White SS uniform in wear

[Friedrich-Berthold]

What a fascinating and colorful story F.B! The photograph of the car and the caps made my day, and as tempelhof said, it's great to focus on the circumstances of collecting and collectors. Thanks for sharing!

My best to you, young man, your colorful stories await you. After all the Panoptikum of human folly and vanity that is the internet was a thing of science fiction in 1973. Our experiences were small, limited in scope, and slow in speed.

The collectors of some lineage around this joint have many colorful stories. I had not realized that I did have an image of this cap that I miss greatly. I had another grey one, too. I never photographed the white tunic, though.
I will make a picture of the lange schwarze Hose. The flamboyant German dealer man must have been part of the economic enterprises of the Stasi, or who knows what his connection really was? I guess I could check now with the Gauck agency in Berlin. AN acquaintance of mine known widely later proved his affiliation, but many of the latter's assertions are also hyperventilation.
I find black market types amusing, really, which is perhaps why I cannot work myself up into a lather like others about all the crooks in all of this. For me, it is just a given. I take the view of human kind of Orson Welles in the Lady From Shanghai that homo sapiens is pretty wretched.


Our teenage collector beginners here could watch these two films for an insight into human nature as fitted to the rigors of collecting the cast off bits of the III. Reich.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

more things I owned and then dumped. I can scarcely remember where I found them, how much I paid, and to whom they went. I did not care much for them, really.

[Robert H]

superb sources of material I see here.
Sitting right now in a cold area in the eastern northern areas of America. I can add right now only this tunic I got once proudly as a center piece. I will add some more when I am sometime relaxed at home. The quality of this garm is just outstanding from in and outside. Name was sadly getting somehow removed. But is was when I remember a stronger build person wearing it.
More posts as well from me when I am back home after batteling the technical work issues about one engine balance shaft bore that brings just problems but no technical cause can get find ... long days work and bed and only 2 1/2 days left ...
About all this batteling I cannot attend to the SOS... Family then first.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

I recall this tunic, Robert, a fine thing. Good luck with fixing your engines. Thank you for the technical advice, as well. Schoene Reise, FB

[DougB]

This is a beautiful tunic Robert, it still resides in the corner of my German room beside the HansKarl Von Hasselbach overcoat. I will post a photo of it tomorrow. Sad to see you won't be at SOS but I cannot make it either this year, family and work priorities.

I see my old Luedke tunic there as well FB in one of your montages.

[colt45]

did Himmler have one? or HEidrick

[DougB]

Himmlers is shown in one of the photos in this thread.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

...and one of Himmler's white uniforms is in the leading collection in the U.S. and it is illustrated here, too.

- - Updated - -

This is a beautiful tunic Robert, it still resides in the corner of my German room beside the HansKarl Von Hasselbach overcoat. I will post a photo of it tomorrow. Sad to see you won't be at SOS but I cannot make it either this year, family and work priorities.

I see my old Luedke tunic there as well FB in one of your montages.

Very nice material, to be sure.

[DougB]

As promised here are updated photos of the tunic Robert was able to acquire from Germany which he was kind enough to sell to me a few years ago. As you may remember Robert it had 2 small pin holes that aligned with a vertical pinback Golden Party Badge and below that an SA Treffin pinback badge so I sourced two very nice original examples of these and installed them on the tunic through the original pin holes. There were never any award loupes. I cannot say for certain these were the exact badges worn, but as said the size and alignment indicates these match at least. The white SS General's Schirmmütze is original, brought back by a Canadian veteran.

(the photo in the background for those that are wondering why they think they have seen it before, it is the original portrait used for the cover of the Hicks/Beaver book SS Helmets, so if you have seen that book you have seen this photo!)

Attachment 462552

Attachment 462553

Of note to readers that may be interested or perhaps yourself FB; on my former Luedke white Sturmbahnfuhrer SD tunic I had this researched by Dieter Stenger of Stenger Historica, who does the bulk of my German SS personnel research. His website uses Luedke's file as a sample of the translation and research work he can do, at least it has been there for years and I expect it still is. Luedke had 2 daughters in Berlin, one in 1936 and the other in 1938. We tried to locate them and were not successful, however his grandson contacted me, the son of one of his daughters and I was able to close the file on Luedke, who was killed returning to Germany onboard a train which was strafed by Russian fighters in January 1945 from Krakow, just ahead of the advancing Soviet horde.

It was a most interesting file, he was in charge of the Kripo in Charlons sur Mer for most of the war after 1941 and was heavily engaged in the acquisition of downed Allied airmen from 42-44. When the western Allies were advancing upon his command he dissolved his command and sent his troops back to their respective Abschnitt for reassignment. He was arrested by the Gestapo for dissolving his command without proper authority but was acquitted of the charges. He was then assigned to Krakow in late December of 1944 which was nothing more than a death sentence given the Russians were knocking down the door in that area. He appealed to Kaltenbrunner himself who upheld his assignment. He reported for duty the first week of January and the file went cold there.

So I was most grateful to talk to Luedke's grandson and be able to close the file. I sold this tunic to a Canadian collector when Robert sold me the Oberfuhrer tunic.

[Arran]

I LOVE the Luedke white tunic, and have had the opportunity to examine it at length. Its accompanied by its black companion, and I believe there is a tuxedo of his floating around as well. The white tunic is made by Stechbarth, and retains its interior pocket label in the correct blue and white bevo, with hand-written information that is in the same hand as other Stechbarth labels like those found in Himmler's and Wolff's white tunics.
On another note, what do you all make of the lower patch pockets on this SS fellow's tunic? Not a feature I've seen on an open collared white SS tunic before...