A German Private Forestry Service Oberforestmeister Tunic

Third Reich Period: The tunic is fabricated from a fine grayish-green wool, the shoulders adorned with Oberforestmeister shoulder boards incorporating four rows of hunter green embroidery, in an interwoven braided pattern, two silvered brass acorns on the upper, with a loop creating a button hole for uniform attachment at the neck end and completed with a green-finished wooden button, on a fine silver bullion wire base, with a chocolate brown corduroy underside, with a horizontal tab placed at ninety degrees under the board at the shoulder end with a fine silvered bullion wire and a hunter green wool underside. Fed through the right shoulder board is a forestry official's aiguillette, its cord fabricated from forest green embroidery interlaced with with a copper-coloured aluminum wire and is divided into three sections: the first section has a cord braided into multiple rows of loops, a thin loop attached to the end of the braided portion and wrapped around the top green-finished wooden button at the opening, the second section has a shorter looped cord with a braided sliding adjustment knot and a loop at its end and wrapped around the same button, the third section has a long looped cord that passes over the shoulder onto the back, returns under the arm and wraps around the second section at its midpoint on the front of the tunic, with all three cords joined at five positions within a 25 mm square mm forest green wool patch that is slotted in the centre and designed for placement around a button on the shoulder. The collar is fabricated from hunter green wool, the edge trimmed in an angled rolled silvered aluminum wire, each of the collars adorned with Oberforestmeister collar tabs consisting of six silvered aluminum wire insignias, clusters of oak leaves and acorns in all four corners that are framing two individual oak leaves with one acorn each, on a brown wool upper, the brown representative of the Private Forestry Service. There are four pockets on the front, one on each breast and larger ones at the waist on both sides, the breast pockets designed with a decorative pleat, all four pockets having fold over flaps with reinforced button holes and are completed with green-finished wooden buttons sewn in place. The front has a vertical row of four green-finished wooden buttons, unmarked, sewn in place on the right side, facing an equal number of reinforced button holes on the left side. The sleeves have French cuffs, the right cuff held in place via stitching in two locations, the stitching on the left cuff having come away. The rear of the tunic is single-vented, with two green-finished wooden buttons above the venting. The inside of the tunic is lined in a moss green rayon, while the sleeves are lined in white rayon in a stripped pattern. In addition, there is a pocket sewn in place on the left breast, along with a reinforced slot that opens into the left waist pocket, plus a moss green rayon strap that emerges from a smaller slot above the aforementioned reinforced slot and terminates with a functioning metal clip marked "DRGM" (Deutsches Reichsgebrauchsmuster). It has a moss green cotton strap in the collar for hanging the tunic on a hook, with an embroidered manufacturer's label sewn in place just below on the lining, the label inscribed "W. Michovius COTTBUS GEGR. 1843" (Cottbus being a city near Berlin). The tunic measures 480 mm across the shoulders and 740 mm in length overall, exhibiting scattered mothing on the exterior, wear along the neck edge of the collar, the left shoulder board with some fraying in the cord, scattered silvering wear evident on the acorns on both shoulder boards, a few holes on the interior lining behind the right waist pocket, the collar tabs remaining intact, the tunic displaying a nice texture in the wool and quality workmanship, along with intact stitching. Better than very fine. (C:166)