Original Item. Only One Available. This is a stellar holster manufactured during World War I for the Mauser Model 1914 Semi-Automatic pistol. After the war, it was stamped for use by the Kriegsmarine during World War II. Anything Kriegsmarine marked is heavily sought after, making this a scarce piece!

The holster retains its original knob and leather securing strap. The leather is still quite pliable after so long, and the magazine pouch is still firmly stitched to the front. The single belt loop is still firmly in place as well, and the stitching along the bottom of the holster is still intact. Under the flap, there is a very faint stamp that may have been a maker’s mark at one point. There is a clear Kriegsmarine Reichsadler Eagle / M Proof Marking stamped on the left side of the holster under the flap.

This is the first Kriegsmarine marked holster we have ever offered, so don’t miss it! Ready for further research and display.

The Kriegsmarine
In violation of the Treaty of Versailles, the Kriegsmarine grew rapidly during German naval rearmament in the 1930s. The 1919 treaty had limited the size of the German navy and prohibited the building of submarines

Kriegsmarine ships were deployed to the waters around Spain during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) under the guise of enforcing non-intervention, but in reality supported the Nationalists against the Spanish Republicans.

In January 1939, Plan Z, a massive ship-building program, was ordered, calling for surface naval parity with the British Royal Navy by 1944. When World War II broke out in September 1939, Plan Z was shelved in favour of a crash building program for submarines (U-boats) instead of capital surface warships, and land and air forces were given priority of strategic resources.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine (as for all branches of armed forces during the period of absolute NSDAP power) was AH, who exercised his authority through the Oberkommando der Marine ("High Command of the Navy").

The Kriegsmarine's most significant ships were the U-boats, most of which were constructed after Plan Z was abandoned at the beginning of World War II. Wolfpacks were rapidly assembled groups of submarines which attacked British convoys during the first half of the Battle of the Atlantic but this tactic was largely abandoned by May 1943 when U-boat losses mounted. Along with the U-boats, surface commerce raiders (including auxiliary cruisers) were used to disrupt Allied shipping in the early years of the war, the most famous of these being the heavy cruisers Admiral Graf Spee and Admiral Scheer and the battleship Bismarck. However, the adoption of convoy escorts, especially in the Atlantic, greatly reduced the effectiveness of surface commerce raiders against convoys.

Following the end of World War II in 1945, the Kriegsmarine's remaining ships were divided up among the Allied powers and were used for various purposes including minesweeping. Some were loaded with superfluous chemical weapons and scuttled.