German Dunkelblau tunic? No, it is Bulgarian

[Theodor]

Hi,

I'm happy to show you my latest find. Though the pattern and the color are almost exactly the same, it is not a German Imperial Dunkelblau uniform, but it is Bulgarian. Yet unsure for the exact period, probably early 1900's to the beginning of WWI.
A few months ago an antique dealer who usually sells me old military buttons, offered me a set of bakelite buttons and a collar from the most ordinary type Bulgarian WWII everyday uniform. I asked where the rest is, he told me that he cut the tunic, because it had moth holes! Needless to say, that I told him what a big mistake he has.
And now he called me to say, that he has a moth eaten tunic, but did not cut the buttons, kept it whole for me. So it was close to have the buttons cut and the rest dumped!!! So, I got it intact. Well, the collar is indeed damaged by moths, but these don't get better for 10 $

So, the hunt begins for a period picture with shoulder boards and then for the boards themselves.

By the way, at the time he wore it, the unknown officer had at leasr 4 medals, the loops on the chest suggest it.

[Theodor]

The collar has two hooks and must be closed, but the neck of the plastic body is too fat.

Here is the back side. The piping and the collar are in exactly the same nice absolutely red color. On the pictures they look puple, but they arfe in fact red.

[Theodor]

Detail of the backside decorations, all the buttons are like this, they are German or Austrian make, it was like this before some Bulgarian factories started producing military buttons.

[Theodor]

Sleeve detail, with the two small buttons.

[Theodor]

The medal loops on the chest

[Theodor]

finally, a look inside. Two colors and lots of sewing

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Theodor, thank goodness that you saved the tunic I think you have a very good $10 worth there!


Cheers, Ade.

[Theodor]

Thanks Ade! In fact it is not for the money, well it is good that I got it cheap, but I mean, thse are highly unavailable regardless of price or condition. As said now it needs shoulder boards, but that's slightly easier, because the most usual case is for the boards and buttons to outlive the tunic itself. Very pity, but this is valid for the caps, too. Nothing easier than finding a cocarde, nothing more difficult than finding a complete hat

[Tony & Kaiser]

Nice find Theodor. I have actually seen one of these on German ebay being offered as Bavarian which it is not of course. There are other countries that had similar tunics, some even with Litzen that is quite different than German but these are sold of course as Prussian Garde Waffenrock. Ironically, as is the case with your new tunic, they are probably worth more! Tony http://www.kaisersbunker.com

[Theodor]

Hi Tony,

In fact I took the word "Dunkelblau" from your site, I remembered that you have similar tunics but could not remember the name of the color, so had a look again
I talked to one of the major antique delers here, he has ever had 2 similar only! No matter that tons of stuf has passed through his hands. Both appeared together 15 years ago, when he was just beginning, and as a beginner he sold them quite very cheap to a German dealer, who visited his shop. The dealer explained as a colleague to a colleague, that there is no good demand for such tunics as "Bulgarian", but he has nice German buttons and boards...
So, maybe showing it is not pointless, someone may someday recognize a "Germanized" and not real German tunic, remembering this post

[Adam H]

A very nice tunic Theodor! Well done saving it from the dustbin... I hope you manage to find the proper boards, and perhaps a medal bar to make this into a very nice display for your collection!

Well done!

Cheers,

Adam

[Rick Research]

Oh no! Another victim of the "Uniform Disease!"

My closets are full of Soviet uniforms!


You are doomed!!!!!

[Theodor]

Thanks friends!
Doomed Well, I am already doomed long ago Because already have 3 more Bulgarian uniforms - the most simple WWII officer field tunic, WWII everyday pilot uniform and early 50's commie uniform, exact copy of the Soviet uniforms /despite the Bulgarian boards, buttons and the fact that it has 6, not 5 buttons/. Tomorrow I'll take pictures of the other uniforms, I think I have not presented them to the forum.
As for the medals... what could they be... As said, I think it is a pre-WWI uniform. Even before the Balkan war, IMHO the lack of chest pockets sends it before these conflicts. So, one medal can be the well known Bravery from the Serbian-Bulgarian war 1885 /if the officer is that old/, the rest probably /?/ years of service, some merit medal, another possibility is the 1908 medal for the proclamation of Independance /since liberated in 1878, until 1908 Bulgaria was at least on paper dependant on the Otoman Empire/.
So many things to find out, it's exciting!