Original German WWII Early Pattern Waffen SS Regiment Germania EM/NCO Embroidered Cuff Title – Uniform Cutoff Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. The SS (Schutzstaffel – ‘Protection Squadron’) was originally formed in 1925, ostensibly to act as a small, loyal bodyguard unit to protect the Führer, Adolf H. Under the direction of the Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, the SS grew to be the most ruthless and feared organization of the 20th century. They were the vanguard of NSDAP and eventually controlled nearly every function of German life and much of Occupied Europe.

When WWII began in earnest, the SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT) (SS Dispositional Troops) became the Waffen-SS (“Armed SS”), an official military branch of the SS organization. Its formations included men from NSDAP ruled Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both occupied and unoccupied lands.

This is a wonderful uniform cutoff EM/NCO Ärmelstreiffen (Cuff Title), from the legendary Waffen SS Regiment “Germania“, and has the name of the regiment embroidered in Gothic script on the cuff title in Silver Gray fabric, correct for an EM/NCO. The silver flat wire embroidered border was used for all of the cuff titles, and on the officer’s version it was used for the text as well. It measures approximately 13 inches long, and shows wear consistent with service, and having been stitched to a uniform. We have had experts examine it and compared it to several originals, and we can find no discrepancies in the design or method of construction.

The Waffen SS regiment “Germania” originally had been designated the SS-Verfügungsrtruppe, Standarte II, (SS-Special Purpose Troops 2nd Regiment). During the mid-late 1930s the three SS-VT regiments had been granted special at the Nürnberg rallies, with I, II, and III being named Deutschland, Germania, and Der Führer. When the SS-VT was formed into the Waffen SS after the fall of France in 1940 along with the SSLAH and SS-TV, these regiments were permitted to keep their special titles and continue to wear the cuff titles. While the Deutschland and Der Führer became part of the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich, Germania became part of the 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking, and was designated SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment 9 “Germania”.

As a note, prior to the formation of the Waffen SS, the cuff titles used by the SS-VT had the text font changed from Gothic to Latin in December 1939, so this cuff title pre-dates that, making it a great early example.

Ready to research and display!

The 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking (5. SS-Panzerdivision Wiking) or SS Division Wiking was an infantry and later an armored division among the thirty-eight Waffen-SS divisions of Germany. It was recruited from foreign volunteers in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, the Netherlands and Belgium under the command of German officers. During World War II, the division served on the Eastern Front. It surrendered on 9 May 1945 to the American forces in Austria.

After the German invasion of Poland in 1939, Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS, sought to expand the Waffen-SS with foreign military volunteers for the “crusade against Bolshevism”. The enrollment began in April 1940 with the creation of two regiments: the Waffen-SS Regiment Nordland (for Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish volunteers), and the Waffen-SS Regiment Westland (for Dutch and Flemish volunteers).

The Nordic formation, originally organised as the Nordische Division (Nr. 5), was to be made up of Nordic volunteers mixed with German Waffen-SS personnel. The SS Infantry Regiment Germania of the SS-Verfügungs-Division, which was formed mostly from Germans, was transferred to help form the nucleus of a new division in late 1940.[2] In December 1940, the new SS motorised formation was to be designated as SS-Division Germania, but after its formative period, the name was changed, to SS Division Wiking in January 1941. The division was formed around three motorised infantry regiments: Germania, Westland, and Nordland; with the addition of an artillery regiment. Command of the newly formed division was given to Felix Steiner, the former commander of the Verfügungstruppe SS Regiment Deutschland.