BACKGROUND: The uniform group consists of an Officer’s ornamented service tunic, an Officer’s brocade belt and belt buckle and straight legged long pants with adornment stripes for a General Staff Oberstleutnant. The origins of the Deutsche Generalstab, (German General Staff), can be traced back to about 1640 with the formation of the Prusso-Brandenburgian army Generalstabsdienst, (General Staff Service), with the first documentation being recorded in 1657. The Prusso-Brandenburgian army Generalstabsdienst underwent a few designation alterations and reorganizations until it was officially established by law in 1814. The General Staff was tasked with the responsibility of planning and conduct of all military operations, tactical and strategic military analysis and training and plans for all possible contingencies. After Germany’s defeat in WWI the Treaty of Versailles banned the German General Staff which forced the German’s to create a subterfuge General Staff designated the Truppenamt, (Troops Office), which was basically disguised as a human resources department within the army. Between WWI and WWII the Truppenamt concentrated on rebuilding the German army as best as possible under the restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. After Hitler took power in January 1933 the Truppenamt was pleased with his ideas to expand and modernize the German army but they were also apprehensive about the potential repercussions that the Allied forces may enact as a result. In a thorough review of the existing German army the Truppenamt advised Hitler that the realistic expansion and modernization of the army couldn’t be successfully concluded until 1944 or 1945. Although the Truppenamt’s realistic appraisal of the German military position at the time, was no doubt correct, it didn’t coincide with Hitler’s ambitious plans of regained glory, revenge and expansion and was discounted by him as being a negative, defeatist viewpoint. In early 1935 the Truppenamt was reconstituted as the Generalstab and Hitler also established the OKW, Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, (High Command of the Armed Forces), and the OKH, Oberkommando des Heeres, (High Command of the Army), as the new military command structure. Although the OKW, with the subordinate OKH were theoretically to act as a coordinating joint Headquarters for all the armed forces, the OKW increasingly usurped the Generalstab’s mandate as the chief military planning staff for the conduct of all military operations, tactical and strategic military analysis and training. Although the Generalstab was responsible for the planning, conduct and administration of the early WWII German victories, Hitler himself took most of the credit and by 1941 the Generalstab influence has deteriorated to the point of relative ineffectiveness. Although the Generalstab was still functioning any disagreement or criticism of Hitler’s conduct of the war was not tolerated and punishments were of the most severe nature. Shortly after the failed assassination attempt on Hitler at his Rastenburg Headquarters in East Prussian by Generalstab Oberst i.G. Claus von Stauffenberg, on July 20^TH 1944, along with numerous other co-conspirators, the Generalstab was effectively dissolved and ceased to exist. The ornamented service tunic was introduced for wear by all Officers ranks on July 12^TH 1937 as an optional alternative to the M35 waffenrock, (Dress Tunic), for semi-dress wear although the waffenrock was still required for formal and parade dress to maintain uniformity. The cut of the ornamented service tunic was identical to the standard Officer’s service tunic with the addition of branch of service, (Waffenfarben), piping to the top of the French cuffs, the front closure panels and around the forward edge of the collar. The German army originally adopted a slightly modified version of the NSDAP’s, Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, (National Socialist German Worker’s Party), national eagle by order on February 17^TH 1934, with instructions to have it applied to all steel helmets, visor caps, and tunics by May 1^ST 1934. Generally officer’s ranks utilized hand or machine embroidered breast eagles while EM/NCO’s ranks utilized machine embroidered or machine woven breast eagles. During the Third Reich there was a prescribed form of wear of the belt and buckle with the buckle being positioned on the right side and the corresponding buckle catch on the left side. The Officer’s circular belt buckle was originally introduced on July 9^TH 1937, along with the brocade belt for wear by army Officers when in parade dress, formal dress, informal reporting dress and service dress when full decorations were ordered. Wear of the brocade belt and circular belt buckle was extended to army Music Superintendents and Band Leaders on April 12^TH 1938 and to army Officials with the equivalent of Officer’s ranks/position on January 2^ND 1939. The belt buckle for Officers holding the ranks of Leutnant up to and including Oberst was in matte silver while Officers holding the ranks of Generalmajor up to and including Generalfeldmarschall utilized a matte gold belt buckle. The pants and breeches for Generals ranks of Generalmajor up to and including Generalfeldmarschall were distinguished with the addition of bright red, adornment stripes positioned vertically on the outside leg seams. Company and Field grade Officers serving with the Generalstab, (General Staff), the OKW, and the OKH, utilized crimson adornment stripes on their long pants and breeches until regulations of November 16^TH 1942 discontinued the practice for personnel serving with the OKW and the OKH. Originally the long pants and breeches were produced in stone grey fabric until 1940 when regulations dictated that newly produced long pants be constructed in field-grey fabric. Of Note: Although the different branches of service within the army were allocated a specific, identifying waffenfarbe, (Branch of Service Color), that was usually displayed as piping on the tunic and on the parade and walking-out dress pants, Generals ranks and personnel of the General Staff were the exception to the rule with Generals utilizing bright red waffenfarbe ornamentation and General Staff personnel utilizing crimson ornamentation regardless of their actual branch of service. Besides the crimson waffenfarben utilized during the Third Reich personnel serving with the General Staff were further distinguished by the use of the unique old Prussian style, Alt-Larisch pattern collar tabs for Generals ranks and Field and Company grade Officers utilized the unique, old Prussian style Kolbenstickerei collar tabs. Officers and certain senior NCO ranks were responsible for purchasing their own uniforms and as a result were allotted a clothing allowance through the army’s Kleiderkasse, (Clothing Account), system. The Officers and certain senior NCO’s could choose to purchase their uniforms from the armed forces clothing depots or to privately purchase garments of higher quality. Although enlisted personnel were issued their uniforms from government supplies they were also permitted to purchase privately tailored uniforms although the price may have been restrictive.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: The uniform group consists of an Officer’s ornamented service tunic, an Officer’s brocade belt and belt buckle and straight legged long pants with adornment stripes for a General Staff Oberstleutnant. Nice quality, private purchase, field-grey, doeskin wool/rayon blend construction ornamented service tunic with a subtle whipcord weave, features a vertical, five button front closure with dual, brass, hooks and eyes positioned at the forward neckline. Both the left and right front closure edge panels are trimmed in crimson wool waffenfarbe piping. The tunic has four, pleated, front pockets with scalloped button down flaps. The breast pocket are the basic patch type while the hip pockets are the saddlebag type with expanding side panels. The right breast has a hand embroidered, national eagle with out-stretched wings, clutching a wreathed, canted swastika in it’s talons, in bright, silver/aluminum wire and bullion threads with pale grey accent threads, mounted on a cut-out, blue/green, badge cloth base. The eagle is neatly handstitched in place. The right breast pocket has two, horizontal thread loops for wear of an award and comes with a 1942 pattern, Spanish 2^ND class Breast Star of the Military Order of Merit. The left breast of the tunic has five vertical and six horizontal thread loops for wear of awards and comes with a WWI Iron Cross 1^ST class, a War Merit Cross 1^ST class with swords, a WWI black Wound Badge and an eight place medal bar. The medal bar consists of a WWI Iron Cross 2^ND class, a War Merit Cross 2^ND class with swords, a 1915, Hanseatic Cross for Hamburg, a Combatants Cross of Honor 1914/18, a four year Armed Forces Long Service Medal with a national eagle cypher, a 1932 pattern, Romanian Knight’s Cross of the order of the Star with crossed swords and Royal crown cyphers and a rosette, a Finnish Knight’s Cross of the Order of the White Rose, with a rosette, and a Bulgarian Officer’s Cross of the Order of Saint Alexander 4^TH class, with a Royal Crown cypher, all mounted on a magnetic sheet metal backing plate with a protective blue/grey felt backing handstitched to the reverse and a horizontal pin and catch all intact. All the awards are in overall very good condition retaining the large majority of their respective finishes and the ribbons show minimal age and usage toning. The medal bar pin is inserted through the vertical threads of the left breast to secure it in place. The straight cut, non-adjustable, sleeves have deep, turned up French cuffs which are tacked into the upright position at both the inner and outer seams and have their top edges trimmed in crimson wool waffenfarbe piping. The reverse of the field blouse has a short, central, vertical, tail skirt vent. The tunic has sewn on shoulder boards in bright, silver/aluminum Russian braid with a single, gilt washed, stamped alloy, rank pip to each, mounted on crimson wool waffenfarbe bases. The shoulder board retaining buttons are intact. The tunic has a lay down, blue/green badge cloth collar with crimson wool waffenrabe piping to the forward edge. The collar has the nice quality, distinctive old Prussian, Kolbenstickerei style collar tabs with dual, hand embroidered, serrated litzen with fifteen "teeth" to each side, in bright, silver/aluminum wire threads with the regulation, "V" patterned, silver/aluminum "branch of service stripes" mounted on crimson wool waffenfarbe bases which show through as the center stripe. The collar tabs are machine stitched to the collar. The interior of the tunic is fully lined in field-grey rayon with white striped, grey rayon sleeves. The lining has a horizontal, slash, pocket to the left breast panel and a small, field-grey wool reinforced, horizontal, slash to the reverse of the external left hip pocket for the dagger/sword hanger. The left breast panel lining has a woven royal blue, rayon tailor’s label machine stitched in place, with the machine woven, tailor’s logo, name and location which includes, "C. Louis Weber Hannover", and, "feine Uniform-Maßschneiderei", (Fine measure cut Uniforms). The interior of the left breast lining pocket also has a white oilcloth tailor’s label machine stitched in place with black printed and handwritten script. The printed script reiterates the tailor’s name and location, "C. Louis Weber Hannover", while the handwritten script includes the mostly illegible, owner’s name and the date, "15. 8. 39". The tunic is in overall very good condition with minor age and usage toning and a couple of small picks and tears to both cuffs. The buttons are all the bright, silver washed, pebbled, magnetic sheet metal type and retain the vast majority of their silver washes and all appear to have their original stitching. The tunic is roughly size 38" chest. The tunic comes with a nice quality, roughly 1 3/4" wide, 38 3/4" long, bright, silver/aluminum brocade belt with an injection molded, natural, aluminum alloy buckle catch, a tan leather buckle retaining tongue and a silver washed, die stamped, aluminum alloy construction belt buckle. The belt features two roughly, 1/4" wide, evenly spaced, dark green, parallel, horizontal stripes. The belt has one sliding, and one stitched, vertical, "keepers", with one positioned on either side of buckle, in the same brocade as the belt with two, roughly, 1/8" wide, parallel vertical, dark green stripes. The buckle catch end of the belt is folded over to the reverse and machine stitched down to secure the aluminum alloy buckle catch in place. The other end of the belt comes to a pointed tip and the reverse has a tan leather, buckle retaining tongue, machine stitched in place, with nine pair of parallel, punched, buckle retaining eyelets. The reverse of the buckle retaining tongue is well marked with the black inkstamped size numeral, "90". The reverse of the belt has a protective, field-grey wool backing fully intact. The belt comes with a roughly, 1 7/8" diameter, two piece, silver washed, die stamped, aluminum alloy construction, circular belt buckle. The buckle features a highly embossed oak-leaf wreath encompassing a central Wehrmacht, (Armed Forces), style eagle with down-swept wings, clutching a canted swastika in it’s talons, on a subtlety textured, slightly domed, central field. Both the eagle and the wreath feature nice detailing and the silver finish is retained about 95%. The reverse of the buckle is a mirror image of the obverse and has a separate, circular plate, with a cut-out center, insert with a crimped catch and retaining hook. The circular plate is secured by the crimped outer edges of the buckle’s obverse. The buckle retaining hook secures the opened rectangular, dual pronged, natural aluminum alloy belt securing bar. Both the belt and buckle are in overall quite good condition with the belt showing light to moderate oxidization spotting resulting in a frosty white appearance. The belt would roughly fit waist sizes of 31" to 36". Also included are a nice quality, private purchase, early pattern, (Pre-1940), stone grey, doe-skin wool construction straight legged, long, pants with crimson wool adornment stripes. The pants feature a vertical, four button French fly with an additional, button and a metal hook and eye situated on the horizontal waistband. The pants have two, vertical, slash, front pockets and a small, horizontal slash, watch pocket positioned just below the bottom edge of the right front waistband. Also just below the right front waistband is a stitched on, small metal ring designed to secure a watch chain. The front of the pants also have dual, reverse pleats, with one situated on either side of the fly. The reverse of the pants ride slightly higher then the obverse and have the typical, "V" slash to the reverse center. The reverse of the pants also have two, small, vertical tapering darts, dual, horizontal, fit adjustment straps with corresponding, nickel/silver plated, magnetic sheet metal, toothed gripper buckles and a single horizontal slash, pocket to the right seat with a scalloped, button down, closure flap. The exterior waistband has six, evenly spaced, suspender attachment buttons with the embossed tailor’s name and location, "Kuhn & Nupnau München". The outer leg side seams each feature narrow, vertical, crimson wool piping flanked on either side by roughly, 1 5/8" wide crimson wool, adornment stripes, all machine stitched in place. The pants have dual-ply, hemmed cuffs with a natural tan buckram reinforcement panel machine stitched to the interior front section of each. The interior waistband is lined in white rayon and has two, small, evenly spaced, vertical, white fabric loops with white painted, magnetic sheet metal, "Prym", closure snaps to each. The internal pocket bags are all constructed in, ribbed white cotton. The interior crotch has a small, white, linen reinforcement panel machine stitched in place. The pants are in overall very good condition with minor age and usage toning a few small picks and pulls, a small handstitched repair below the front fly and about dozen small moth nips to the adornment stripes. The buttons are all the molded brown bakelite type and all appear to have their original stitching. The pants are roughly size 32" waist. Nice General Staff Officer’s uniform grouping with all the components in good to very good condition.