The Stasi cap mystery

Greetings!

I would like to share a smaller mystery with you.
I´m not only the product manager of the DDR section on GreatMilitaria.com, i´m also a devoted collector of East German militaria. I find the NVA and Stasi (MfS) particularly interesting. About a year ago i bought a NVA Officer visor cap for my private collection. I never payed it much attention until a few days ago, when i was about to change the cap cockade.

You might guess i was surprised when i found this stamp on the backside of the sweatband in the forehead area.



















During the years i´ve seen numerous replicas of Stasi caps, most of them have been ridiculously bad. The caps sold near Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin for example, with fake armbands wrapped around the band of the cap and with stampes picturing the MfS seal. There are also fakes in a rather high quality.
This is a model that neither me or my colleagues have seen before. Therefore we haven´t been able to determine wether this cap is authentic or not.
The majority of the fake Stasi caps have their stamps clearly visible on the inside of the cap, to make them easier to sell, wich is rather logical. These stamps are also often in a bad quality and are, of course, often picturing an image or text that was never used on garments or headwear. The text "Ministeriun für Statssicherheit" or the MfS seal is something that almost every tourist can understand, the abbreviation "MfS" is more difficult.

This is what makes this cap such a mystery. It´s a fact that Stasi used the same visor caps as the army used. However, if Stasi actually stamped all their caps and garments is somewhat unclear.
The stamp in question is perfectly centered and it looks like it could have been made by some sort of machine. And again, if you´re going to make a fake visor cap by stamping it, why hide the stamp? The plot thickens dear readers!
In our quest to find the truth we have asked several international dealers/collectors to give their opinion. We have so far not recieved any clear answers, except that every dealer/collector considers the hat to be very unusual.

So, dear reader, now we need your help! Do you know anything helpful in this matter? If you do, feel free to send me an e-mail! You can reach me at erik@greatmilitaria.com.
More pictures available on request!

Have a great day!
Don´t miss our latest updates!
http://www.greatmilitaria.com/Product-promo.asp?id=4

Sincerely Erik
Product Manager
GreatMilitaria.com

Christmas Photo Contest 2010!

Go get your camera and turn on your imagination! It´s time for the Christmas Photo Contest 2010 on GreatMilitaria.com!

It´s actually very easy!
Take one (1) photo that shows us how you give your militaria-collection a touch of Christmas.
The only limit is your imagination!

The winner will recieve a secret gift worth 100 Euros!

E-mail the photo, your name and postal adress to: erik@greatmilitaria.com

We want your contribution no later than December 25th (2010-12-25).
One (1) entry per person. Images of good quality are preferred.

If you have any questions, feel free to send an e-mail to the adress above!

Good luck!
// GreatMilitaria.com Staff

News Winter 2010

Grettings!
Once again there has been way to quiet from GreatMilitaria lately. We apologize for this!

I just wanted to show you some pictures of what´s comming up on the website during the next few days! We have a big stock of German 1939-45 militaria on the way, and here is a sneak peak exclusive for our blogreaders! :)







Well, this is it for this post i´m afraid. All those items needs to be photographed and listed, and they won´t do it themselves!

But keep an eye open next week for another interesting blog-post! It will be longer too, i promise! :)

Until then, have a great day!

Sincerely Erik
Product Manager
http://www.greatmilitaria.com/

Updates and news

Greetings!

During the summer and early autumn it has been all quiet on the East German front, so to speak. It has been a while since there were any major updates in the DDR section. But that´s about to change.

Today we recieved one of the awaited DDR sendings, and there are three more packages to come. Overall we are awaiting over 30 kilograms of DDR uniforms, headgear and memorabilia. A lot of peaople has been waiting for more DDR items, so here is a sneak peak on a few items from the first sending! :)

The DDR section will be updated during this week.

Another section that has been updated quite a lot the recent days is the German WW1/WW2 awards section!
At the moment there are several new Wound Badges on the website, some of them cased. There is also several EK´s and a beautiful example of the Luftwaffe Fliegerschützen badge, wich can be found here: http://www.greatmilitaria.com/product.asp?product=6332.

Last but not least! Right now there are several discounts on GreatMilitaria!

30% discount on all DDR (East German) awards.

30% discount on all books and DVD´s.

30% discount on all photos.

The discounts are valid until October 31th 2010, so make sure you order your desired objects as soon as possible!

Sincerely Erik

Product Manager

http://www.greatmilitaria.com/

PS! Don´t forget to join us on Facebook. All the recent news and special offers can be found there!

Link:
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Travel Report #1 (Berlin - Stasi museum)

One of the reasons why we started this blog was to be able to share interesting destinations with you! So fasten your seat belts and join our tour to the former headquarter of one of the most notorious secret police agencies in the world!

Stasi is an abbreviation for Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (MfS). Ministry for State Security in english. Even today, Stasi is considered one of the most notorious and effective secret police agencies in the world. When informants were included, Stasi had one spy per 66 citizens of East Germany. This means that they by far exceeded both the Gestapo and the KGB.

The Stasi headquarter was located in East Berlin, in the district of Lichtenberg. Today, the former headquarters is open to the public.



When entering the complex of buildings that served as the headquarter, we are struck first by the architecture. Several buildings built in a style that only the East Germans were able to achieve. In the middle we find the building on the picture above. This is were the museum is located.

The entrance is large and empty. Walls, pillars and the floor is covered in marble substitute. The decor is simple and consists of two giant state banners and a bust of Karl Marx. Entrance fee is paid to an elderly woman who does not speak English.

The museum consists of three floors. On the first floor they display all different kinds of equipment used by Stasi to monitor the population. Recording equipment hidden in trees, hats and the doors of a Trabant 601. Cameras hidden in birdhouses and behind buttons! Extremely interesting, yet a bit horrifying. The East German governments obsession when it came to controll gets more and more obvious.



The offices can be found on floor two. Erich Mielkes office is undoubtedly the most interesting room! Erich Mielke was the Minister of State Security between 1957-1989. When the Berlin Wall fell, his office was sealed with the purpose to preserve it to the future generations.

His office also has a very simple decor. Bright wooden walls and a wall-to-wall carpet. On the desk is a replica of the death mask of Lenin and several telephones. It is almost diffucult to imagine who this room once belonged to, and it´s even more difficult to understand that Mielke sat in that blue chair only 20 years ago!



On floor two you can also find a conference room, several other offices, interrogation rooms and the former staff cafeteria. Don´t forget to sit down for a cup of coffee!

On floor three we find a big collection of Stasi memorabilia. Gifts for long servicetime, honour gifts etc. Plus a collection of some rather impressive carpets!




Overall the Stasi museum is well woth a visit! In fact, it´s worth several visits! (Personally, I have been there twice, and there will be more visits!).
The museum gives us a unique insight into what once was East Germany's most secret ministry. A ministry guilty of more crimes than we can imagine.

More info and contact:

Stasimuseum Berlin, Ruschestraße 103, Haus 110365, Berlin.

http://www.stasimuseum.de/

Sincerely Erik

Product Manager
http://www.greatmilitaria.com/

Abends ins Kino

When the East-Germans produced visor caps they filled the inside of the caps with sheets from newspapers before storing them, to protect them from damage. I have never payed any attention to these sheets of papers before, until yesterday. And it was truly interesting i must say! One of the best ways to learn more about a country is to read the newspapers! :)

This particular newspaper was printed on February 2nd 1988. The first thing i noticed was the Movie schedule! Or "Abends ins Kino" (Evening at the movies) as they said in the former DDR...
In cinema salon "Kosmos" they are showing the world-wide famous movie "The name of the Rose", starring Sean Connery and Christian Slater. Such west-produced movies was probably extremely popular. However, the East German government apperently had plenty of time to censor the movie, since it premiered 2 years after it was released in the West.



The car deal column also gives us some interesting reading! There is a lot to chose from, as long as you appreciate the Trabant or any of it´s Eastern Bloc cousins.
Out of the 36 cars for sale, i´m able to locate 11 Trabant 601. The rest of the cars are a mix of Wartburg, Lada, Skoda and a Moskwitsch 408. "Motor defect, otherwise in good condition. 300 D-Mark". As i´m glancing down the columns i realize that probably 50% of the cars for sale have some sort of serious defect. I have always wanted a Trabant, i just need to remeber to drive it carefully once i bought it!

Anyway, enough for today i think!
Here is a link to our Visor caps, remember that you might get a piece of East German everyday history as a bonus! :)
http://www.greatmilitaria.com/product.asp?product=2905

Sincerely Erik
Product Manager
www.greatmilitaria.com

Welcome!

Welcome to the brand new official blog of GreatMilitaria.com!

Here you will be able to read about all the latest news! New updates and other news will be announced here. But we will also write about militaria in general, historical travels and a lot of other interesting subjects. Discounts for our blog-readers might also occur! So make sure you visit the blog often! :)

Once again, welcome!

Sincerely Erik
Product Manager
www.greatmilitaria.com

PS. Join us on Facebook under the name "GreatMilitaria"!