Original German WWII Heer Panzer Tank Hauptmann's M36 High Quality Field Uniform Tunic with Deluxe Breast Eagle

Original Items: Only One Set Available. This is a very high quality early pattern German WWII Heer Army Panzer Tank Hauptmann Officer's M-36 Tunic with a gorgeous deluxe breast eagle. The tunic shows very light 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 no tag in the pocket. There is a shadow under the collar with stitch marks from a tag that was lost long ago. 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 MK / 19 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 collar is wrapped in flaschengrün (dark bottle-green) wool, and has the correct officer's litzen on each side of the collar opening, which are on the correct early war dark green backgrounds for the field uniform version. The piped central stripes are Rosa (Rose-pink), which was the Waffenfarbe (corps color) during WWII for the Panzers (Armored Troops) and Panzerjäger (Tank Destroyers). The two litzen themselves are woven from a fine silver flatware thread. The button attached style shoulderboards each have two rows of fine silver flatware "Russia Braid" double piping and have the correct Rose-pink base material on the bottom and the edges. Each features a gilt gothic “P” Panzer cypher between two gold "pips", which denote the rank of Hauptmann (Captain).

The attractive Army breast eagle is the correct early pattern officer's hand embroidered type with silver bullion accents on a dark green background, and is stitched to the outer layer of fabric only. There is very little wear of any kind, and this is one of the most beautiful breast eagles we have seen. 

The left breast pocket has loops for the attachment of an award, likely an Iron Cross First Class 1939.

Overall condition is outstanding, with a small amount of wear consistent with service. There is some staining along the left cuff and the bottom edge of the uniform, and loss of stitching to the collar on the interior from the tag being torn away. The litzen also show some wear, particularly to the dark-green backing which appears to have a bit of moth damage.

An outstanding German Panzer Officer’s tunic, ready to outfit with an award and display!

Approximate Measurements
Collar to shoulder: 10"
Shoulder to sleeve: 26”
Shoulder to shoulder: 14.5"
Chest width: 19”
Waist: 17"
Hip: 20.5"
Front length: 31"

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.