Original Item: One-of-a-kind. The NSDAP or Nationalsozialistische Deutsche ArbeiterPartei, (National Socialist German Worker’s Party), was originally founded in Munich as the DAP, Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, (German Worker’s Party), on January 5TH 1919. When Adolf AH joined the DAP in the autumn of 1919 he was to reform what was basically a debating society into an active political party. Appointed as the first chairman of the party on July 29TH 1921, AH was to restructure it along para-military lines in a hierarchy.

This new NSDAP structure consisted of four ascending levels of government: the Ortsgruppenleitung (Local group leadership), the Kreisleitung (District leadership), the Gauleitung (Regional District leadership), and the Reichsleitung (National leadership). Each group was distinguished by a specific color of piping on the collar tabs and visor cap. From 1936 to 1939 in this scheme, light blue was for the Ortsgruppe level, black for Kreis level, burgundy red for Gau level, and gold yellow for the Reich level. After that the Kreis level changed to white piping.

Brown was to become the official color of the N.S.D.A.P. and S.A. by circumstance rather than design. A large stockpile of discounted, surplus WWI tropical brown shirts and fabric, intended for wear in East Africa, were located in Austria in 1924 and purchased by the NSDAP as a temporary measure to bring uniformity of dress to their party members. In November of 1926 the brown shirt was officially introduced, and retained, as the basic uniform item for the N.S.D.A.P. and S.A., and was eventually adopted by other political organizations such as the H.J., D.A.F., and the N.S.K.K..

This is a very nice early example of a German WWII NSDAP "Brown Shirt" uniform tunic, complete with an original armband and black tie with woven in swas (hook cross) emblems. The tunic shows some great period wear, and is outfitted with some lovely insignia, which are totally correct for the rank of Ortsgruppe Amtsleiter (Local Group Office Leader). This was a National Socialist Party political rank which existed between 1933 and 1938. The rank was created as a "catch all" political staff position across all levels of the NSDAP (local, county, region, and national) and encompassed a wide array of duties and responsibilities. This is the first time that we have had an NSDAP "brown shirt", as the party for the most part moved on to their own Dienstrock (service tunic)

The tunic still has an original maker label in the collar, however it is torn and rolled up, so we cannot read it entirely. As best we can see it says Indanth ??? farbi ?. There is also a small circular red (BP) logo on the inside on the rear waist, and some small numbers stamped that look to be size markings. The tunic features a 5 button front closure, with three gold NSDAP Reichsadler buttons in the middle, and plastic waist and collar buttons. It has two pleated chest pockets with scalloped flaps, also retained by the same gold buttons, and the buttons are all retained by clips on the interior. The interior is unlined except for the rear shoulder area, which has some white cotton lining.

The shirt has all the correct insignia for the period, including a multi-piece NSDAP / SA armelbinde (armband) on the left sleeve, which is tack stitched in place with red thread. The collar is equipped with 1933-1939 Pattern Kragenspiegel (Collar Tabs), which have gold plush backgrounds with silver bullion hand embroidered "litzen" devices on them, indicating the NSDAP rank of Amtsleiter (Office Leader). The collar tabs are piped around the edges in blue, and there is also piping around the entire edge of the collar, indicating that the wearer was part of the Ortsleitung (Local Leadership) of the NSDAP.

Overall condition is very good,, though it definitely saw long service during the NSDAP period. The insignia around the collar are all worn, and there is wear to the fabric on the inside of the collar. There are some light stains on the exterior, but no major tears or other damage. The black tie also shows a lot of wear around the edges.

A very nice example of an early NSDAP "Brown Shirt" Ortsgruppe Amtleiter uniform tunic with some lovely insignia and an original armband. Ready to research and display!

Approximate Measurements:-
Collar to shoulder: 11"
Shoulder to sleeve: 21”
Shoulder to shoulder: 16"
Chest width: 21”
Waist: 18"
Front length: 20"

Orts Role in Municipal Government
After the founding of NSDAP Germany, the political rank of Ortsgruppenleiter was held by the chief NSDAP member in a municipal area. In many situations, town and city administration overlapped with the NSDAP political system, meaning that the traditional local government was overshadowed, if not entirely replaced, by NSDAP leadership. Traditional government titles did continue to exist, such as Bürgermeister; however, if these positions were not already held by a corresponding NSDAP official, city government was little more than a rubber stamp to NSDAP designs.

During World War II, the position of Ortsgruppenleiter encompassed a large amount of responsibility and power as it was these NSDAP officials who typically ran the city civil defense systems as well as the allocation of war rations and civil relief efforts. As Germany was invaded and defeat became imminent, NSDAP leaders in major towns and cities also became ad hoc military commanders in charge of mixed-unit German forces and Volksturm units.

Between 1930 and 1932, the political rank of Ortsgruppenleiter was denoted by a braided shoulder cord and a white collar bar worn on a NSDAP Party brown shirt. After 1933, the rank was denoted by two light yellow collar bars. The actual rank of Ortsgruppenleiter was phased out of the Party in 1939, replaced by a large number of expanded paramilitary political titles. The position of Ortsgruppenleiter was after this time typically held by a Party Member with the rank of Abschnittsleiter, paired as well with a political armband denoting the specific position of Ortsgruppenleiter.