Original German WWII Named Heer Army Jäger Hauptmann Officer M36 Field Uniform Tunic by Carl Bull with Jäger Badge - Dated 1943

Original Items: Only One Set Available. This is a very nice early pattern German WWII Heer Army Jäger Light Infantry Hauptmann Officer's M-36 Tunic, which has a hand embroidered officers Jäger badge still mostly attached to the right sleeve. These units were legendary in German history for their abilities in forested areas as advance troops. The tunic shows moderate wear from service and in very good display condition. The interior still has a maker label under the left inner chest pocket, which reads:

Carl Bull
SEESTADT ROSTOCK

Additionally, there is a nametag inside the pocket, which indicates a date of Februar 43 and gives the name as Oberlt. Fust., which we assume is a shortened last name. It's very rare that we get tunics with the nametag still legible, making this a rare treat!

The tunic is made from lovely "doeskin" weave wool gabardine, in the standard Heer feldgrau (field gray) color. It features four pockets with scalloped flaps and pebbled buttons, which look to be made from pebbled stamped non-magnetic alloy bodies and eyelets. The front closure features six of the same buttons on the right breast flap meeting an equal number of reinforced buttonholes on the left flap. All look to be faintly marked 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. There are horizontal slash pockets on the inside of both the left and right chest, and there is also a non-adjustable inner belt to help with the fit. It has the correct large eyelet opening into the left waist pocket for attachment of an officers dagger. We do not see any major repairs, just the usual wear and staining from service.

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 dark bottle green backgrounds 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 made from hellgrün (light green) bullion type threading, the Corps Color (Waffenfarbe) for Gebirgsjäger (mountain troops), Skijäger (ski troops), and Jäger (light infantry troops). 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 light green backing, which shows around the edges. There are two rank "pips" installed on both, indicating the rank of Hauptmann, equivalent to a U.S. Army Captain. The left chest pocket has two thread loops for an award that is no longer present.

The officer's embroidered Jäger badge on the right sleeve shows age toning, and also unfortunately suffered moth damage to the top, which has caused the badge to partly detach from the fabric. Overall condition is very good, showing wear and staining consistent with moderate service. There are some small tears and holes, but nothing out of the ordinary for an 80 year old wool jacket.

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

Approximate Measurements:-
Collar to shoulder: 8"
Shoulder to sleeve: 24”
Shoulder to shoulder: 13"
Chest width: 16”
Waist: 15"
Hip: 21"
Front length: 29"

German Jäger Units -
Jäger (hunter) is a German military term referring to specific light infantry units. In German-speaking states during the early modern era, the term Jäger came to denote light infantrymen whose civilian occupations (mostly hunters and foresters) made them well-suited to patrolling and skirmishing, on an individual and independent basis, rather than as part of a large-scale military unit or traditional line infantry. As a consequence, Jäger was used to describe skirmishers, scouts, sharpshooters and runners.

The German Empire had various different Jäger units, which were disbanded at the conclusion of WWI. The Reichswehr of Weimar Germany did keep their traditions somewhat intact, and during the NSDAP led rearmament preceding WWII, various different Jäger units were reformed, the most famous of which were the Heer Gebirgsjäger Mountain Troopers and Luftwaffe Fallschirmjäger paratroopers. Later in the war, Skijäger Ski Troopers and Jäger Infantry units were raised, as well as some smaller units with more specific purposes, such as "Tank Hunters".

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.