Uniforms of the N.S.D.A.P.

The National Sozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP) evolved from the original Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (DAP), which was founded on 5 January 1919 in Munich. The NSDAP was the political organ which Hitler was to use to achieve total power in Germany.The political leadership (Politische Leitung) of the NSDAP was structured along para-military lines and consisted of four main levels:

Reichsleitung - subordinate directly to Hitler; the highest level of national political structure.

Gauleitung - an administrative district consisting of several Kreise, and headed by a Gauleiter (roughly equivalent to a state governor). By 1943 there were 43 Gaue.

Kreisleitung - a sub-administrative district headed by a Kreisleiter, the lowest level of paid political servants. There were 920 Kreise.

Ortsgruppenleitung - local groups as a sub-entity of the Kreise and headed by an Ortsgruppenleiter. Sub-elements consisted of Zellen (cells), and Bloke (blocks).

Hitler instituted a formal pattern of uniform rank insignia in 1933 for the political leaders to distinguish the organization and rank of the wearer. From 1933 to the introduction of new insignia in 1939, the insignia distinguished both the rank and organization.

The basis of the NSDAP was the Political Leader. Hitler was responsible for the appointment of the Reichs, Gau, and Kreis Leaders, and they, in turn, were responsible for the appointment of subordinate leaders. Dismissal from the appointed position was, likewise, the responsibility of the appointing leader.The uniforms of the political leader underwent considerable modifications over the years from 1919 to 1945. The early uniform was largely a composite of civilian and uniform clothing, but basically was made up of the brown shirt, breeches, boots, cap, and belt. It was not long before a tunic was introduced to up-grade the uniform. It was the responsibility of the political leader to purchase his own uniform. Regulations specified that if the correct uniform was not available, civilian clothes would be worn. A mixture of civilian clothes and uniform was not permitted once uniform regulations were introduced. The spread of the uniform was initially slow due to the expense. The following is a breakdown of the percentage of uniform items held by political leaders at the end of 1935: Service blouse (brown shirt) 66% Service cap (visored) 67.7% Service tunic 21 %

In May 1939 the uniform and insignia of the political leader was largely finalized. However, after the war broke out in September 1939, Hitler modified his own uniform from the political brown to a field grey, reflecting his position as Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. He vowed to continue to wear this color uniform until such time that Germany was victorious.

All other political leaders retained the standard political uniform.Regulations specified that the uniforms to be worn by the political leader were as follows:

1. Service dress a. Service dress with brown shirt b. Service dress with light brown tunic c. Service dress with white tunic 2. Ceremonial dress a. Ceremonial dress with light brown tunic b. Ceremonial dress with white tunic 3. Parade dress a. Parade dress with light brown tunic b. Parade dress with white tunic 4. Walking-out dress a. Walking-out dress, single-breasted, with light brown (or white) tunic b. Walking-out dress, single-breasted white c. Walking-out dress with double-breasted, light brown (or white) tunic 5. Office dress a. Office dress with service tunic b. Office dress with white linen tunic c. Office dress with brown twill tunic.

J.R. Angolia: "Cloth Insignia of the NSDAP and SA", 1985,R.James Bender Publishing

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