I was able to add the 1935 Allgemeine tunic and visor cap of Willy Tensfeld to my collection this week. They make for a good study in early ss clothing and headgear.
Doug
A little background on Tensfeld (sourced from Wikipedia):
Willy Tensfeld initially joined the Imperial German Navy in 1909 and served in U-boats during WW1, leaving the service after the war’s end in 1923. He joined the NSDAP (membership number 753.405) and the SS (SS-Nr. 14.724) in 1931. As Hauptamtlicher SS-Fuhrer, he lead the SS Standarte in Hamburg-Wilhelmsburg from December 1933 to March 1935 and from March 1935 to April 1936 the 19<SUP>th</SUP> SS-Standarte in Munster (note the 1935 dated Munster tailor label in the tunic). From April 1936 to January 1939, he led the SS-Abschnitt IX. In April 1938 he ran for a seat in the German parliament (Reichstag), but lost. From January to June 1939, he was ‘Stabschef’ in SS-Oberschnitt ‘Nordwest’ in Hamburg. End of January 1941 he was promoted to SS-Brigadefuhrer and in June 1942 he was promoted to Generalmajor der Polizei.<O
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From August 1941 to May 1943, Tensfeld served as SS and Polizeifuhrer of Kharkiv (the second largest city in the Ukraine), and in April of 1943 Zhytomyr, Ukraine (which is the main center of the Polish minority in the Ukraine) was added to his responsibilities.<O</O
In September of 1943, Tesnfeld was transferred as head SS and Polizeifuhrer for Italy under Karl Wolff, serving as Liason Officer to the Italian Fascists. From January 1944 until the end of the war, he was SS and Polizeifuhrer for ‘Oberitalien West’. Tensfeld commanded 3000 German-Italian troops in their battle against the Partisan Republic of Ossola. (In 1944, with the Allied forces still stuck south of the Appennines and Mussolini's puppet state controlling all of Northern Italy, the Italian partisans staged an uprising behind German lines, led by the Committee of National Liberation of Upper Italy. This rebellion led to the establishment of a number of provisional partisan governments throughout Northern Italy, of which the Free Republic of Ossola was the most prominent. It received official recognition from Switzerland and from Allied consulates in Switzerland. Within a few weeks, German reinforcements had crushed the uprising, and the area's liberation had to wait until the final offensives of 1945.) Tensfeld was awarded the German Cross in Gold in February of 1945 - recommended by SS-Obergruppenführer Karl Wolff for his leadership in a successful operation in Domodossola against 6,000 Italian partisans with a unit of 3,000 Germans and Italians, mid-October 1944.<O</O
At the end of the war, Tensfeld ended up in a British POW camp in Italy. He was tried by the British for war crimes in April 1947, but found not guilty. He died in 1982 in Hamburg, Germany.
Doug
A little background on Tensfeld (sourced from Wikipedia):
Willy Tensfeld initially joined the Imperial German Navy in 1909 and served in U-boats during WW1, leaving the service after the war’s end in 1923. He joined the NSDAP (membership number 753.405) and the SS (SS-Nr. 14.724) in 1931. As Hauptamtlicher SS-Fuhrer, he lead the SS Standarte in Hamburg-Wilhelmsburg from December 1933 to March 1935 and from March 1935 to April 1936 the 19<SUP>th</SUP> SS-Standarte in Munster (note the 1935 dated Munster tailor label in the tunic). From April 1936 to January 1939, he led the SS-Abschnitt IX. In April 1938 he ran for a seat in the German parliament (Reichstag), but lost. From January to June 1939, he was ‘Stabschef’ in SS-Oberschnitt ‘Nordwest’ in Hamburg. End of January 1941 he was promoted to SS-Brigadefuhrer and in June 1942 he was promoted to Generalmajor der Polizei.<O
</OFrom August 1941 to May 1943, Tensfeld served as SS and Polizeifuhrer of Kharkiv (the second largest city in the Ukraine), and in April of 1943 Zhytomyr, Ukraine (which is the main center of the Polish minority in the Ukraine) was added to his responsibilities.<O
</OIn September of 1943, Tesnfeld was transferred as head SS and Polizeifuhrer for Italy under Karl Wolff, serving as Liason Officer to the Italian Fascists. From January 1944 until the end of the war, he was SS and Polizeifuhrer for ‘Oberitalien West’. Tensfeld commanded 3000 German-Italian troops in their battle against the Partisan Republic of Ossola. (In 1944, with the Allied forces still stuck south of the Appennines and Mussolini's puppet state controlling all of Northern Italy, the Italian partisans staged an uprising behind German lines, led by the Committee of National Liberation of Upper Italy. This rebellion led to the establishment of a number of provisional partisan governments throughout Northern Italy, of which the Free Republic of Ossola was the most prominent. It received official recognition from Switzerland and from Allied consulates in Switzerland. Within a few weeks, German reinforcements had crushed the uprising, and the area's liberation had to wait until the final offensives of 1945.) Tensfeld was awarded the German Cross in Gold in February of 1945 - recommended by SS-Obergruppenführer Karl Wolff for his leadership in a successful operation in Domodossola against 6,000 Italian partisans with a unit of 3,000 Germans and Italians, mid-October 1944.<O
</OAt the end of the war, Tensfeld ended up in a British POW camp in Italy. He was tried by the British for war crimes in April 1947, but found not guilty. He died in 1982 in Hamburg, Germany.
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