Original Items: Only One Set Available. This is an outstanding German WWII Kriegsmarine private purchase two piece black leather deck uniform consisting of a heavy leather jacket and closely matching leather trousers. Black leather clothing has become one of the most recognizable pieces of Kriegsmarine working dress, particularly through its association with U-Boat crews and other naval personnel exposed to cold, wet, and oil soaked conditions aboard ship. Unlike a standard wool service tunic, leather garments were practical working clothing intended to withstand hard use in the confined and frequently damp environment of a warship. This set is especially appealing because the jacket retains its Czulik & Langer, Proßnitz maker label and Overhoff & Cie naval buttons, while the trousers retain an RBNr. 0/1297/0009 manufacturer's code and original size markings. The additional pockets, extensive lining, and quality of construction suggest an upmarket privately acquired ensemble rather than the most basic issue pattern.

The jacket is constructed from substantial black leather and has a five button front closure fitted with classic Kriegsmarine naval pattern buttons. The backs of the buttons are marked by:

Overhoff & Cie

Overhoff & Cie was a well known German manufacturer of uniform fittings, insignia, and buttons during the period.

The black leather has the naturally worn appearance expected of a garment that saw actual use rather than remaining in stores. Despite this wear, the jacket has survived in excellent overall condition.

A particularly distinctive feature is the relatively high, almost “Mandarin” style collar. It can be secured at the throat with an additional hook and loop closure. This close fitting arrangement would have been practical in exposed conditions and also made it easier to wear additional foul weather or cold weather clothing around the head and neck.

The jacket has two waist pockets with protective flaps as well as an additional pocket on the left breast. The presence of this extra exterior storage and the overall quality of construction give the garment a noticeably more elaborate appearance than many basic leather working jackets. It may have been privately purchased by an NCO or officer, although no named provenance or rank insignia survives to establish the original owner's status.

The interior is fully lined in charcoal gray wool, providing considerably more insulation than an unlined leather garment. The sleeves are lined in black rayon with silver striping, and there is an interior slash pocket on the right side.

The lining remains almost completely intact despite evidence that the jacket was actually worn.

The interior retains a faint manufacturer's label reading:

Czulik & Langer

Proßnitz

10 54 42

Proßnitz is the German name for the Moravian city today known as Prostějov in the Czech Republic. During the German occupation of the Czech lands, Prostějov lay within the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and was an important center of textile and clothing manufacture. The surviving Czulik & Langer label therefore provides an interesting connection between this Kriegsmarine garment and the extensive clothing industry operating in occupied Central Europe during WWII.

The closely matching trousers are also manufactured from fine black leather and complement the jacket extremely well.

They have a three plastic button fly with a sturdy hook and loop closure at the waistband. Vertical slash pockets are located on both sides.

The waistband retains suspender buttons marked:

CLEO

The rear of the trousers incorporates an opening with an adjustable leather sizing strap and metal buckle. Additional closure straps are positioned at the bottoms of the legs, allowing the cuffs to be tightened around footwear and reducing the amount of loose material around the lower legs.

The trousers are completely lined in dark blue cotton cloth.

A label inside the right side is marked:

RBNr. 0/1297/0009
14 46 44

We have encountered this exact RBNr. code on other wartime leather trousers, adding another useful manufacturing detail to the set.

The Reichsbetriebsnummer, generally abbreviated RBNr., was part of the wartime German system used to identify manufacturers while reducing the amount of company information appearing openly on military equipment. Such codes are frequently encountered on later wartime clothing and equipment and are an important feature for collectors evaluating German military textiles.

Leather clothing was especially well suited to naval service. Personnel working on exposed decks faced spray, rain, wind, cold, fuel, grease, and other conditions that could quickly damage conventional wool uniforms. Leather offered a durable outer surface and could be paired with heavy linings to provide additional protection in northern European and Atlantic conditions.

Those qualities were even more important aboard submarines. The interior of a U-Boat was exceptionally cramped, with men living and working among machinery, piping, lubricants, batteries, torpedoes, provisions, and other equipment. Clothing needed to withstand constant rubbing and contact with mechanical equipment while remaining practical in an environment where space was at a premium.

Period photographs consequently show considerable variation in the leather garments worn by Kriegsmarine personnel. Standardized issue clothing existed, but privately purchased and locally sourced leather garments were also used, particularly by career personnel and officers. Differences in pocket arrangement, collars, linings, buttons, and construction are therefore encountered on surviving examples.

This jacket's additional breast pocket, substantial wool lining, quality sleeve lining, named maker label, and naval buttons give it the character of a well made private purchase garment rather than an anonymous piece of basic work clothing.

The Kriegsmarine itself entered WWII after a rapid period of expansion during the 1930s. Restrictions imposed following WWI had greatly limited German naval strength and prohibited Germany from possessing submarines. German rearmament overturned those restrictions, and by the outbreak of war in September 1939 the Kriegsmarine possessed a modern but comparatively small surface fleet together with a rapidly expanding U-Boat arm.

Germany's ambitious Plan Z envisioned the construction of a surface fleet capable of eventually challenging the Royal Navy, but the outbreak of war made its timetable unrealistic. Resources increasingly shifted toward submarines, which could be produced more rapidly and offered Germany the possibility of attacking the maritime supply lines upon which Britain depended.

The resulting Battle of the Atlantic became the defining campaign of the U-Boat service. German submarines operated from the North Atlantic to the Caribbean, American coast, Mediterranean, Arctic, and eventually the Indian Ocean. Early successes against Allied merchant shipping led to the development of coordinated “wolfpack” tactics in which groups of submarines attacked convoys.

U-Boat service was physically demanding and increasingly dangerous. Crews might spend weeks at sea inside a narrow pressure hull filled with machinery, food, fuel odors, condensation, and the accumulated effects of dozens of men living in close quarters. Time on the bridge exposed personnel directly to wind and sea spray, often in extremely cold conditions. Heavy leather clothing became closely associated with these men for practical reasons rather than simply appearance.

By 1943 the balance of the Atlantic campaign had shifted decisively as improved Allied radar, escort carriers, aircraft patrols, intelligence, and anti-submarine tactics inflicted increasingly severe losses. Nevertheless, U-Boats continued operating until the final days of the European war.

Kriegsmarine leather uniforms have consequently become particularly desirable pieces of German naval clothing because they evoke the practical working environment of the wartime fleet far more directly than formal dress uniforms. A complete jacket and trouser combination is substantially more impressive than an isolated garment, particularly when both pieces retain period manufacturer or procurement markings.

The jacket shows genuine wear from use but remains in fantastic overall condition, with the charcoal wool lining almost entirely intact. The closely matching trousers likewise retain their major original construction features, including the fly buttons, waist adjustment arrangement, suspender buttons, leg straps, dark blue cotton lining, RBNr. label, and size markings.

This is an unusually complete and visually impressive German WWII naval leather ensemble. The Czulik & Langer Proßnitz maker label, Overhoff & Cie Kriegsmarine buttons, RBNr. marked trousers, substantial original linings, matching black leather construction, and private purchase quality give the set considerable collector appeal. While no surviving insignia or individual provenance allows us to attribute it to a particular U-Boat, ship, officer, or NCO, its construction is strongly associated with the type of leather working and deck clothing worn by Kriegsmarine personnel. As a complete two piece set, it would make an exceptional centerpiece for a Kriegsmarine, U-Boat, German naval uniform, Battle of the Atlantic, or advanced WWII clothing collection.

Approximate Measurements:-

Collar to shoulder: 10.5"
Shoulder to sleeve: 26.5”
Shoulder to shoulder: 16"
Chest width: 21”
Waist: 21"
Front length: 31"

Pants:-

Waist: 13"
Inseam: 30"