Original Item: Only One Available. The 6x30 Dienstglas (Service Glass) was one of the most used German issued binoculars of WWII. This example is fully functional, with mostly clear optics, and working adjustments. It is nicely marked as follows on the base of the barrels:

is marked on the left side, with the model and serial information on the right:

The use of the company name, and not a three letter code, indicates that these were made prior to 1940. We had another example of these without the letter code with a much higher number, so these were made well before the formal outbreak of WWII. Spindler & Hoyer is a rare and desirable maker of these binoculars.

Both diopter adjustments work correctly, though the optics and mirrors could use some cleaning. The bakelite eye cups are in very good shape, with just a chip out of the right side. There is a nice leather neck strap installed, though it may be post war. The plastic covering of the barrels is almost completely intact.

Overall a very nice example of the classic eye piece for German infantry officers during WWII!

History of the 6x30 Service Glass:

Among all military binoculars after the end of the First World War, the 6 x 30 service glass became predominant in both the Navy and the Army, and it remained the Army's most used binocular for decades.

From the Army regulations for 1927 and 1940: "As a standard double telescope for all branches of the Army of the Reich, the double telescope 6 x 30 with normal reticle..... and a field of view of 150m at 1000m distance." In terms of its importance and the quantities produced, the D.F. 6 x 30 was increasingly important after WWI was produced in larger quantities than any other. In the Army Regulations of November 29, 1919, after the end of the First World War, an inventory was ordered of the quantity of optical instruments in the infantry, because of new regulations on equipping the troops with optical instruments, and only the Fernglaeser 03, 08, 6 x 30, and 10 x 50 are listed as hand held binoculars. In a March 1939 paper regarding the height calibrations of reticles, only the 6 x 30 and 10 x 50 are mentioned; and in an Army technical regulation of June 1944, concerning the carrying strap for the Doppelfernrohre 6 x 30 and 10 x 50.

The design of the common D.F. 6 x 30 is similar to the equally common Zeiss Silvamar, with only minor differences.