Reenactment Groups??????

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DJMOON17
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Reenactment Groups??????

#1

Post by DJMOON17 » 09 Jun 2006, 02:04

Does anyone know of ANY East German reenactment groups in the United States?
I'm looking for both airsoft and regular blank-firing reenactors.

Also if you can send me links to their website (if they have any) that would be great too.


Thanks.

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Ingsoc75
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#2

Post by Ingsoc75 » 10 Jun 2006, 01:22

Why not create one? :)


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DJMOON17
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Renactment unit...

#3

Post by DJMOON17 » 10 Jun 2006, 02:51

Funny for you to say that because that is EXACTLY what I'm thinking.

I just wanted to see if there was any before I went out creating my own.

However I'm unsure what specfic unit to do. There is obvioulsy the paratroopers, but I don't have any of their uniforms and the Wachregiment Fredrich Engels or the Wacht-Rgt.F.Dzierzynski but I don't have any of the cufftitles or patches for that either.

However I;ve been doing some research on the Hanz Bemeiler Regiment which is actually mentioned on this forum. It's a small, rather well known standard motorized rifles unit.

Anyway,

interested in joining?

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soldat_m56
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#4

Post by soldat_m56 » 11 Jun 2006, 05:20

I would be interested, except for one small problem - I live in Florida. :(

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Ingsoc75
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#5

Post by Ingsoc75 » 11 Jun 2006, 16:15

http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=96899

I live near you over here in Philadelphia. Did you have any ideas of how to start one?

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DJMOON17
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MY reenactment group

#6

Post by DJMOON17 » 12 Jun 2006, 01:41

Yes, Bristol is about thirty minutes from Center City.

Well at this point in time yes. I can't find any at all. There is one group which does Air soft but they are in Canada. There is also another group in the Uk as well. So why not start my own. I know several WWII reenactors, most German who run their units different ways. Some are strict, by the books and others are pretty laxed.

Wow, I looked all over this forum and could not find anything related to NVA reenacting. Or foucrse, I never thought to look under reenacting.

Well I think I'll start one, but I don't think I'll find too many people who are interested and the fact that it would be in Philadelphia would make it ever harder. It will most likely be a "Living History" Display, however I have some great "what if" scenarios including another uprising in 1983, a civil war and if Prague Spring had turned violent.

So, you want to join? (Nick 89 you can join too iy wou want, you can help pay for website. :D )

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soldat_m56
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#7

Post by soldat_m56 » 12 Jun 2006, 02:36

I have some West German army jackets. Could switch sides and complete the rest of the uniform. :lol:

Actually, I reenact a Panzergrenadier with the 116. Panzer Division, but I just joined a few months back and don't have any uniforms or equipment for it yet. I will have my first event with them this fall. However, it I thought it would be cool to do other times of German history too.

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DJMOON17
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West Germans...

#8

Post by DJMOON17 » 12 Jun 2006, 02:52

Actually I was thinking of that. But I have an even better idea.

I think I could maybe get a few WWII reenactors to play as "West Germans" should we provide the uniforms and gear.

Right now West German stuff is dirt cheap, especially here in the US. We could just buy in bulk.

I think for now this one would be a living history display. I have a few scernarios of internal conflicts we can start out doing. Then maybe if we can get enough West German gear and suit up one of the other reenacting groups.

But some more goodnews. I know a place a few hours from here which has running US equipment the sevenites and eighties. They do a big reenacting event each month. There is no set time frame and a lot of the stuff is just people showing off thier collection of, usually, US equipment from the eighties. We could go there.

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soldat_m56
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#9

Post by soldat_m56 » 12 Jun 2006, 16:51

Well, really I think I'll try to get scrap together a local East German reenactment group in North Florida. I know a guy who is interested in German military stuff and he has several buddies with the same interest. Also have a few local German friends who might know some others who would be interested. The WWII group I'm in wouldn't be good for recruits because most of the guys live in South Florida and I'm in the northern part of the state (most reenactments are in the central part of Florida). Since most of the guys I'm trying to recruit know at least a little German (including me), this could be interesting if it turns out right.

Living history would be great, especially since a lot of people don't know anything about the NVA. Which unit is it the easiest to find equipment for and portray though? Seems like everyone's doing Motorized Rifles, but how about regular infantry, Fallschirmjäger, or combat polizei?

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DJMOON17
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Famous units

#10

Post by DJMOON17 » 13 Jun 2006, 04:23

Well as far as I know there aren't many "famous" regular East German units. I can't find ANY info on them. The only ones that have at least some attention are the Wach regimnent and the ceremonial regiments as well as the paratroopers.

Motorized rifles I beleive are the same thing as infantry, it just that they usually and (theorietically) have armored transport all the time while Infantry maybe subject to walking. However judging by the fact that they btoh have the same colored shoulder boards, one can imagine any other difference being minimal.

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iannima
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#11

Post by iannima » 13 Jun 2006, 11:10

The East German infantry took the form of "Motorised Rifles" (Motorisiert Schützen) originally in the same way that the Russians had done in WW2 (soldiers precariously perched on T34s) and subsequently with dedicated armoured infantry transoprt vehicles, the most common over the years being the BTR52, BTR60 (wheeled) and BMP1 (tracked). The motorisation of the infantry was essential as the Soviet plan of attack on the West crucially relied on speed of advance. A notable characteristic of some of these vehicles is their being amphibious and the provision of gun portholes so that infantry could fight whilst remaining inside the vehicle. This last feature being something that was pretty absent in comparable NATO contemporary vehicles (except Bundeswehr ones).
For your reenactment purpose, ( I belong to one of the two living history groups in the UK), there is little doubt that Mot. Schützen or Grenztruppen is the easiest thing to do. The equipment is readily available and does not cost that much. Fallschirmjäger is a lot more difficult (e.g. boots are VERY difficult to find). The Wachregiment F. Engels is great fun and it is my personal favourite. You could even start a bit of re-enacting with that, by learning the "extreme Exerzierschritt" and do the change of the guard ceremony (but you would have to be tall and slim for that, otherwise it can easily turn into a farce).
That is what I would love to do, but I do not seem to find that many people who are interested enough to invest some time in practising the step :| :cry:

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soldat_m56
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#12

Post by soldat_m56 » 13 Jun 2006, 18:04

I noticed someone was selling a "combat police" uniform, saying they were barracked like soldiers and typically served in the military for a couple years. Anyone know exactly what these were?

Also, is it best for living history purposes to use both the parade uniform and the strichtarn combat uniform or just one? As for the ceremonial purposes, I am lightly built and about 6 feet tall, so I guess that would work out fine.

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iannima
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#13

Post by iannima » 13 Jun 2006, 19:55

The Bereitschaftpolizei was a special branch of the Volkspolizei which we would translate as riot police. They were heavily involved against the demonstrators in Leipzig and elsewhere in 1989. The uniform differs from the standard Volkspolizei one in that the Waffenfarbe is a lighter green and "military" insignia are sometimes used such as the shooting chord and (I think) also cuff bars (before 1982). I am however no great expert on Volkspolizei matters.
As for what it is best, I would say it is very much up to you. Why not both the parade and field order of dress? I am personally heavily biased towards the parade-dress uniform. The disadvantage that has is that I get mocking Nazi salutes and people stop me to tell me how their grandfather was made prisoner/ tortured/ killed etc. etc. by the nasty Germans in 1942... It is a bit difficult to convince them that I am that kind of German... The Strichtarn is unlikely to elicit that kind of reaction but it is obviously a lot less glamorous.
As for "what if" scenarios, personally I am not so sure it would be a nice thing to do. I am very glad that the NVA did not actually fire a shot in anger in all its history (without counting alleged advisors' role in far off countries). It did not even take part -as it was alleged at the time- in the repression of the Prague spring in 1968. I think we should all just be grateful that it did not come to pass...

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soldat_m56
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#14

Post by soldat_m56 » 13 Jun 2006, 21:09

I think DJMOON17 and Enigma229 were the ones who want to start the what if scenarios. I just wanted to do the parade ground marching type stuff. This is entirely dependent on whether I can get a few locals to agree to do this with me or not. I am starting Wehrmacht reenacting, so I don't need to do it with NVA to get the "thrill of battle".

Also, what equipment does one need for a complete portrayal of parade dress? Where do you get the stuff as well? Ebay sells the medals, hats, helmets, tunics, and pants and military surplus has the boots but anything else for the parade uniform is difficult to find (shirts, ties, etc.). Was the AK-47 used in parade or was a regular rifle utilised?

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iannima
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#15

Post by iannima » 13 Jun 2006, 23:47

Nick89 wrote: Also, what equipment does one need for a complete portrayal of parade dress? Where do you get the stuff as well? Ebay sells the medals, hats, helmets, tunics, and pants and military surplus has the boots but anything else for the parade uniform is difficult to find (shirts, ties, etc.). Was the AK-47 used in parade or was a regular rifle utilised?
I think we need to agree on which parade dress we are talking about: officer, soldier, wachregiment etc. For shirts and ties if you do not find them on Ebay you can always ask Bob at Gowen Militaria. On those things he is pretty cheap too. As for weapons, an officer would carry a sword (cheap reproductions are vailable), a Wachregimenter a Simonov SKS rifle and just about everybody else an AKM (modernised version of the AK47). Bear in mind that east German dress uniforms come in two cloths: officer quality gabardine worn by officers and carreer NCOS and woollen cloth worn by conscripts. Again refer to Bob Gowen's website for a rough idea and I can give you more details on the parade order of dress of each one, that is if you want me to.

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