert, meant to protect the delicate wool, however the insert is not present. The tunic conforms well to the M36 pattern having 4 pleated pockets on the front with scalloped flaps. All of the pebbled buttons are the correct gold color for a General officer, and look to be maker marked on the back.

Each shoulder is decorated with the sew-on style General der Truppengattung rank shoulder boards. They are both constructed out of a row of interwoven silver and gold bullion strands in the typical Russian braid style in an interlocking weave pattern ending at a pebbled gilt metal (magnetic) button. There are two rank pips installed, correct for the specialized General of the branch ranks, which are equivalent to a U.S. Army Lt. General.

On the right breast is a fine quality gold bullion eagle, constructed of rolled, twisted, and flat hand embroidered gilt stitching with yellow celleon retaining threads, placed onto a dark bottle green wool backing. It is neatly stitched to the outer layer of fabric, and is still mostly bright and shiny. There is also an Iron Cross 2nd Class Ribbon attached to the 2nd buttonhole from the top, complete with the 1939 Clasp, indicating they received it an additional time during WWII.

There is a lovely medal bar over the left breast pocket, and as best we can tell it has the following awards:

- Imperial German WWI Iron Cross 1914 2nd Class Medal
- Imperial German WWI Honor Cross of the World War 1914/1918 (Hindenburg Cross) Medal with Swords (for Combat)
- Imperial German WWI Saxon Long Service Medal for NCOs - 9 Years
- German WWII Faithful Service Decoration 2nd Class Cross for 25 Years of Service
- Imperial German Austro-Hungarian WWI Pro Deo et Patria Military Medal 1914-1918.

The colors on the ribbons are definitely quite faded, with the Saxon Long Service award looking almost yellow, however if you look at the pictures of the reverse, you can see that it is the correct green color. Below the medal bar are thread loops for additional awards, and attached are an Imperial German Prussian Iron cross First Class 1914, as well as an Imperial German Black Wound badge. The back of the Iron cross is marked with CD / 800, for maker Carl Dillenius of Pforzheim, who used .800 pure silver to make it. Both awards are in lovely condition.

The tunic comes with a lovely pre / early war 60mm officers brown leather open claw buckle belt, which is in excellent condition. It has a silvered zinc buckle, and the measurements from the claw to the adjustment holes are approximately 31 1/2 to 38 1/2 inches. There are no maker marks, but it is stamped with 115 on the pointed end, for 115cm (45.3in). We do not know if this is an error, or if the belt has shrunk that much, as the belt is definitely much closer to 95cm in length.

We have examined this uniform from top to bottom, and everything we can see on it is correct and well rested. Really a lovely looking tunic, showing just a bit of wear, with some great awards and a belt. Ready to add to your collection and display!

Approximate Measurements:-
Collar to shoulder: 9.5"
Shoulder to sleeve: 23”
Shoulder to shoulder: 18"
Chest width: 25”
Waist: 21"
Hip: 27"
Front length: 31"

More on German Uniform Tunics
Terms such as M40 and M43 were never designated by the Wehrmacht, but are names given to the different versions of the Model 1936 field tunic by modern collectors, to discern between variations, as the M36 was steadily simplified and tweaked due to production time problems and combat experience.

Field Tunic (Feldbluse) Model 1936
When the NSDAP came to power in early 1933 the Reichswehr, the armed forces of the Weimar Republic, were near the end of a two-year project to redesign the Army Feldbluse (field-blouse). Beginning in that year the new tunic was issued to the Reichsheer and then the rapidly growing Wehrmacht Heer, although minor design changes continued to be made until the appearance of the standardized Heeres Dienstanzug Modell 1936. The M36 tunic still retained the traditional Imperial and Reichswehr uniform color of grey-green "field gray" (feldgrau) wool, but incorporated four front patch pockets with scalloped flaps and pleats (on Reichswehr tunics the lower pockets were internal and angled). The front was closed with five buttons rather than the previous eight, and the collar and shoulder straps were of a dark bottle-green instead of the Reichswehr grey. Compared to the Weimar-era uniforms the skirt of the feldbluse was shorter and the tailoring was more form-fitting due to Germany's adoption of mechanized warfare: soldiers now spent much time in the confined space of a vehicle and a shorter jacket was less likely to pick up dirt from the seats. It also included an internal suspension system, whereby a soldier could hang an equipment belt on a series of hooks outside of the tunic. These hooks were connected to two straps inside the lining, which spread the weight of equipment without having to use external equipment suspenders. The M36 was produced and issued until the very end of the war, though successive patterns became predominant.