Volkspolizei wintermütze?

[Peter1312]

Hello,
This is the first time I decided to buy a DDR item. I bought it here in Germany from a man that said it belonged to his father, a former Volkspolizei. I wondered if this is true and wanted to see what can you tell me about it.
From what I have read the B inside stands for the year 1972.

Also I have a question: How much can I expect to pay for a Grenztruppen uniform from the 80s? Can you please recommend me some reference pages or books.

Thanks everyone, this is an incredible forum.

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[Jan Klaassen]

Welcome to the hobby

What you have bought is indeed a winter "fake fur" Russian-style hat. It's stamped "MdI" for Ministerium des (or der?) Innern. I do believe, however, this specific hat, with the blue-ish top, was used by the Zoll and not specifically the Volkspolizei, though others might be more knowledgable on that...

For reference books:
http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=582582

And on your GT-uniform question: it really depends on rank (soldier, Unteroffizier, officer) and size. State is usually very good.
I'd say a soldiers' uniform (tunic, pants and cap only) some €20 euros (without shipping) if you buy them seperately, some €40 if bought together.
For NCO's "auf zeit" some more, perhaps €30/€50 - berufs-NCO about the same. Officers I'd say (looking at the prices on ebay lately) €35/€60.
And it's not the value, but what you might have to pay on "the market". You might get very lucky, however, and pick up a complete one for a fiver
If anyone disagrees with this, please correct me!

[myddrcaps]

Welcome to the hobby

What you have bought is indeed a winter "fake fur" Russian-style hat. It's stamped "MdI" for Ministerium des (or der?) Innern. I do believe, however, this specific hat, with the blue-ish top, was used by the Zoll and not specifically the Volkspolizei, though others might be more knowledgable on that...

Zoll would not be marked MdI,

[Rev462]

Peter,

You do indeed have a Police officer Ushanka (the Russian word) or Tschapka (the German word). You are correct, "B" is the date code for 1972. Later vintage Tschapkas did not have the sweatband.

As far as I've been able to tell, Tschapkas used by the Vopo were this grayish color - I've never seen one that matches the color of uniform. It seems strange to me that they did it this way, but not all East German organizations were in complete lockstep with their uniform regulations.

What I'm not sure about is whether the Feuerwehr, the Trapo & Prison Administration wore dark blue Tschapkas or not.

If someone has further information on this I would be interested to hear about it.

Regarding Customs headgear, it's been my observation that their stuff is either unmarked or marked with "ZV" (for Zollverwaltung) or "Zoll". They were a separate organization from the Police and their stuff is not marked "MdI". But, their Tschapkas did match the color of the uniform!

[Paul Spain]

As far as I can tell the fire dept.,police,and army ALL wore this same silver/blue hat..I call this color Russian blue since it matches 100% to the cat but I'm not sure if the D.D.R. ever made these in any other color besides this except civillian ones which had many colors.

I wish the markings on mine was in better shape,All that I can see is what looks like BM and it has a small white tag sewn in with the size 56 printed in red. Mine is police too though because the seller I got it from runs a VolksPolizei museum, They go by Oberleutenant1989.

[Rev462]

Paul,

Tschapkas worn by the military definitely did match the color of the uniforms. And from what I've seen so far civilian Tschapkas also matched the color of their civilian uniforms.

The Police seem to be the oddballs in the bunch, wearing Tschapkas that didn't match any of their uniform colors.

[Jan Klaassen]

Zoll would not be marked MdI,

I already doubted my statement, so thanks for clarifying

[torstenbel]

Zoll would not be marked MdI,

Here is an example of a Zoll Winter Cap http://www.germandotmilitaria.com/en...st+German,+DDR

Cheers, Torsten.

[myddrcaps]

I already doubted my statement, so thanks for clarifying

the blue-ish tops can look so much alike, here are two hats marked MdI and one un-marked Zoll winter hat. which is which maybe faded by the sun???



here is a female Zoll and MdI hat for comparison.

[myddrcaps]

Here is an example of a Zoll Winter Cap http://www.germandotmilitaria.com/en...st+German,+DDR

Cheers, Torsten.

lovely little hat,

[Paul Spain]

Here is an example of a Zoll Winter Cap http://www.germandotmilitaria.com/en...st+German,+DDR

Cheers, Torsten.

Looks the same as a VolksPolizei or NVA one except for the plastic diamond in it..I'd have figured Zoll would have at least tried to distinguish themselves from the other forces but I guess it was about saving as much money as possible. Mine is more of a light purplish blue-grey on top though..I guess that was the one thing that set them apart from Zoll ones.

[torstenbel]

Looks the same as a VolksPolizei or NVA one except for the plastic diamond in it..I'd have figured Zoll would have at least tried to distinguish themselves from the other forces but I guess it was about saving as much money as possible. Mine is more of a light purplish blue-grey on top though..I guess that was the one thing that set them apart from Zoll ones.

not quite the same. the cloth is just a little bluer than the MdI blue ... kind of ...