Collar Insignia - Enlisted Men |
The standard "collar tab" was called a
Kragenpatte in German. The term "patte" could refer to
the entire insignia, or to just the backing.
|
Doppellitze - (double
braid) mounted on Kragenpatte (Collar patch) The coloured stripes consisted of Mittelstreife (Middle
stripe) |
German collar insignia during the Second World war could trace its ancestry to the Prussian military of the 17th century. During that period, every Prussian regiment was identified by the colour of its facings (ie the lining of its jackets, which were exposed at the collar, cuffs and tails by turning back the material and buttoning it in place) as well as the lace sewn around the buttonholes.
FIRST WORLD WAR By 1914, the collar patch became a stylized version of previous incarnations. The backing patch was the modern version of the older facings, with braid used to represent the shape of the buttonhole, with the middle stripe representing the buttonhole itself. Collar litzen was a relative rarity on First World War uniforms. At right, a Leutnant of a cavalry unit shows one example of collar patches, note the size. According to Joerg M. Horman, in Uniforms of the Infantry
1919 to the |
REICHSHEER
While these collar patches had not been universal in the German armies that fought in the Great War, it was adopted in the 1920s universally by the Reichsheer, with two versions - one for dress, and the other for field use. The collar patches were decidedly smaller, and were issued in pairs, conforming to the shape of the collar.
The Reichsheer introduced the concept of branch colours, and the collar insignia were a useful way to display this distinction (during World War One, the different colours on shoulder straps and collar patches were usually a representation of the Corps a soldier belonged to rather than the branch of service he belonged to).
FIELD
DRESS |
Doppellitze - light
grey artificial silk Kragenpatte- field grey cloth to match the uniform collar Mittelstreife - waffenfarbe Litzenspiegel - waffenfarbe |
FULL
DRESS |
Doppellitze - silver Kragenpatte - uniform cloth in the soldier's waffenfarbe Mittelstreife - waffenfarbe Litzenspiegel - waffenfarbe |
WEHRMACHT - Prewar
In 1935, minor changes to this insignia included a change from silver to aluminum. Aluminum was less expensive, brighter, and did not have the tendency to tarnish that silver did.
Also at this time, as the Reichsheer transitioned to become the Wehrmacht, collars on uniform jackets and blouses were changed to dark green.
FIELD
DRESS |
Doppellitze - light grey
artificial silk Kragenpatte - dark green cloth to match the new collars Mittelstreife - dark green to match the new collars Litzenspiegel - waffenfarbe |
||
FULL
DRESS |
|
Full dress style collar patches; the lemon yellow waffenfarbe is used on the backing as well as the middle stripe and litzenspiegel. This example of the full dress collar patch comes from a Waffenrock dress tunic. | ||||
|
||||
At right, universal collar patches of either universal pattern, or with dark waffenfarbe matching the dark shoulder strap piping. Note how far forward the patches are located; generally speaking, they were located about 1/2 inch from the front of the collar but were also seen sewn right at the leading edge. |
|
Three different types of collar patches as worn on the field
blouse; men at left and right have the dark green universal pattern unbacked; man second
from left has field grey, and man second from right appears to have white waffenfarbe
litzen, and also the dark green backing.
WEHRMACHT - Wartime changes
Like other items of dress used by the Wehrmacht, prewar insignia was quickly supplanted during hostilities by replacement items, usually of lesser quality. Bearing in mind that private purchase items were permitted to be worn on walking out dress (and there were a wide variety of these, in different materials and qualities, including full dress style collar patches that could be worn on the field blouse for walking out), and older patches permitted even on the field dress, there were further changes to the collar patches.
It must be stressed that there was not, however, an "approved pattern." The Wehrmacht permitted whatever type of collar patch was available to be worn on uniforms. When the new collar patches were introduced, units were not ordered to remove older patches and replace with new, rather, older patches were worn alongside newer ones until worn out. Older stocks were used up, and German soldiers tended to hang on to original items as long as they could; earlier pattern collar patches were not only sharper looking, but could be a symbol of status as well.
|
||||
|