190. German Diplomatic and Government Officials: Reichspr�sidialrat Kiewitz, 1939, Full Dress.
191. German Diplomatic and Government Officials: Staatsminister und Chef der Pr�sidialkanzlei des F�hrers Dr Otto Meissner, 1939, Full Dress.
192. German Diplomatic and Government Officials: Diplomatic Official, 1941, Winter Full Dress.
The German Foreign Office, located at 74 to 76 Wilhelmstrasse, Berlin, was the official residence ofJoachim von Ribbentrop. He had been the German Ambassador accrcdited to the Court of St James from 1936 to 1938. From 1938 to 1945 he was Germany's Foreign Minister. In this latter capacity he was responsible for greatly expanding the sphere of his ministerial interests. He established new branches in the Foreign Office which dealt with such matters as public information, legal, cultural, economic and political affairs. This increase in internal ministerial and external diplomatic matters resulted in two classifications of personnel, Foreign Office Diplomats and Governmental Officials. The role of the Diplomatic Corps was the maintenance of international dialogue at governmmral level, the discussion with diplomats ofother nations on all matters concerning treaties of international importance, the representation of German interests and the interests and welfare of German nationals living abroad. Government Officials were responsible for the administrative system of the Reich. There were fifteen ministeries operating under the Nazi regime: 1) Ministry of the Interior, 2) Foreign Affairs, 3) Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, 4) Finance, 5) Justice, 6) Economics, 7) Food and Agriculture, 8) Labour, ()) Armaments and War Production, 10) Science and Education, 11) Ecclesiastical Affairs, 12) Transport, 13) Post and Telegraph, 14) High Command of the Armed Forces, and 15) Air. Each of these was headed by a Minister assisted by one or more Under-Secretaries. Ministries were sub-divided into Uepartments (Abteilungen) usually under a Ministerial L)irector (Ministerialdirektor) . These departments were in turn broken up into sections (Unterabteilungen) which were in charge of Sub-Directors (Ministcrialdirigenten) . Ministerial Councillors (Ministerialr�te) and other officials and civil servants comprised the staffs of the component parts of the mlnlstnes. All persons employed within these ministries wore uniform. Most senior members, usually at Ministerial and Under-Secretarial level, were permitted to wear civilian clothing when on duty at those times that did not require formal uniformed attire. All lesser officials and civil servants were obliged to wear their uniform for work at all time. The lower echelons naturally wore the uniform of the organisation from whence they came and not a Government Official's uniform. The basic colours used for uniforms worn by Diplomats and Governmental Officials were dark blue-black and light-grey, (see also the section on Eastern Territories Officials, Nos. 193, 194). The light-grey uniform (Nos. 189 & 191) was authorised only to be worn by Ministers and Officials attached to the f�hrer's Headquarters, and Officials serving in Military High Commands. In the Reich Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia the grey uniform was worn only by the State Secretary, the Under State Secretary to the Reich Protector and all 'Oberlandr�te' - administrative officials in the area of the Protectorate. The same grey uniform was permitted to be worn by the Governor-General in Poland (Generalgouvernement) , his Deputy and all his district chiefs. Colours were employed on dark blue-black uniforms to distinguish Senior Ministerial members as belonging to certain Ministries. Used as a foundation to the shoulder straps, as piping to the long trousers and as facing colours to the greatcoat, light-grey was used by General, Internal,Financial and Special Administrative personnel. Justice Department administrative personnel wore wine red, Postal and Telegraph officials orange-red and Transportation personnel light red. Senior officials of the highest levels of authority were further distinguished from other lesser officials by having silver cording piped around the edge of their tunic and greatcoat collars (see No. 212). Four distinct pay groups of Diplomats and Government Officials existed, each permitted to wear their appointed insignia of his pay group on his uniform. A horseshoe shaped wreath of silver coloured oak leaves or plain bands of silver surmounted by an eagle and swastika emblem were worn on the left cuff of the tunic or greatcoat (Nos. 188, 190, 192). Contained within the wreath was an arrangement of silver 'stars' which, depending on the number used being none to four, indicated administrative position. Other systems for indicating much the same information existed at different times (No. 191) and at the beginning of the war von Ribbentrop took to wearing an elaborate arm badge in gold showing a German eagle and swastika resting astride a globe representing the world all surrounded by a golden wreath of oakleaves (No. 189).

193. Eastern Territories Officials: Gebietsassistenten, 1942, Undress Uniform.
194. Eastern Territories Officials: Regierungsrat, 1943, Service Uniform.
During the first two years of the war on the Eastern Front the German ground forces had overrun vast areas ofland. These conquered territories when added to the already annexed areas were to be the 'Lebensraum' of the new Greater Germany; the areas in the east that would eventually become the new living space for the expanding German population. It was intended that with the victorious conclusion of the war in Europe, the returning German warriors were to be rewarded for their dedication and sacrifices by being granted whole areas of this new land with the right to farm and develop the rich soils of the Ukraine, eastern Poland, southern Russia, the Crimea and many other such provinces for their benefit and for the glory of the new Germany. Towards this end a whole system of Government Officials, responsible for the running and maintenance of these German-held Eastern Territories, was set up under the auspices ofAlfred Rosenberg and his Keichsministerium fiir die besetzten Ostgebiete, the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories (RMBO). As was the case with all German uniformed organisations a complex system of ranks and appointments was set up which was reflected in the uniforms and differences in insignia worn by the many grades of these Eastern Territorial Officials or Ostbeamten. A series of uniform items was designed by the famous Berlin artist-designer Egon Jantke. They were made up from large stocks of material originally intended for SA uniforms but during the war were no longer required. The use of this suitable dyed material produced jackets, tunics and greatcoats in a golden-brown colouring which gave rise to the officials being nick-named 'Golden Pheasants'. Insignia, buttons and braiding were in either silver or gold, depending on rank and four colours were used to indicate levels of official responsibility; Bordeaux red for Gebietskommissariat; Orange red for Hauptkommissariat; Carmine red for Reichskommissariat and Bright red for Ministerial Officials. The decision as to whether to issue a white summer uniform was held in abeyance until the end of the war. It took some time for the actual insignia worn on the uniforms and the accoutrements worn with the uniforms to be sorted out. At first the large silver arm eagle shown in No. 194 was originally worn for a very short period only above the right breast pocket of the tunics and jackets. The cap insignia was an almost straight copy of that worn by German Diplomatic and Government Officials (see Nos. 190, 191, 192), doubtless because these Eastern Territorial Officials were considered an extension of the German Diplomatic Service and were akin to German Government Officials.

195. Eastern Territories Officials: Construction Unit Officer, 1943, Service Dress.
The Baudienst im Generalgouvernement was just one of a number of uniformed bodies that operated in the Eastern Territories. The Construction Service in the General Government- the Nazi German name given to occupied Polandwas a unit officered by Germans and staffed by Poles that carried out construction and land reclamation work on much the same lines as that performed by the Reichsarbeitsdienst. The majority of the Polish workers were poorly clothed. They wore, during the summer months, trousers made from German flour sacks, shirts and cloth caps of civilian origin. The German overseers were better dressed in that they wore a properly tailored uniform with regulation pattern peaked cap both of which displayed insignia.

Tratto da German Militaria and Collectables