Reichsbahn Railway Workers Collar Tab Set

Product Description:  A Reichsbahn Railway Workers Collar Tab Set of notably fine quality, preserved in excellent overall condition. These collar tabs are made of black wool embroidered with yellow gold thread mounted on stiffeners and remain in excellent condition.  The black wool backing retains a deep, even nap with no evidence of moth activity, displaying only minor loose threads along the edges consistent with gentle age. The embroidered yellow-gold threading is finely rendered, remaining vibrant and fully intact.

This set stands as an exemplary illustration of wartime insignia craftsmanship, distinguished by its precision of execution and well-maintained period character—an appealing and well-documented artifact for the discerning collector.

Historical Description: The German military as well as civil, political and paramilitary organizations traditionally used shoulder straps and shoulder boards as uniform insignia, to denote the rank or function of the wearer. After the Nazi rise to power in 1933, there was a tremendous increase in the number of groups and organizations in Germany wearing officially sanctioned uniforms, and most of these organizations used shoulder straps and shoulder boards as a component of their regalia. The exact color of piping utilized, the material color, the type of braid or Tresse that was used, and the number or location of devices and pips present, allow shoulder boards to be tracked to the exact organization that issued them, and often yield even further detail such as the wearer’s rank and even his specific military unit. Normally worn in pairs, the boards were in some cases plain, and in other cases adorned with detailed embroidery or metal emblems. Some shoulder boards were made in the millions, others were specific to a single individual.

Collar insignia, in the form of collar tabs (Kragenspiegel) or simple woven Litzen, were very widely used by many German civil, political, military and paramilitary organizations, before and during WWII. In some cases, for example on collar tabs of the Luftwaffe, the collar insignia were rank specific, with devices or rank Tresse that changed as a soldier was promoted. In other cases, such as the pre-1938 Litzen used on enlisted field tunics of the German Army, the collar insignia had no rank identifier, but bore “Waffenfarbe” branch colors that identified a soldier’s unit type. Some German collar insignia were adorned with unit or branch specific metal emblems, while others featured hand or machine embroidery, and still others were made using hand applied wire bullion. Less commonly, collar insignia emblems could be directly applied to the collar itself, rather than being a removable patch. Collar insignia intended for field use was often different from the formal dress insignia used by the same organization. It is no exaggeration to say that many hundreds of different collar patterns were in use during the Third Reich, with some organizations having multiple patterns as regulations changed during the 1933-45 period. Some collar insignia, which was mass produced for large organizations, remains relatively common today, while other insignia types such as those for officers of the highest ranks, or for small organizations, are very scarce.

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