The Garnitur System

Kjell-Bjarne

New member
Hello All,
I just read Tony's post on Pickelhaube issue dates, and it prompted me to finish translating an article I found on a German web site and have been meaning to post for some time. It complements Tony's comments and thoughts. The original can be viewed at:
http://www.altearmee.de/index2.htm
on page 6 of the article entitled "Uniformen" (Uniformen u.a. / Uniformen- Tips, Tricks und mancher Rat)
I didn't translate Garnitur and Kammer as I think we are all familiar with those terms. An excerpt from the article:

The 1st Garnitur was only issued for special occasions such as holidays, the Kaiser's birthday, and special parades, etc; the 2nd Garnitur for parades, march-ups (Aufmärschen), and important holidays involving military presence. Put simply, these two Garnituren were stored in the Kammer and only issued for appropriate occasions. The 3rd and 4th Garnitur were kept in the soldier's locker, a wooden closet introduced in 1890. For drill and normal barracks duty, the twill uniform was worn, a simple "fatigue uniform" of bleached, undyed linen (later cotton). The 4th Garnitur was worn for everyday duty; the 3rd Garnitur on Sunday furlough or other representative occasions.

(…)

The 5th Garnitur was never to be worn in peace time, in wartime only during training, and otherwise only "as required."

(…)

Normally, upon completion of military service …the 5th or 6th Garnitur was issued (for the trip home) and returned after the soldier arrived home.

(…)

Kammer-stamps are found inside the uniforms which indicate neck size, arm length, leg length, etc, in Arabic numbers (ready-to-wear clothing was unknown in Germany until 1935). The Garnitur number appears in Roman numerals. The annual inventory is evidenced by "strike-outs" and new stamps: once a year the Kammer's inventory was reevaluated. The basis for this evaluation was the life expectancy of the clothing as specified in the regulations. This varied considerably according to arm of service and especially rank. According to regulations, e.g., the regulations of 1912, an enlisted tunic was to be replaced after twelve months at the latest; NCO tunics were to be replaced after eight months. This must be viewed from its historical perspective: this refers to the wearing of two uniforms, one of which was worn everyday as the only suit of clothes. In an age in which dry cleaning and washing machines were unknown, a frugally long Prussian time.

Unfortunately there is no specific mention of helmets. I have two helmets in my collection marked as 3rd Garnitur which suggests that helmets were graded and issued following the same guidelines as other articles of clothing. Maybe those of you with larger collections have other Garnitur markings as well?

This article implies that uniforms were issued and reissued until they literally fell apart. It also hints at an explanation for the mixture of old and new items in photographs that we as collectors find so confusing. Another interesting implication is the sheer number of uniforms each Kammer must have maintained: six per man!
 
Hey K-B,
I would doubt that there were six uniforms for every man, the first Garnitur might not be available for every soldier, as not all would be allowed to attend special events. and even the 5th or 6th may not equal the number of troops as they would expect garment to become available as they were needed to send troop home. Just a thought.
Gus
 
KB,

suggests that helmets were graded and issued following the same guidelines as other articles of clothing
.

I don't think so. Many helmets do not have garniture marks at all. I have seen I, II, III, but nothing like five or six. It is obvious that the garniture marks are added one at a time as condition of the helmet decreases. This seems to have been sort of a lost art with older helmets being more likely to have garniture marks than newer helmets. I do not know but I do not believe that the system was even totally used for uniforms. There is a distinctly different grading system for helmets, but I do not know the details of what it is yet. Heck, a year ago, few even believed in the garniture marks for helmets. Somewhere there has to be some sort of stocking information on Kammers. These weren't as deep as we can sometimes think they were. Photographs show lots of 1914 recruits in blue uniforms still. Blue uniforms were used for a lot of Garrison duties, but the point is that they were hanging around in quantity. I don't think they were all graded annually. Love to find more about the stocking levels Kammers.
kammer5.jpg
.
kammer5a.jpg
 
Great photos, Joe! I'm with Otto: I wish I could "walk into" them and walk out with my arms full. :D

I suspect that the garnitur system fell into disuse upon mobilization. It seems to me an economy measure to get the most wear out of the uniforms during peacetime.

I wish there was more info on the Kammers. The German Army numbered around 800,000 at the outbreak of the war and had expanded to nearly 5 million by Christmas of 1914. Obviously there were a lot of uniforms available to clothe that many men in such a short time.

None of my M15's have Garnitur marks, only the pre-war helmets - and nothing below III. My collection numbers ten helmets. Hardly a representative sample, but it seems to coincide with Joe's experience. Maybe Tony, Brian and others with large collections will give us the benefit of their knowledge on this? (hint-hint, nudge, nudge)

Skøl!
 
Kjell-Bjarne said:
// My collection numbers ten helmets. Hardly a representative sample//

Kjell, ten Pickelhauben is a very respectable collection. I hear from a lot of collectors who dream of just finding one. So it sounds like you have a very nice collection, congratulations!

I have a few more than ten, but I do not have a single helmet marked with a garniture mark. Until Joe published photos of helmets with marks, I did not believe that helmets were even marked.

Some references claim that the garniture markings only went up to III. Yet below is a photo of an Ulanka from Ulanen Regt Nr. 6, (not in my collection sadly) with final garniture of six (count-em, 6!). So I suspect, that it is unwise to make a generalization for the garniture system. I believe that the system and policies for marking varied from BA to BA, from kingdom to Dutch etc.

6_garnatur.jpg


And my favorite, from Füsilier Regt Nr. 73.

dbt03d.jpg
 
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