{"product_id":"german-southwest-africa-enlisted-man-nco-tunic-post-wwi-era-copy","title":"German DKKB Reichskolonialbund Colonial Veterans Corduroy Tunic Sud-West Afrika 1930s","description":"\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eThis is a German colonial veterans' association tunic of the \u003cem\u003eDeutscher Kolonialkriegerbund\u003c\/em\u003e (DKKB, German Colonial Warriors' League) as incorporated under the \u003cem\u003eReichskolonialbund\u003c\/em\u003e (RKB), dating to the 1930s. It is the standardized corduroy veterans' uniform of that organization, deliberately modeled on the field tunics of the former Imperial \u003cem\u003eSchutztruppe\u003c\/em\u003e (colonial protection force), and it is identified with certainty by the \u003cem\u003ePetersflagge\u003c\/em\u003e (Peter's Flag) arm shield on the left sleeve. The garment is a veterans'-movement uniform of the interwar and Third Reich era rather than an Imperial 1884 to 1918 colonial service tunic, and it is described here accordingly.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eThe tunic is single-breasted in camel-tan wide-wale corduroy (\u003cem\u003eKord\u003c\/em\u003e), unlined, cut with a standing collar, a six-button front of domed Imperial-crown pattern buttons, and four patch pockets closed by buttoned, pointed flaps. Piping in deep blue runs along the collar, the front closure, and the sleeves; within the DKKB colour system this blue denotes former \u003cem\u003eDeutsch-Sudwestafrika\u003c\/em\u003e (German South West Africa) service. The shoulders carry association shoulder straps, and a braided aiguillette in the national colours of black, white, and red is worn from the shoulder across the chest. On the lower left sleeve is a silk-embroidered heraldic shield measuring 2 by 1.75 inches (5.1 by 4.4 cm): a white field quartered by a black cross, the upper hoist quarter red and charged with the white stars of the Southern Cross. This is the \u003cem\u003ePetersflagge\u003c\/em\u003e, named for the colonial figure Carl Peters and derived from the flag of the former German East Africa Company, the identifying device of the DKKB.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eThe organization behind the tunic sat at the meeting point of the German colonial-veterans' movement and the political consolidation of the 1930s. After Germany was stripped of its overseas colonies under the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, veterans of the colonial \u003cem\u003eSchutztruppen\u003c\/em\u003e and former settlers formed associations to preserve the memory of the lost territories and to press for their return. These bodies were drawn together in the \u003cem\u003eDeutscher Kolonialkriegerbund\u003c\/em\u003e, incorporated under the \u003cem\u003eReichskolonialbund\u003c\/em\u003e in 1933, the RKB serving as the collective organization that absorbed the German colonial movement in the Third Reich period under the leadership of Franz Ritter von Epp. In 1938 the DKKB was transferred into the \u003cem\u003eNS-Reichskriegerbund\u003c\/em\u003e (National Socialist veterans' league), and, like the other organizations of that structure, it was dissolved at the end of the Second World War. The corduroy uniform, its cut and colouring evoking the pre-1914 \u003cem\u003eSchutztruppe\u003c\/em\u003e, was worn at the association's commemorations and functions as an expression of colonial nostalgia and veterans' identity, the colony-coloured piping allowing a member to display the specific territory of service, here South West Africa.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eCondition is very good. The corduroy is sound and clean with even colour and the ribbed nap intact, showing light wear consistent with age. The Imperial-crown buttons are present down the front and on the pocket flaps, the blue piping runs unbroken along the collar, front, and sleeves, and the black-white-red aiguillette and the shoulder straps are present and intact. The silk-embroidered \u003cem\u003ePetersflagge\u003c\/em\u003e sleeve shield is secure, its colours bright and its detail crisp. There is no significant staining, moth damage, or loss, and the tunic is unlined in the original manner of its construction.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eFor the collector, DKKB and Reichskolonialbund uniforms document the German colonial-veterans' movement of the interwar and 1930s period and its absorption into the political structures of that era. This is a complete and well-preserved example, correctly identified by its \u003cem\u003ePetersflagge\u003c\/em\u003e shield and its South West Africa colour piping, with its association aiguillette, Imperial-crown buttons, and \u003cem\u003eSchutztruppe\u003c\/em\u003e-style corduroy cut intact. It falls outside the Imperial German focus of the shop and belongs to the colonial-veterans' and period-organization field. Buyers and sellers should be aware that insignia of this kind carry import restrictions in Germany, France, Australia, and other jurisdictions, and that sale is restricted or prohibited on some selling platforms; it should be offered only through a venue that permits material of this era.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Derrittmeister Militaria","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50148912562415,"sku":"15-728 XAA","price":1895.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/9169\/5855\/files\/15-728-xaa-2.jpg?v=1783536474","url":"https:\/\/derrittmeister.com\/products\/german-southwest-africa-enlisted-man-nco-tunic-post-wwi-era-copy","provider":"Derrittmeister Militaria Group","version":"1.0","type":"link"}