Show me your DDR

Do you have this book?

Militärische Orden der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik
by Klaus Feder

its available at:

http://www.amazon.de/Milit%C3%A4rische-Orden-Deutschen-Demokratischen-Republik/dp/3980469522/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327483077&sr=1-1

Thanks Fuinseog - I do not have that book. Is it full colour? I find that important for such subjects as an inordinate amount of these type of books are B&W.

Yes Alex - it fits like a glove. Very snappy set of threads indeed :pac:

I also got Lederstiefeln, and was surprised why the heels were much more worn out as compared to the soles. And then it dawned on me - ah yes, it is from the goose stepping!

I have never used them before so cannot give you an opinion on that.

I was thinking - is it illegal to wear a DDR uniform in a public place in Germany? Did they create any legislation after the re-unification?

I just noticed there, HerrScheisse, that your gold Treue Dienste medal is actually Grenztruppen issue and is worth more than the more common NVA ones. Good find.

I just bought myself something very nice and it should arrive in a week or so.

Unn schon widdr sinn mor im Lande dor tanzedn'n Schweene. Du Scheisse! Gibb's doch gor nee!*

And so we are once again in the realm of the dancing pigs!

MedalFuhrer, I must have one of these mugs! I demand to have one of these mugs!

Those boots look pretty old, looking at the sole detail. At first glance I would say 1960s. Are there any remaining stamps visible on the inside? Due to the fine, smooth leather they are parade boots, BTW.

Did you get them somewhere other than eBay? There's a guy on German eBay that I've bought from a couple of times who has brand new DDR boots and shoes for very reasonable prices.

* The Sachsen accent is the finest of all German dialects, hands down!

"My uniform blew away in a storm." :pac:

That sight will cause me nightmares tonight. Dancing pigs, jackboots and absinthe is more than I can handle in one image. It is but for the grace of God, that you did not polish that fine leather into a glistening sheen, otherwise we might have been treated to an even more damaging, searing image in the reflection of the boots.

But....Hau Weg die Scheisse :pac:

I am posting this to cancel out the highly disturbing image of the sickly looking pair of pins directly above.

Make mine a Makarov :pac:

Can anyone tell me anything about the markings on the leather?

Little Alex wrote: »

Brown is for officers. The brown officer's belt and holster is the ugliest part of DDR equipment, in my opinion...

... whereby it draws directly on the same thing having existed in the Wehrmacht.

Still looks ****e, though.
Jaysus!

There are so many ugly DDR things and with funkier colours than the belt. I actually like the holster, and it looks even better when on the uniform.

You made your way through that absinthe pretty quick, two pictures ago it was half full :pac:

MedalFuhrer wrote: »

Were they gruffly stuffed into your front trouser pocket, a pocket where only you or a brazen pick pocket would dare stuff their hand into?

The Pipes of Others ;-)

The gala uniform was always worn with straight, piped trousers and shoes, never with breeches (DDR breeches are always unpiped) and boots.

It was also worn with a special ribbon bar which was only one row in size and consisted of the most senior awards only, up to a maximum of four.

My ribbon bar is unusual in that the original owner seems to have served time in the army before joining the police. He also was awarded the Ausgezeichnete Leistungen twice, also unusual. Still, though, I don't think it's a random "put-together" since they are usually bombastic things with five or six rows, not modest little single row ones.

This single row bar was also worn in summer time with the "service blouse", which is the shirt with fittings for shoulder boards, chest pockets and aluminium buttons. It was worn open-necked.



Not happy with the standard one, I used a fancy double-cuff shirt which allowed cufflinks to be worn. I'm sure this was commonly done. As there do not seem to be any standard issue service cufflinks I made my own out of shoulder board buttons held together by a split ring.

Dapper, eh? :pac:

And here are some other recently acquired goodies...



A fabulous piped, dark collar Grenztruppen tunic, a parade dagger and a couple of 1970s medal ribbons.

a pity you did not get the ceremonial belt and hanger that accompany the dagger. it was originally presented in a grey and white cardboard box with purple velvet lining.
300 euro will get you one issued to a general. I think I posted a link here before.