Table of Contents
Introduction
During the Second World War, the Heer, the German army, and part of the Wehrmacht, inherited its uniforms and rank structure from the Reichsheer of the Weimar Republic (1921–1935). This structure underwent few alterations as the army grew from a limited peacetime defense force of 100,000 men to a war-fighting force of several million men. The ranks and insignia were specific to the Heer and in special cases to senior Wehrmacht officers in the independent services. The Luftwaffe (Air Force) and Kriegsmarine (Navy), as well as the SS, which was a Party organization outside the Wehrmacht, had their own unique rank systems and uniforms.
Collar Patches and Their Design
In 19th century German armies, Guard and other elite regiments wore lengths of double braid (Doppellitze) encircling the collar as a mark of distinction. By World War I, these ornate collars had been reduced to an embroidered representation of short lengths of braid joined at the ends. This was sewn to patches worn at the front of the collar, a practice continued by the Reichsheer and the Third Reich.
On both collar points of any uniform jacket there was a collar patch. Each patch consisted of the padding and two parallel facings, symbolising the double braid of the 19th century. The padding of full-dress collar patches showed the wearer's Waffenfarbe (corps color). On field and service uniforms, the collar patch was dark bottle-green to match the collar; the Waffenfarbe "showed through" the center strip of each braid, the Litzenspiegel.
Universal Design from 1938
By 1938, the fast-growing Heer found it impractical to manufacture and stock a multitude of collar patches in assorted Waffenfarben for the enlisted field uniform. As a result, new universal collar patches were introduced with the Litzenspiegel and Mittelstreifen woven in dark green to match the backing patch. With the wartime change to lower-visibility insignia, enlisted collar patches were woven in matte "mouse-grey" stripes. The troops, however, preferred the green patches if they had or could get them, especially on "clean" uniforms for walking-out, and long-service veterans took particular pride in pre-38 versions.
Armored Vehicle Uniforms
A major exception to the wearing of Litzen was the "panzer wrap", the double-breasted jacket worn by crews of tanks and other armored vehicles. When the Panzertruppe were established in 1935, they were issued a distinctive black uniform and as a badge the Totenkopf or Death's-head. In mid-1940, crews of assault guns received a uniform of their own, identical in cut to the Panzerjacke but in standard field-grey. The result in practice was chaos; wartime photos show a mix of uniforms and insignia worn not only in the same battalion, but even in the same vehicle.
The collar insignia of the German army during the World War II era were known as "Litzen," and they were used by all personnel other than generals. Their design was inherited from the Reichsheer of the Weimar Republic, with few alterations made as the army grew in size.
Each collar patch consisted of padding, and two parallel facings, the so-called Litzenspiegel, symbolizing the double braid of the 19th century. The padding of full-dress collar patches showed the wearer's Waffenfarbe (corps color). The dress tunic version was embroidered in fine aluminum thread on a patch of badge cloth. On field – and service uniforms, beginning in late 1935, the collar patch was dark bottle-green to match the collar; the Waffenfarbe "showed through" (in fact colored cord was sewn into) the center strip of each braid, the Litzenspiegel.
By 1938, new universal collar patches were introduced with the Litzenspiegel and Mittelstreifen woven in dark green to match the backing patch, and which could be applied at the factory; Waffenfarbe was now displayed on the shoulder-straps, which simply buttoned on and were easily switched. With the wartime change to lower-visibility insignia, enlisted collar patches were woven in matte "mouse-grey" stripes, which were at first sewn to green collar patches as before but increasingly directly to the collar, which beginning in 1940 was made in feldgrau like the uniform.
There was a major exception for the crews of tanks and other armored vehicles. They wore a "panzer wrap", a double-breasted jacket, which had distinctive insignia like the Totenkopf or Death's-head. These took the form of white-metal pins attached to black Kragenpatten which were edged in Waffenfarbe piping.
