Gordon Craig

Genst, This item was offered through a Berlin auction house last year. It is an interesting piece because of the subject and the excellent art work. At 10,000.00 Euros, it did not sell. Regards, Gordon

coinguy89, A nice Bereitschaft police uniform. It has the correct style collar tabs for an enlisted man and matches the shoulderboards well. Barracks police had a slightly different colour of green than that used by the VOPO. The best general uniform references are Keubke's books. His first one "Uniformen der Nationalen Volkesarmy der DDR 1956-1986" would be useful if you don't speak German because there is an English translation available for it. A copy of the unpdated volum of this book "Militarische Uniformen in der DDR 1949-1990" is useful because it covers the whole period of the DDR military uniforms including the early police and the DfD. The only hat book worth buying is Wilhelm Zoller's "Kopfbedeckungen militarisch uniformierter Organizationen in Europe - Detsche Demokratische Republik 1945-1990". The neweset book on the market, and this is a reprint, is pictures of the NVA and is useful for general reference for the everyday wear of the uniform. It is, 'Die Nationale Volkesarmee' from Siegler Verlag Gmbh. Regards, Gordon

Gents, Does anyone recognize this cross? The reverse is plain only showing a rivet where the central piece is attached to the cross. The arms are 52mm (2 inches) across. Regards, Gordon

Grant, Prices could indicate rarity but I don't know that for sure. I haven't actively hunted for these medals. At least not until now! Your comment has spiked my interest and I should have these medals to complete my collection of DDR Forestry items. There are a couple of variations as well that may be more difficult to get. I'll get some info from Berlin and let you know if they really are that expensive and rare. Regards, Gordon

Third and last award.

Next award

Grant, It must be old age and my focus on uniforms that made me "momentarily" forget about the Forstwirtschaft medals. I was certainly aware of them in the past. The problem with the human brain is that, at least mine does, it stores things like a FIFO shift register IE first in first out. The more information I take in the more I forget! Anyway, back to the topic at hand. Here pictures and names of three specific awards for the DDR Forest Service. The photos are all taken from Deutsche Orden und Ehrenzeichen by Nummergut/Feder/von der Heyde. They prices listed are termed "actual market prices" but all books say that and the prices are rarely realistically what you would pay for an award. My rule of thumb is for a medal in mint condition I would take 60% of the listed value as the max I would pay. Probably less unless it were cased and then I fly by the seat of my pants. The years listed unde the awards indicate the year of introduction. Here we go with the awards.

Zsolt, Thanks very much. Just exactly what I wanted. Regards, Gordon

Charles, Another great photo. I'll put it in my archives for the KISZ article I 'm working on. The woman at the front of the photo is a KISZ leader of a Joung Pioneer Group. You can see her girls in uniform behind her. She is wearing the standard KISZ leaders shirt and badge. I would really like one of those. The shirt not the girl. My wife would have something to say about that!! Regards, Gordon

Charles, Super find. I need to get me one of those books!!!!!!!!! Thanks loads for the pictures. My simple start has sure turned into a gold mine and your last posts are the main vein. Regards, Gordon

Grant, Yes I have that site bookmarked. Thanks for reminding me of that medal. There are a few others as well. I hope that I will be able to find some time tomorrow to post pictures of them. Regards, Gordon

Grant, I don't even know if there are any specific medals for the DDR Forestry Service. Since it was a state organization they probably quailfied for the civil service type of long service awards but it is a question that has never come up before. I'll have to look into it. Since you almost never see pictures of DDR Forestry personnel in uniform I have no reference to look at. I'll see what I can find out. Regards, Gordon

Gents, Can anyone post pictures of the Knoights Cross cases with and without the swords? I am assuming there is a difference but not having seen both I am unsure. Greatfull for any help you can give. Regards, Gordon

A side view of the woman's cap.

Next up is the Women's Forestry hat. I am not sure if this cap was called a "Hut" as well. They are so rare I have no information on them. It s construction is totally different from the man's Hut. The man's Hut is formed from one piece of felt. The woman's cap is made by sewing together nine pieces of felt. The brush is also on the opposite side from the men. It has a hat band of the same material trimmed with the same material as the brim. The man's hut does not.

Also, the makers has impressed their logo into the leather sweat band.

Next up is the makers lable. If you have problems reading the small lable it gives the size and the wording "Betrieb Gruben DDR". A well known cap maker in Germany.

A side view of the Hut.

Next comes the "Hut". It also is exactly the same as the forestry caps worn during the Third Reich. As an aside, the West German Forestry Service wore the Hut also. Only the cap devices varied. Evne though this is an early cap it has the post 1970 cap badge.

Now a shot of the Emhage sweat shield.

A side view.

Now on to the hats I promised. The early hats I will post will remind one and all of the Third Reich caps and that is because they are the same. Even made by the same firms in some instances. The first one up is an M43 style cap made by Emhage. The cap has a dark green trim around the crown that doesn't show up very well against the colour of the cap and because of age. Note the early cockade. The two buttons on the front are made of plastic and uncovered. The reason for this comment will become apparent later on. I'll post a front, side and interior view.

Gents, My comment above about a uniform "escaping" me was not quite correct. It had only escaped as far as the storage room in my garage. I have baought a pair of the light weight pansta couple of years ago but didn't see the tunic until I was in a friends store in Berlin last fall. I bought the uniform but when I got it to Budapest my wife banished it to the garage due to the lovely smell of old mouldy basment that came with it. I hung it up downstairs and haven't looked at it since! Now lets have a look at this uniform. It is quite a departure from those uniforms worn in earlier times. I say that because of a lable in the pants I have which dates their manufacture as in the first quarter of 1989. There are no breast pockets only two pockets on the skirt. The buttons are of plastic and are hidden. There are two inner breast pockets and a larger pocket on the interior skirt on the left side. The collars are green wool as in earlier DDR Forestry Service uniforms. There does not appear to be any way to attach any rank symbols to the tunic and that baffles me. My contacts in Germany don't view this as a change in uniform style but I do. They are also at a loss to explain the lack of shouderboard attachments. I'll be in Berlin at the end of May and will be meeting ith at least one DDR Forestry collector. Perhaps we can come up with some sort of explanation about this uniform.

Ulsterman, Yes the Military Museum has a store, like most museums, except this one sells stuff a collector would be interested in. Uniforms, hats, shoulderboards, collar tabs etc. Charles and I have bought some nice stuff there. The prices can be high, especially on uniforms, but some stuff is reasonable and rare. For example, the first thing I bought there was a complete Customs Officers tunic. All insignia etc. I have never seen another one for sale. A lot of the tunics you see for sale at the monthly show, or from flea markets, have been played with and you are never quite sure what you are buying. Cheers, Gordon

Now a picture of the lable inside of the cap.