Volksmarine Uniforms

[Asbjoern]

Inspired by the maritime flags shown by uscob a question came to my mind... anybody here specialized in Volksmarine Uniforms ?? Together wit lots of other maritime stuff of various nations some uniforms (puls hats etc) came to my hands which are definitely NVA ... but thats all I know about this stuff. Does it make sense do post some pictures.... ?

Regards,

Jens

[grenzflieger]

I still only ask questions here instead of aswering them but my collection is focussed on the Volksmarine in the eighties so maybe I can help you a bit and I'm sure Ehrentitle aka Kevin can help you too. So please show these volksmarine uniforms!!

[Asbjoern]

O.K. ....I´ll try to take pictures of this special items as soon as possible - I`ll first have to dig out the right box/bag from a big pile of material...


Regards,

Jens

[ehrentitle]

Jens - I'd be happy to help if I can, but I am by no means an expert in uniforms. Grenzflieger,
jkeegen and I all have an interest in Volksmarine stuff.

[Asbjoern]

...not the best pictures, but here they are!
















Any opinion on these four jackets (o.k., one is a shirt...) ? The only thing I know about them is there Volksmarine origin... but are they of interest ?

Regards,

jens

[ehrentitle]

The Gala Jackets (first photo) look good as does the wool jacket. The shirt is a put together and I suspect the last uniform is as well. The

[grenzflieger]

Originally Posted by Asbjoern

Any opinion on these four jackets (o.k., one is a shirt...) ? The only thing I know about them is there Volksmarine origin... but are they of interest ?

Regards,

jens

These are of my interest

Picture #1:
Left Gesellschaftsanzug Kaleu (Kapitänleutnant) Seemännisches Laufbahn
Right Gesellschaftsanzug Oberleutnant Verwaltungslaufbahn

Picture #5:
Hemdbluse Volksmarine with Oberleutnant shoulderboards
Schützenschnur (algemein) does not belong to this shirt
Leistungsabzeichen
Ärmelband für Diensthabender des GA (Gefechtsabschnitt)

Picture #7
Volksmarine Überzieher Obermatrose Küstendienstlaufbahn / Sonderausbildung Kraftfahrer

Picture #8
Jacket Korvettenkapitän but can't see the Ärmelstreifen.

All these jackets are of interest for volksmarine collectors.

[jkeegen]

I really like these! Well done! I love the Pea coat (Überzieher)

I agree with ehrentitle's and grezfleiger's comments and would add that the Gesellschaftsanzug tunic on the right in picture one needs a "pip" added to each shoulderboard. The current shoulderboard shows a rank of Oberleutnant whereas the rank insigina on the sleeve is Kapitänleutnant.

[Gordon Craig]

Jens,

Nice gesellschaftsanzug.

Cheers,

Gordon

[olivyaya]

Hello guys !
Here is a VM officer tunic I have just received. it is dated 1975 ! I thought I would share it with you because of the sleeve stars which seem to be early type... I had never seen any like these before ! They seem to be embroidered !

[Jan Klaassen]

Seems oddly different from the stripes... Very nice uniform!

[Gordon Craig]

Olivjaja,

It is not unusual to see an older seestern with the newer style rank stripes. I have an Admiral's tunic that has insignia like that.
The seestern in embroidered metalic thread, and without the state emblem, was worn from 1978 until 1990. Mixed insignia like this usually indiactes the the officer had been promoted after the introduction of the new gold thread embroidered rank badges and put up his new rank using the insignia according to the regulations of the day. It appears to have been a common practice to keep the older metalic embroidered seestern with the newer rank stripes.

Regards,

Gordon

[grenzflieger]

It's not really common to see them on a tunic of this production date. These 'metallgespinste' dienstlaufbahnabzeichen were used until the very beginning of the sixties. Maybe the owner used his old DLA from his first sixties VM tunic or he received old stock DLA from the storehouse. Both cases seem very unlikely to me but everything is theoretically possible. Nevertheless these patches are pretty rare and you can be lucky to have them.

Like Gordon says admirals had 'metallgespinste' starfish patches for a longer period. These were discontinued at the end of the seventies but most admirals preferred them above the metal version so you can still find them on tunics in the end of the eighties. Almost all admirals also wore the embroidered metallic thread collar tabs till the end though these were phased out at the end of the seventies/beginning of the eighties too. Of course because of the little number of admirals the embroidered metallic thread career patches were still available at the end of the eighties, I doubt it was the same case with regular officers. The chance that your tunic was put together is present if you ask me.

[olivyaya]

Thanks for your comments ! I too think the original owner decided to keep his insignia through his different promotions ! He probably ended up unable to find the rank insignia in the same quality. to match the stars. Besides, you can notice the rank bars are the old yellow type (that followed the embroidered insignia period), not the later gold type ! I sincerely think it is not a put together : a close look at the way they are sown (non shiny thick cotton thread and heavy hand stitching) really makes me think they do belong to the tunic... The shoulder boards also perfectly math the rest !
Besides I got the tunic from a seller who apparently knew nothing about it ; the pics did not even show close shots of the stars ! It was a great surprise when I got the tunic ! He sold it for 35 euros, all included (tunic + insignia + shoulder parade cord !!) !! This is why I could not resist it !
In his book "UNIFORMEN DER DDR" BAND 1 Rico Dörner shows a GT uniform from the 70s with embroidered cap and tunic insignia (page 85) ; the comment is : " The hand embroidered insignia were worn up until end of the 70s" ! This means 15 years after these were discontinued... just like the stars on the tunic !
Just my guess...

[grenzflieger]

Like I said it is possible but I have never seen a normal officers seventies tunic with embroided insignia and I have seen quite a few. The story sounds plausible so you can be lucky with this special tunic (especially for that price!).

btw: I've just looked in Klaus Walther's guide and the embroided insignia were produced till 1962.