Hitlers Uniform - Why was it so plain?

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muller1945
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Re: Hitlers Uniform - Why was it so plain?

#16

Post by muller1945 » 24 Jun 2019, 22:14

I have seen Hitler wearing a black peak cap with National Eagle and no other insignia. I think it was around 1934 or 1935, he was on a boat, i have never seen any more photographs of him wearing this cap, may be you have seen more photographs of it.

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matthew4108
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Re: Hitlers Uniform - Why was it so plain?

#17

Post by matthew4108 » 25 Jun 2019, 14:08

It was a KdF cap he was photographed in on that boat. Hoffmann took a series of photos that day so there should be few of him around in slightly different poses.


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matthew4108
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Re: Hitlers Uniform - Why was it so plain?

#18

Post by matthew4108 » 25 Jun 2019, 15:32

Here's on of the photos taken that day.
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HPL2008
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Re: Hitlers Uniform - Why was it so plain?

#19

Post by HPL2008 » 25 Jun 2019, 17:08

These pictures were taken aboard the KdF cruise ship Robert Ley in April 1939. Inge Ley is sitting next to Hitler.

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Re: Hitlers Uniform - Why was it so plain?

#20

Post by gracie4241 » 26 Jun 2019, 16:07

Actually, Hitler read and knew a lot about history, especially and obviously german history

muller1945
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Re: Hitlers Uniform - Why was it so plain?

#21

Post by muller1945 » 26 Jun 2019, 22:24

Seems very strange Hitler wearing the KdF peak cap when considering he always wore his 1938 peak cap until the end of the war. Must have been a special cap presented to him by the KdF.

Sid Guttridge
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Re: Hitlers Uniform - Why was it so plain?

#22

Post by Sid Guttridge » 27 Jun 2019, 14:45

Hi Guys,

As a matter of interest, was an official uniform for the rank of Fuhrer ever proposed or designed?

It strikes me that the garb he did adopt, whether consciously or not, reflected the role of Fuhrer as head of both civil and military society.

Cheers,

Sid.

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HPL2008
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Re: Hitlers Uniform - Why was it so plain?

#23

Post by HPL2008 » 27 Jun 2019, 15:17

Sid Guttridge wrote:
27 Jun 2019, 14:45
As a matter of interest, was an official uniform for the rank of Fuhrer ever proposed or designed?
No, and why should they have done that?

Führer was not a rank, but a status and title unique to Hitler, who was above and beyond all conventional rank structures. Even if the Third Reich had survived, nobody would ever have inherited that title.

On the other hand, since Hitler was the chief of everything (head of state, head of government, leader of the sole political party, supreme commander of the arned forces, high leader of the SS and SA etc. etc.) and possessed unlimited and universal authority to the degree that his word was literally law, one could say that whatever uniform he chose to wear was automatically the Führer's "official' uniform...

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Re: Hitlers Uniform - Why was it so plain?

#24

Post by Sid Guttridge » 28 Jun 2019, 12:30

Hi HPL2008,

I did not suggest that anyone "should" (your word) do anything. I merely asked an open question: "......was an official uniform for the rank of Fuhrer ever proposed or designed?"

Hitler clearly didn't intend that he should be the only Fuhrer of the "Thousand Year Reich", unless he was bent on something approaching literal immortality.

Besides, it is clearly untrue that "Even if the Third Reich had survived, nobody would ever have inherited that title." Somebody did - Doenitz.

Cheers,

Sid

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HPL2008
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Re: Hitlers Uniform - Why was it so plain?

#25

Post by HPL2008 » 28 Jun 2019, 13:19

Sid Guttridge wrote:
28 Jun 2019, 12:30
Hitler clearly didn't intend that he should be the only Fuhrer of the "Thousand Year Reich", unless he was bent on something approaching literal immortality.

Besides, it is clearly untrue that "Even if the Third Reich had survived, nobody would ever have inherited that title." Somebody did - Doenitz.
No.

Of course somebody would have had to continue running the country after Hitler's death, but that job didn't come with the title and status of Führer attached.

In fact, Hitler did not have a single successor: Dönitz became Reichspräsident [Reich President], Kriegsminister [Minister of War] and Oberbefehlshaber der Wehrmacht [Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces]. Goebbels became Reichskanzler [Reich Chancellor]. Bormann became Parteiminister [Minister of the Party]. This was ordered by Hitler himself in his political testament.

(After Hindenburg's death, the offices of Reichspräsident and Reichskanzler had been merged, with their powers held by Hitler. Following his death, they were to be split once again. The office of Parteiminister was to be newly created.)

Nobody inherited the title of Führer, which was always to be unique to Hitler.

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Re: Hitlers Uniform - Why was it so plain?

#26

Post by Sid Guttridge » 29 Jun 2019, 12:16

Hi HPL2008,

You are right. Wikipedia has your reply almost word for word.

Thanks for the correction.

Cheers,

Sid.

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Re: Hitlers Uniform - Why was it so plain?

#27

Post by Skipperino » 07 Sep 2019, 08:36

Question: what would the colour of the top of Hitler's kepi be?

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von thoma
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Re: Hitlers Uniform - Why was it so plain?

#28

Post by von thoma » 07 Sep 2019, 09:05

Question: what would the colour of the top of Hitler's kepi be ?

High leaders in the SA used bright red colour in kepi top and collar patches
But no colour in that case, Hitler's kepi was made in two shades of brown, I figure it's a custom kepi for him.
Hitler retains the title of Oberster SA-Führer ( Supreme SA Leader )
" The right to believe is the right of those who don't know "

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HPL2008
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Re: Hitlers Uniform - Why was it so plain?

#29

Post by HPL2008 » 07 Sep 2019, 09:18

Also, he wore the kepi only rarely and for a short period of time, as he didn't like how he looked with it.

(There was even a Hoffmann studio portrait of Hitler with a kepi which he did not authorize for publication as he was so dissatisfied with his look.)

Because of this, there are only very few photos showing Hitler wearing this type of headgear.

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Re: Hitlers Uniform - Why was it so plain?

#30

Post by Sid Guttridge » 07 Sep 2019, 11:58

Hi HPL2008,

The hard kepi is a ridiculous piece of headgear. Nobody ever looked good in it. Even the Foreign Legion look better in almost any other hat they have ever worn.

I know from experience. In Rhodesia my unit had a semi-hard kepi and it did not enhance our "war-iness" and prestige a jot. Quite the reverse, in fact!

Cheers,

Sid.

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