"Die Uniformen Der Deutschen Kriegsmarine 1935-1945"

[Tychsen]

"Die Uniformen Der Deutschen Kriegsmarine 1935-1945" by Enzo and Laurent Berrafato. ( Zeughaus Verlag 2010.

I found this on eBay when looking for another German title - and after an enquiry to the publisher decided to go for it , even though the text is in German.

The book , a high quality publication - it would need to be for 60 Euros !
Good quality paper , gloss finish , excellent binding hard back 253 pages.
What do you get for your money apart from a book in German if you only read English.
Firstly you get a brilliantly illustrated guide to the uniforms and commonly found equipment of the German Navy from walking out uniform , working uniforms , decka uniforms , foul weather gear , life preserves, trade badges , awards , paper work for awards , shoes , wellingtons footwear , cap , hats visors , cap tallies , dress daggers time pieces ( common ones) , flags - this gives some idea what it covers.
The illustrations excellent - period black and white and colour photos , long with examples of the items described - all good sharp high quality sharp photos , nothing blurred or second rate .
If you have a working knowledge of the subject the book is not beyond understanding - and IMO if this is for you it is worth the money.
I bought this one having bought and been a little disappointed with Gordon Williamson's Bender publication "Torpedoes Los" , which focused on U-Boat collectibles - I thought that in many ways the detail of Gordon's book could have been better and it left me feeling there must be more .... this one carries on and fills some of the areas which GW's book did not and IMO it would be the better of the two and had it been in English it would be a knockout.
In German - yes I can still use it and have no regrets paying out for it.

The majority of the wartime photos are new to me something I find refreshing - the publisher has gone to some trouble to illustrate his book to a high standard , this speaks well of it , not the same tired and often used material being represented .

The German text - definitely I would have preferred it to be in English but it can be worked around and from what I have seen the information seems to be solid.

IMO if the Kriegsmarine is you thing this one should be considered.

The main photo shown - an S Boat crewman - look at the binoculars - seems to be a Zeiss 7x50 H ( other contender would be a leitz 7x50 a leitz "Tuna Can") , rubber bumpers on the objectives and a very rare rubber jacket around the prisms housings - I have only seen one other photo of this type of jacket - that is a bench mark of the publication.

[Tychsen]

Some more examples of the contents.
It is not just a book of photos anyone who can read German will find a good main text on which the illustrations are based .