Official Name

(?)

Years Used

1951 - 1952 (?)

Used By

Bundesgrenzschutz (BGS)

Known Items

Smock (Reversible), Trousers (Reversible), Shelter Quarter, Shelter Hood

Notes

When Germany rearmed in the early 1950s, the BGS were the first to get camo uniforms, specifically a near identical copy of the classic 1931 German Splittermuster 31 pattern, which is commonly called Splinter. The colors and pattern of the BGS material is close enough to the original that many people buy shelters, or "faked" items made from them, thinking they are getting something from WWII. The easy way to tell the difference is the background color, which is a light gray for BGS vs. the much darker color for the WWII patterns. The BGS material is also printed white on the reverse side while earlier items are camo on both.

There is a two piece uniform which is reversible to white, but was issued in extremely small quantities. However, the shelter quarters were made in much larger numbers. It appears that all items in this pattern were dropped quickly and instead replaced by another WWII influenced patern: Sumpfmuster. In fact, it would appear this pattern was produced only for one year, based on the creation date of the BGS (June 1951) and the earliest dated item of Sumpfmuster I've seen (August 1952). Such a short and small duration would explain why these items are so difficult to find these days compared to other patterns from the same eara.

Extra Info

Official Name

Years Used

1952-1976

Used By

Known Items

Notes

As described above, the BGS quickly dropped its Splinter type uniform. It was replaced by a nearly identical copy of a late WWII German Army Sumpfmuster (Swamp Pattern), more commonly know as Tan & Water. The earliest piece I know of was manufactured in August of 1952, which disputes other information that suggests the pattern was made after the creation of the Bundeswehr in 1956.

I have noted three distinct patterns, which I have labled "Early" (1952-1959?), "Mid" (1960?-1962?), and "Late" (1952?-1976). The Early pattern was used for shelter quarter, the first two Smocks, the first Jacket, and the trousers. The Mid pattern appears to have only been used for the second jacket. The Late was used for the final pattern jacket, parka, rain apron, frag vest, helmet cover, and helmet. I am undecided about the cap, but think the only real item was produced in the original Early pattern. I have one in the Late pattern, lined with buttons on front, but can not confirm if it is genuine issue or not.

The uniform generally consisted of just a smock or jacket and non-camouflage trousers. As far as I know only one pattern of trousers was ever issued, and it appears to have been in fairly small numbers around 1960.

A small number of frag vests and helmet covers were developed for the BGS' GSG-9 (Anti-Terrorist) unit. The GSG-9 still uses, as far as I know, a special anti-ballistic helmet with the Sumpfmuster pattern painted onto it, but otherwise the use of the pattern was offiically phased out in 1976. In that year the BGS redesigned its uniforms to be less "militaristic".

Collectors need to beware because this pattern has been reproduced in various items in small and large numbers. The most common is a cap made of thin material with rubberized backing. As far as I know, all of these caps are commercial. In the mid 1980s by a German contractor made very nice trousers in the identical cut of the Bundeswehr "moleskin" design. Other items in various shapes and form came out of Germany and Asia. Most recently a huge amount of BDU style shirts, trousers, the aforementioned caps, T-Shirts, and WWII style Fallschirmjäger "bone sacks" have flooded the market.

Extra Info

Official Name

(?)

Years Used

1956 - early 1960s(?)

Used By

Army

Known Items

Shelter/Poncho, Hood/Bag, Tentpole Bag, and unofficial Helmet Covers made from Shelter/Poncho.

Notes

When the Bundeswehr was fromed in 1956 the Germans decided to abandon the previous Splittermuster 31 pattern shelter quarter, both in terms of camo pattern as well as construction. The result was a rather complex reversible camo pattern in what can be called Amoeba style. As for construction, instead of a square or triangular shape the shelter is trapezoidal, with two needed to make a small tent. All the items I have ever seen are dated 1956, yet they are not at all difficult to aquire today. This indicates a lot of items were made in a very short period of time and not issued for long. It is a very interesting camo indeed.

Extra Info

Official Name

Years Used

Used By

Army

Known Items

Jacket, Para Jacket, Hood, Trousers, Para Trousers, Trouser Suspenders, Trouser Belt, Winter Trigger Mittens. Unofficial Helmet Cover made from a Hood

Notes

In 1956 the newly created Bundesheer (Army) adopteed a combat oversuit with a camo pattern based on the classic 1931 German Splittermuster 31. As discussed above the colors of the BW-Splinter pattern are distinctly different from the BGS pattern, however there are also other differences. The most obvious is deliberate white lines left around the dark green shapes. Closer examination shows subtle differences between the BH and BGS shapes themselves. While the shapes are functionally the same (and probably the same as Splittermuster 31), the actual drawings are not identical. Photographs show at least two styles of jackets (one for paras) and trousers.

In 1959 the uniform was dropped for a combination of three reasons. First, there was some controversy about the similar look of the new BW uniform and the old WH troops which march under the Swasitka banner. Secondly, the uniform was very expensive to make and with the expansion of the BW became a budgetary burden. Thirdly, it was had terrible ventilation qualties and was quite noisy. Therefore a new uniform was introduced which solved all these issues. It was solid brown wool, was cheaper to manufacture, and was very quiet. However, troops continued to wear the BW-Splinter well into the early 1960s. I've even got a picture of an AFV crewman wearing the jacket in the 1990s, though I wouldn't be surprised if he was the only one in the whole Bundeswher doing so!

The short production run, relatively small numbers made, and years of reissue mean that these uniforms are difficult to find and even harder to find in decent condition. Generally they are quite faded and have dozens of significant repairs. The large plastic zipper was poorly designed and few work even if they look functional. Because of all these factors, and the pattern itself, these items are quite expensive when stumbeled upon even when in poor condition.

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Official Name

Years Used

Used By

Known Items

Notes

This is one of the rarest, and least known, of Germany's post war issued uniforms. I have taken to calling this pattern BW-Splinter w/Bold Strokes to distinguish itself from the earlier, standard BW-Splinter pattern. The picture on the left is from a very worn Para set and the one on the left is from an unissued Infantry jacket.

Although similar there are significant differences in color and the size of the rain strokes. Though the colors are all different to some degree, the olive drab background color is the most obvious. Unlike the standard pattern, the rain strokes come in two forms: solid black and faded gray. Both of which are much larger and rounded than the other pattern.

The uniform itself comes in two forms. The para jacket is very similar to the extremely rare BW-Splinter issued para jacket, though there are fairly minor differences (plastic zippers and tripple snap flaps over chest pockets). The trousers are similar to the standard set, but with pass through zippered pockets directly behind the hand pockets. The second form, which is even rarer (as far as I know I have the only known example), is identical to the standard BW-Splinter uniform.

I have no knowledge of the history or use of this uniform other than what I can surmize from circumstantial evidence. The three items I have were made in the same year (1957). I have one picture of the para uniform in use.

My infantry style jacket and hood are unissued. Unfortunately, some (deleted) decided that black marker was a good idea for the white areas of the pattern (which I colored back in for the photo above). Grrrrrr.... The jacket came from a US veteran's estate. He apparently traded it while on duty in Germany during the 1970s.

My para uniform is well used. The large number of repairs on the uniform obviously shows years of continued use, just like the standard BW uniform. In fact, the person I bought this from traded for it in 1964 "off the back" of a German paratrooper, indicating roughly 7 years of use!

My personal guess is the change in pattern was an attempt to distance the BW from the Wehrmacht. It appears that the changes were not enough to satisfy the critics, so in 1959 all use of camouflage for uniforms was dropped. Such a shame.

Extra Info

Official Name

Years Used

1970s (?) - Present

Used By

Bundeswehr

Known Items

Overtop (Reversible), Overtrousers (Reversible), and Poncho

Notes

At some point in the mid 1970s (earliest example I have is 1976) the Bundeswehr started using this specialized reversible camo pattern Schneetarn (Snow Camo). In forest areas the side pictured above is worn outside, offering better concealment than straight white. For open areas the uniform reverses to white, complete with a set of pockets on each side. Earlier two piece sets were made with snaps and zippers, later ones with buttons. The cape is interesting because it allows the soldier to conceal not only his body but his entire field gear. It could also be used as camo for a shelter or other position. There are a whole lot of fake and commercial versions of the two piece uniform floating around.

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Official Name

Years Used

Used By

Notes

In the 1990s the Germans introduced their first desert camouflage, designated Tropentarn. Like most NATO countries, Germany had never produced a desert pattern uniform because the need was not foreseen. This was even more true of Germany because its Constitution did not permit action outside of NATO's borders, which meant only Turkey offered desert like terrain. However, at the same time the Germans were developing Flecktarn they apparently experimented with desert colorings, which stayed simply "in the lab" for some time. However, around the time of Desert Shield German courts reinterpreted this restriction and as a result small numbers of troops have been deployed to areas such as the Balkans, Middle East, and recently Afghanistan. Within the last few years the colors were changed to a more yellow-tan color instead of sand. It was also redesignated Wüstentarn so as not to be confused with a new tropical Flecktarn material/uniform which is designated Tropentarn. Most of the Wüstentarn available today is commercially made in China or other countries, not original. To the best of my knowledge only shirt, pants, M43, helmet cover, boonie, and flak vests come in this pattern. It is difficult to tell real from fake because the Chinese copies come complete with copied tags. Fortunately I acquired a set in 1995 so I know mine is real.

Extra Info