Werkfeuerwehr Cuff Title?

[Gene T]

Picked up a very nice Feuerwehr tunic today, which sported a gold Feuerwehr Ehrenkreuz and a cuff title (no sign of an arm badge having ever been applied). After browsing through the threads here, I am quite convinced that the cross is a repro, but so far I've found nothing on the cuff title. It is made of a silk/rayon type material and about 2 cm wide, with woven lettering.

Is it real or a fantasy piece? I bought the tunic with the assumption that these add-ons are all fake, so this is purely to satisfy my curiosity.

Thanks in advance for any input!

Gene T

[Bill H.]

Hi Gene,

I've seen a few Werkfeuerwehr cuff titles before but they have all been in German print script rather than block script like this one - except for a bullion one I had (don't know if I still do). When I look at this one the first thing that pops in my mind is "Bundes era" although I have to admit that I've not seen this particular cuff title before.

Its possible that its ok and its just not a common pattern. The SS had block script cuff titles too and they are perfectly ok but you see those all the time. I've just never seen one exactly like this and my gut feel is that somethings not quite right.

It sure is nicely applied though. Cheers, Bill Huber

[SCHUPO]

Gene,

I tend to agree with Bill that this cuff title is probably postwar from the construction. Geman companies still have Werkschutz and Werkfeuerwehr units and they wear similar uniforms to those worn during the war.

Having said that, some German cuff titles are in script and some are in block letters so I would not say that there were no block letter cuff titles like this during the war. Script titles were generally replaced with block letter titles during the war so I would expect to see both that are of the NS period. I just don't think this is one of them. One thing to remember is that these private security and safety units were largely unregulated so their insignia should be expected to be different from say, military or party insignia. So, we could be wrong and it could be perfectly proper.

[Gene T]

Thank you for your informative comments, Gentlemen!

Gene T