Original German WWII Kriegsmarine Anti-Aircraft Gun Crewman Matrosenobergefreiter Navy Jumper Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. The Kriegsmarine was the navy of NSDAP Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war Reichsmarine (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches, along with the Heer and the Luftwaffe, of the Wehrmacht, the German armed forces from 1935 to 1945.

This beautiful Kriegsmarine jumper belonged to a Matrosenobergefreiter (Seaman 1st Class) which was identified by the chevrons on the upper left shoulder of the jumper. His “rate” or job was an Anti-Aircraft Gun Crewman and the patch indicating so is on the left shoulder beneath the chevrons. The rating patch features the elongated bomb with wings on the sides of it. Both patches are of wool construction and appear to have been hand stitched on. There is very little mothing present on the insignia. On the right breast of the jumper the Kriegs eagle can be found. The eagle is brighter in color and not faded like the other patches, indicating that this very well could have been replaced at some point. This was definitely a service worn tunic and displays a “worn” appearance. There are some small holes present on the upper right side of the jumper on the front. They don’t appear to be caused by moths, the holes are in the same location where the buttstock of a rifle would sit when being shouldered, so they very well could be “snag” holes.

There is what we believe to be a manufacturers label stitched into the inside lower lip of the uniform. The label is as follows:

Lühmann Karlheinz
0 21981 / 42D

It looks to be the owners name (last name first), with their size and operating number. We have been unable to research anything associated with the name on the tag, making this a great research opportunity!

The condition is beautiful and a great example of a genuine service worn Kriegsmarine jumper! Comes ready to display!

More on the Kriegsmarine
In violation of the Treaty of Versailles, the Kriegsmarine grew rapidly during German naval rearmament in the 1930s. The 1919 treaty had limited the size of the German navy and prohibited the building of submarines

Kriegsmarine ships were deployed to the waters around Spain during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) under the guise of enforcing non-intervention, but in reality supported the Nationalists against the Spanish Republicans.

In January 1939, Plan Z, a massive ship-building program, was ordered, calling for surface naval parity with the British Royal Navy by 1944. When World War II broke out in September 1939, Plan Z was shelved in favour of a crash building program for submarines (U-boats) instead of capital surface warships, and land and air forces were given priority of strategic resources.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine (as for all branches of armed forces during the period of absolute NSDAP power) was AH, who exercised his authority through the Oberkommando der Marine (“High Command of the Navy”).

The Kriegsmarine’s most significant ships were the U-boats, most of which were constructed after Plan Z was abandoned at the beginning of World War II. Wolfpacks were rapidly assembled groups of submarines which attacked British convoys during the first half of the Battle of the Atlantic but this tactic was largely abandoned by May 1943 when U-boat losses mounted. Along with the U-boats, surface commerce raiders (including auxiliary cruisers) were used to disrupt Allied shipping in the early years of the war, the most famous of these being the heavy cruisers Admiral Graf Spee and Admiral Scheer and the battleship Bismarck. However, the adoption of convoy escorts, especially in the Atlantic, greatly reduced the effectiveness of surface commerce raiders against convoys.

Following the end of World War II in 1945, the Kriegsmarine’s remaining ships were divided up among the Allied powers and were used for various purposes including minesweeping. Some were loaded with superfluous chemical weapons and scuttled.