Muetzenfabrik

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Thank you, Ben, for the good G-2.
My life will take me to Bavaria again in the year to come, and I must look around. When I went to Breiter, of course, the oldest person present was around my age, and had no memory of former times.
The key here is to find an establishment where the records or whatever are untouched, which is the exception. I will look in the Google thingy as to the address.
I ended up in the spot of the former Buergerbraeukeller the last time I was there, and was oblivious to it, until I bought the nice guide to Munich in the infamous twelve years.
I had been unknowingly following the path of the 9 November Putschists for longer than I can recall, in fact.

Happy foetid woolens, and this piece from Schoening is indeed water damaged and semi foetid.
I wish I could find the one I saw in 1973 or so, as it was larger, with bigger swatches.
However, this is a gem all the same for its detail.
Apropos Adrian's comment of the unending story, I wonder how much time I have spent on same since 1973 in its total? Too much and to what end?

[BenVK]

I wonder what the reaction would be if one would approach a firm like Schöning and inquire about it's 1930's and 40's history?

[Friedrich-Berthold]

I wonder what the reaction would be if one would approach a firm like Schöning and inquire about it's 1930's and 40's history?

You can come with me to Munich and ask if you want, but you won't be too pleased with the response, I can tell you.

The other piece, you might recall, is that said period is now a very long time ago, and the human and personal link has become very faint. The firm obviously profited from the era, as did many who did so either legitimately or illegitimately through public theft of the "non-Aryan" competition.
I have no idea whether such a generalization applies in this case, but the party potentates in Munich were especially rabid proponents of aryanisation at the time.
Finally, I am not sure if you read the headlines, but an east German terror and murder ring with neo Nazi orientation has seized public attention, and put another displeasing light on the past. Such makes inquiries of the kind that Ben wishes to make not unproblematic.
Also, in writing above, some of you please refrain from your own political statements on contemporary events in this connection, as these are well placed either elsewhere on this site, or on other sites altogether.

In this connection, moreover, this title bears reading, Krauss ed Rechte Karrieren in Muenchen. I found it in Munich this year, and it is a fine example of local history that looks at just this theme. However, such also means no assault on any existing firm.
Many leading German firms have taken flak over the past, or done their own research to deal with same.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

We have shown in this thread through such items as Uniformenmarkt as well as the RZM circulars that the textile and uniform trade was highly politicized and hardly a realm free of the racial agenda of the Nazis.
The Uniformenmarkt authors manifested as much racial hatred at times as that of Streicher, though the former did not contain lurid, semi pornographic cartoons.

[KSH]

Also, in writing above, some of you please refrain from your own political statements in this connection, as these are well placed either elsewhere on this site, or on other sites altogether.

I have not noticed any politicization before in this thread, did I miss something?



F-B, have you ever had a chance to speak with individuals directly involved with the making of caps during the Third Reich era? There cannot be many of them left today though. A mere 5-minute talk with such a person could utterly destroy decades of collector-invented rubbish of the very kind that floods the maroon site and make a reference book or two seem frightfully uninformed.


Hochachtungsvoll,

Kenneth S-H.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

I have not noticed any politicization before in this thread, did I miss something?



F-B, have you ever had a chance to speak with individuals directly involved with the making of caps during the Third Reich era? There cannot be many of them left today though. A mere 5-minute talk with such a person could utterly destroy decades of collector-invented rubbish of the very kind that floods the maroon site and make a reference book or two seem frightfully uninformed.


Hochachtungsvoll,

Kenneth S-H.

As concerns the statement about politicization, my words are preemptive.
In the second instance, much of my early professional life was spent with people who had lived through the III. Reich as adults. I have also known people who made militaria, as well, at the time, but these websites did not exist then, and the inane questions and issues that they exemplified had not emerged in anywhere near the berserk way that operates today. The collector invented rubbish has taken on a totally different character in the present, whereas in the past, the co relation of forces was different. The old Bavarian auction houses, which likely had a pretty strong ex Nazi contingent, hardly engaged the US collector sphere, which was no where as organized or stentorian as it has become via the internet. Nor did the super empowered individual "expert" of such websites exist either. There was a lot of real stuff, the fakes were pretty bad, despite what some of you might think about Atwood's hats, for instance, or parts daggers or whatever, and no one really cared much, other than there was prosperity and peace despite the cold war. The whole stitch fairy thing as well as crimped prong fetish was a level of analysis beyond comprehension in a more innocent time, since the electronic images on a globalized basis ala the medium is the message did not exist...maybe McCluhan foresaw such a thing, but those of us at the time did not. The real measure of all things was a plastic versus a cellon sweat shield, a very simple dichotomy, truth be told.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Apropos your paraphrase of Beck and TF, I would translate Wissenschaft as scholarship and not science, actually. This is a pretty deep subject in military thought, and one with which I have some familiarity.

[KSH]

Apropos your paraphrase of Beck and TF, I would translate Wissenschaft as scholarship and not science, actually. This is a pretty deep subject in military thought, and one with which I have some familiarity.

I agree with you, F-B! This is not my own translation - I shall change it soon.


Hochachtungsvoll,

Kenneth S-H.

[BenVK]

Unfortunately, any serious study of the Third Reich uniform and textile production industry will unearth uncomfortable facts about the "aryanisation" i.e. theft of established Jewish firms, the huge exploitation of captive populations in places such as the Lodz ghetto which was a city with a long established textile manufacturing base and of course the well documented production facilities in various concentration camps. The more research I conduct, the more shocking statistics and facts come to light.
For example, most collectors would look at their tropical hats and tunics and not give a second thought as to where they were made, or, just assume that they were made in Germany by the German workforce. Not so in fact. Huge amounts were produced in the occupied territories such as Lodz. Another mistake is to assume that such forced jewish workers had been sent to their deaths long before the war's end. Not so, The Lodz ghetto had production figures peaking in 1944 when more modern uniform construction and time saving machinery had already been introduced which meant that more non skilled workers could be utilised which was the over riding aim of all Third Reich bureaucrats in the wartime years. The lack of skilled workers is evident in every period document I read from the period.

These facts are disturbing of course and maybe we are too close in terms of time to really be able to study them properly. It will probably take at least 2 or 3 more generations to do that without the rawness of human emotion.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

I agree with you, F-B! This is not my own translation - I shall change it soon.


Hochachtungsvoll,

Kenneth S-H.

A hobby horse of mine pops up here as a result of a trans Atlantic life spent where such issues do arise, and a continental European treats these terms differently than some non continentals. One day, if we ever meet on your side of the Atlantic--since I fly over your country frequently ( at about 35,000 feet)--I will explain my take on the issue.