Wear of the Uniform--Forms of Dress

By Erich Tobey--edited by Marsh

The manner in which you wear your uniform is also important. To wear it correctly in the field is not enough! When at an event and wandering around the flea-market or socializing, there are a couple of details that you should be aware of; these details can really enhance your impression! The German Army had a number of different uniform dress "orders," which were set by the order of the CO in a "uniform of the day" type order. We try to follow these uniform orders, they are:

1. Feldanzug (felt-ahn-zoog)--Combat gear, helmet, weapon.

2. Dienstanzug (deenst-ahn-zoog)--Feldmütze, service belt with bayonet. When the event can be construed as being situated "in the Hinterland" shoulder board slides will be worn (if needed).

3. Ausgehanzug (owss-gay-ahn-zoog) (walking-out uniform)--Schirmmütze (if had, otherwise the Feldmütze). Shoulder board slides (if needed), Waffenrock (dress tunic) if had, otherwise regular tunic. Schützenschnür (shooting lanyard). To make this really sharp, do like they did, get a nice second belt--preferably a "patent leather" model along with the same type of bayonet frog from T,L & A. Also, buy a dress-type aluminum buckle and a nice EM dress bayonet to go with this rig and you will be well on your way to having the Ganz Prima, "E-Ticket" Ausgehanzug. Later, if you can find one, you can get a Troddel (bayonet knot) of the proper color-pattern for our Kompanie, i.e. all white. A repro (or original) Schirmmütze can be purchased and then you will have greatly improved your impression as a German Soldat. So remember, when you leave the barracks to go to the Flea Market or to dinner (this is at big events only, not at field events), this is the outfit to wear!

4. Drillichanzug (drill-ick-ahn-zoog)(work uniform)--German soldiers certainly did not always wear their expensive wool uniforms. Think about this, one doesn't paint buildings or dig ditches in good clothing--that's the way it was then too--so instead, the Landser were issued a cheaper work uniform originally made of an off-white linen material. Later, this uniform was changed to a Feldgrau color. Later still, this was modified into the so-called "reed-green" uniform which was worn in combat. Though called "reed-green," the color of this uniform was actually a bluish-grey color. These are available as an advanced option for wear by reenactors for non-combat wear (Drillichanzug) and hot weather wear (Reed Green uniform).

5. Sportanzug (shport-ahn-zoog)--Black drawstring (not elastic) shorts, white tank-top with sewn-on BeVO Heer insignia and brown leather running shoes (ask about these).