Description
German Mountain Troops Gebirgsjäger Sleeve Edelweiss for Officer. From an old collection. Nice hand embroidered bullion example on fine green wool. Very well made.
On May 2 1939 the Oberkommando des Heeres, or German Army High Command, authorized wear of a Edelweiss tradition badge by Mountain Troop personnel to be worn on the upper right sleeve of the service, dress and field uniforms. The design of the badge was based on a badge worn by the WWI German Alpine Corps. On introduction the badge was on a blue/green badge cloth base, but in early 1940 this was altered to a field-grey wool base. A metal edelweiss with stem was designed for wear on the mountain cap and a stemless edelweiss was authorized for wear on the visor cap. Original regulations dictated the Edelweisses were to be removed from wear if the personnel were transferred out of a Mountain Troop unit but this was often not adhered to. On November 12 1944 regulations were altered to permitted continued wear of the edelweiss after transfer out of a Mountain Troop unit as long as the individual had combat experience with the Mountain Troops. Generally EM/NCO personnel utilized machine embroidered or woven Edelweisses while officers ranks wore higher quality, hand embroidered Edelweisses. LH11070