Original German WWII Heer Army 16th Infantry Regiment Hauptmann M36 Field Uniform Tunic

Original Items: Only One Set Available. This is a very nice early pattern German WWII Heer Army Infantry Hauptmann Officer's M-36 Tunic, which looks to have been worn by a member of Infanterie-Regiment 16 (16th Infantry Regiment). The tunic shows moderate wear from service and in very good display condition. We checked the interior, and there are no maker markings we can see, and there is not an internal pocket to check either. Almost certainly a bespoke example made at a local tailor for an officer.

The tunic is made from lovely "whipcord weave" wool gabardine, in the standard Heer feldgrau (field gray) color. It features four pockets with scalloped flaps and pebbled magnetic buttons, which look to be made from pebbled stamped steel with aluminum backings and eyelets. The front closure features five of the same buttons on the right breast flap meeting an equal number of reinforced buttonholes on the left flap. They were originally finished in green, but that has now worn away partially. All look to be marked with EXTRA FEIN on the rear, and the buttons are sewn directly to the fabric, which does make them a bit more prone to tearing off, however these all look to be original. There are also two hook and loop collar securing fasteners, which are fully functional.

The interior is lined with with a very nice light blue gray colored rayon cotton blend twill fabric, while the sleeves are lined with striped white cotton. We do not see any major repairs, but there is some staining and tearing to the lining, including where the lining meets the large eyelet that connects to the exterior under the left waist pocket for the dagger to hang through. We don't know if this means that the lining was replaced at some point during the WWII Period, or whether it was omitted and the hole made later. Definitely a very interesting tunic.

It is adorned with the usual rank and branch insignia used on German tunics. The attractive Army breast eagle is the correct early pattern officer's silver bullion hand embroidered type on a dark green background, and is stitched to the outer layer of fabric only. There is just a bit of fraying and oxidation on the eagle due to wear. The collar is wrapped in flaschengrün (dark bottle-green) wool, and has officer's field litzen collar patches on each side, which are woven from silver bullion thread with a dark bottle green background matching the collar. It is in good shape, tough there is wear and some holes around the top edge, which is usually one of the first places to show damage from use.

The colored stripes on the litzen are age toned and oxidized Weiß (white) finished brass bullion, the Waffenfarbe (Corps Color) during WWII for Infanterie (Infantry) and Motorisiert Infanterie (Motorized Infantry). The collar is in good shape, with wear around the top edge, which is usually one of the first places to show damage from use. The “sew-in” style company grade officers schulterklappen (shoulder boards) of this tunic are constructed with two rows of fine silver flatware "Russia Braid" double piping and have the correct white piping around the edges. There are two rank "pips" installed on both, indicating the rank of Hauptmann, equivalent to a U.S. Army Captain. They also both have golden metal 16 cyphers on them, most likely for the 16th Infantry Regiment.

The left chest pocket has some holes on and around it, in pairs of two, so we assume this is where awards were attached in the past, which were later removed. It looks like it at one point had 4 awards, with one almost certainly being an Iron Cross First Class 1939.

Overall condition is very good, showing wear and staining consistent with moderate service. There are some small tears and holes, particularly on the left sleeve cuff, but these do not look to be from mothing. The litzen and shoulder boards also show some wear, particularly to the "Russia braid", which has had the aluminized coating wear off in areas. The exterior shell definitely shows some fading towards tan from light exposure in areas.

A very nice German Infantry Officer's Tunic, ready to outfit with awards and display!

Approximate Measurements:-
Collar to shoulder: 10"
Shoulder to sleeve: 25”
Shoulder to shoulder: 16"
Chest width: 20”
Waist: 20"
Hip: 22"
Front length: 28.5"

Field Tunic (Feldbluse) Model 1936
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.

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.