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TN Mantel Interior with Rubberized seams

TN Mantel, Interior showing the reinforced cloth strip for attaching the TN Führerdolch. (Also the 3 vent holes at the shoulder seam are shown.)

The strip is sewn into the shoulder area and hangs gown to just above the special slit in the left pocket. There was probably a ring, or some other type of attachment, for the buttoned strip to connect with the top of the dagger hangers. (It doesn't look like it got much use! Wearing a dagger in the rain or snow wouldn't have made much sense.)

Txs, Dave / dblmed

The reverse has a sewn-in belt with a TeNo logo button securing it.
There is a buttoned up (plastic buttons) rear vent seam, which you can just see the top "V" portion. The 3 vent holes for each shoulder are also seen. This mantel was made for use in bad weather!

Dave, thanks for the additional photos. Truely a beautiful and rare piece.
At first I didn't see and markings on my armband but then I noticed something under the seam. It's hard to read through the fabric but I can make out Ges. Gesh. and what looks like the letters H L .

Just picked this little Teno item up. Didn't know these were so well made. A pleasant surprise.

Regards,
-serge-

Serge, You picked up quite a Super example of the TeNo / TN membership pin, and it is the more uncommon 'translucent' enamel type. (Don Scowen seems to have coined the terms translucent and opaque for the 2 types of enamel finishes, and it does make sense.) Most are the solid opaque red/orange opaque enamel. They are very high quality pins, like the TN Honor Badges.

These pin are the same dimensions (+/- mm's) as the more common TN Lapel pin, which also is often numbered as well. It seems that these TN membership pins "always" (thus far) have the horizontal safety pin catch (although it can go right-to-left or left-to-right.)

Also a noted pecularity is the "A" found on essentially all of this model. Assmann did have a 'Ges. Gesch' on a TN model of this type, but their catalog shows a photo and notes that it was not available. Pin collectors whom I have spoken with, say that this style "A" has not been found on any pedigreed Assmann products. It doesn't fit in. So, the consensus is that the pin maker remains unknown.

Note that the Issue Numbers are hand punched (pretty neatly on your example, but the different strikes on the 1st 2 "O's" shows the hand strike at different heights. Also, these pins seemingly were pre-set for 6 digits, from the onset! Serge, yours is a very, very low number of 1,085, but there is room for number 999,999 - although there were never that many TN members. I believe that the TN peaked (in the TR years) at about 150,000 members, but who was eligible for this Membership pin vs. the numbered Lapel Pin, is still an unknown. This type of TN logo appeared in 1934, so I imagine that the pins date also from this time, but I don't know when they were discontinued, but probably at the start of the war years, IMO.

I am told that the various TN pins and the TN Honor Badges will be covered in the Bender "Vol. II Police" due out around the holidays. I guess we'll have to wait until then to find out. ... Txs, Dave/dblmed

Thanks Dave for all your input.
Wow! what a great pool of knowledge we have here on TENO.
Now I have to add the upcoming Bender Vol.II Police book to my list.

Regards,
-serge-

After many, many years of searching, a TN Tunic 'finally' showed up on my doorsteps!

The TN Tunic with VII/35 tabs (collar patches) which I have ID'd as the Ortsgruppe in the town of Prenzlau (35) within the Landesgruppe "VII".

(The collecting community will finally have access to a > 800-900 ID'd Ortsgruppen database found in the TN Chapter and Appendix D, with the publication of the new book, "Volume II, Police" from Bender by Hugh Page Taylor and Jack Angolia, to be released by the holidays, or early in 2009.)

The rank boards are those of a Scharführer (officially 1936-1942, but they continued to be worn afterwards inside of the Reich.) ..... Txs, Dave/dblmed

• TN Tunic - REVERSE •

..... Txs, Dave/dblmed

• RIGHT & LEFT Side Views •

..... Txs, Dave/dblmed

• TN Collar Tabs (Patches) and Scharführer Shoulder Board •

..... Txs, Dave/dblmed

Dave! What a beauty! Hard to find is one thing but to find one in that condition is a rarity indeed.
Is there a name associated with it? Reseachable?
Glad you found his gem for your great collection. - Congratulations!

Regards,
Serge

Great tunic Dave, congradulations. Can you post a close up of the sleave eagle?

Thanks Serge & Raymond - Yes, finally finding a TeNo / TN tunic is like finding a full Rohm dagger, to me. Both are 'out there' - just don't know when one will show up!

Serge - the tailor label is gone & it's not researchable to a named individual. It came out of a collection in Germany, where no other information was available. I got really lucky with the superb condition of the garment.

Raymond - you have super TeNo eyes! The sleeve eagle triangle does look 'unusual' - a Goldish tint (I even went back and did a double take after posting.) It is a standard aluminum wire sleeve eagle (can see a part of it in another photo. I used both upper and lower lights (indoors) & the lower light must have had a Yellow/Gold tint to it? I'll take another photo of the sleeve eagle when I get my camera back from a quick repair. Txs, Dave/dblmed

What is known about TN 'Colors' in general, is that:

1A- Standard uniform color is: Marine Dunkelblau
1B- Early (Pre-1936 TN Officer's collars), had silver piping (and sometimes with the Silver/Black "V" combo)
2- Standard Collar Patches / Tab' color is: Black 'felt-like' material, with Silver Piping with Back "V's" in it, all around
3- Shoulder Board Underlay color is: Black (With the known exceptions of:

* A) RED Underlay for Stab / Staff at the RATN (Headquarters), but for only the
higher officers;
* B) Cornflower BLUE Underlay - for Artz und Sani Officers & Men

4- Shoulder Boards - 'Overlay' - top surface color is: Silver and Black, or just Silver - except for Landesführer, and above (Until the 1943 Rank change series.)

* A) Exception: The Muskiführer had RED cording inside of the Silver.

5- The 7 'Trade Circles' were Black silk / rayon with Silver (white) threading
6- The early TN Luftschutz cuff band was Green.
7- The early TN FAD cuff band was Orange-Yellow.

BUT, none of my TN "Net-Buddies" knows about WHAT or WHERE the Branch Colors were worn/shown on the TN Uniform. So these Branch Colors of the 7 Trade badges are an open area for research & answers!

Here's a nice example of the LD Trade Badge in wear. ...........Txs, Dave/dblmed

TN Collar Piping - Pre-1937

Here's and example of a young TN officer (trying to look like someone familiar? with the stubby moustache) - who has the Silver / Black Color piping to his collar lapels.

Also, his visor has the unusual Black / Silver piping to parts of the visor & the chin cording. ..... Txs, Dave/dblmed

TN Officer Portrait - from 1940 (or even later)

I recently acquired this nice TN Officer photo, as it has it 'All' for a study of TN Items:

* LD Trade Badge / Circle - on left lower sleeve;
* Reichsschule Arrow - left shoulder, for having attended .....Reichsschule Belzig or .....Dresden;
* TN Honor Year Band - on right cuff;
* TN Visor (post 1936) - as the crest piping is Silver only; and combination of .....Embroidered Cockarde/Kranz .....with a Metal TN Eagle;
* TN Dagger Hangers (Fabric Model) - authorized for wear in 1940;
* TN Logo buttons on his Uniform;
* Plus the SA Sports Badge and Ribbon Bars (types unknown to me?)

and, you may see things which I have missed! ........ Txs, Dave/dblmed

AMAZING portraits coming out of the woodwork these days love those collars and trades badges.
thanks for the good work once again my love for the TENO is great due to this thread and the one on that other forum lol and I still search for a nice collar

PAUL

• TN Officer with WWI Submariner Badge •

Paul, you are right on - the photos show us the history as it was seen! This is a nice TN Uniform, and related, photo.

The date is late 1935 - early 1936 (as the sleeve eagle came out in 1935, but the single shoulder board was changed to Double Shoulder Boards in 1936.)

* TN Right Tab is XII/5 - for Ortsgruppe Kassel (matches up with Kassel on the photographer's stamp on reverse)
* A Trade Circle on the left lower sleeve
* Part of a 1919-1923 Honor Cuff Title on the lower right sleeve
* TN Visor Eagle + Laurel Mutzenkranz
* Medals on ribbons (which I can't ID)
* Close up of what I believe is the WWI Submariner Badge, (below a circular pin / badge)
* The 'unusual' leather gaitors / protectors around his boots / shoes.

TN Officers, thus far, which I have learned about were in the WWI Army. This is the 1st one which I have found which has a Kriegsmarine connection.
Lots of fun items to see in this photo. ..... Txs, Dave/dblmed

Picked up this tab yesterday and just wanted to add it here.

Reverse.

Raymond ... Congratulations on finding a Super TeNo Right Collar Tab! It's a nice one. (Gently remove those staples though! Looks like there may be a tad of old paper? writing? left attached?)

As of the 1934 TN records, "VI" Landesgruppe VI, is identified as Neidersachsen-Süd (South Lower Saxony) with the Headquarters being in Hannover. I can't locate a reference to Ortsgruppe "62" yet, but I believe that we'll eventually ID these missing OG's (through records, Ausweis, Soldbuchs, etc.)

The reverse also shows the different types of 'Round Pins' and 'Flat Pins' used as attachments. (I've seen them in a Gold color as well.)

TeNo 'Roman Numerals' seem to be unique to the TN (as far as I have been able to find examples), as both the 'Font' and the 'Indentation' between the Numerals is quite different. Sometimes the "VI" will have 2 attachment, and sometimes 4 attachments.

The indentation (and "IF" there are 4 attachments) allowed for the "V" and the "I" to be separated (keeping 2 each), in case the TN-Mann transferred to a different Landesgruppe. (Some Roman Numeral sets have 2 and some have the 4 attachments.) Pretty neat and forward thinking!

Well done & Thanks for Sharing! Your nice TeNo collection keeps on growing! .... Txs, Dave/dblmed

Thanks for the info Dave. I didn't notice the staples untill I was taking the photos.at first I thought it might be from the period but this came out of an old collection a friend got and there were a couple of Heer shoulder straps with the collectors info under them. I've taken them off now.

Here is a very small photo just aquired small contingent of TENO with RAD you can see one flag has an identifier in the corner but no way to small. One interesting observation is a few Teno members have swallow tails on their shoulders so they had a small fife and drum maybe ?

PAUL

BTT to keep alive

here is a shoulder I just aquired after a long wait now just one more right side collar might make me happy

also this larger size chevron was with the shoulder, would you agree it is also TENO ?

paul

Paul .... A great TeNo Shoulder Board you acquired! Congrats! (I know that you've been looking hard for them.) Is is for the Rank of:

Obervormann - 1 April 1940 - 1 June 1943 (Officially, But worn long afterwards, as documented in photos!)

I really like the way the cross 'tresse' appears to be sewn in first, underneath the piping. That would indicate that it was made for this rank, and not added later (as in a promotion.) I've seen them both ways, and believe that either is correct - but you type is the preferred one to collect.

The sleeve Chevron "V" is a harder one to really know about. It is of a different construction, than the one Bernd posted on page 1. But, I have not come across any regulations for these Chevrons for the TeNo. Since it came with the TeNo board, that is some comfort. If the backing material is Marineblue / Dunkelblau, that would give me even more of a comfort level.

Nice items! ...Dave/dblmed

thanks Dave I would say the material is a faded Black

PAUL

Assmann Sample Board of TN Visor Insignia

In a prior Post, DougO posted his super Nickel Silver TeNo Visor Eagle , to match up with his unique early TN Visor. After looking at 100's of Aluminum TN Visor Eagles, and only 4 of the Nickel Silver TN Visor Eagles - it is quite apparent that the NS type is 'rare' - but I wondered WHY?

I believe that I may have found the answer in studying my Assmann Sample Board, which very clearly shows the 2 'variations' of the standard TN visor insignia. [Like so much in collecting, the answer was right in front of me ... but I did not recognize it for a long while!]

From having reviewed this sample board, the TN magazine "Die Räder", period TN photos and the 1942 & 1945 issues of Die Deutsche Polizei Taschenbuch für die Technische Nothilfe - it is my belief that the Nickel-Silver TN Visor Eagle was only produced in 1935 (the year in which it was introduced).

Afterwards, production from late 1935 - 1945 switched to the Aluminum TN Eagle. (Of course, some NS models could have remained in the Assmann stock, until used up.)

Interestingly, the TN Cocqarde (Mützenkranz)for the 1935 TN Eagle, was actually a standard pattern Assmann "Heer" type, which photos show in wear in 1935. Then, the TN Laurel (Mützenkranz) was introduced "at a later date" but the exact date has not yet been identified. (Photos of 1936 do confirm that it was in use by then.)

This very brief time frame of production helps to explain why we collectors very, very rarely come across an example of a Nickel-Silver TN Visor Eagle, IMO. ...Txs, Dave/dblmed

• TeNo Gold Visor Eagles - 2 Types

It is also very interesting to take a look at TeNo / TN Bullion Visor Eagles - as they continue to follow the pattern of the 1935 Visor Eagle - in that the arms of the Swastika are very distinct and are clearly separated [cut out] from the base material.

As would be expected, the TeNo Gold Metal Visor Eagles (which are rarely found), should also be in - 2 Types. Theey have been ID'd in the (early) Nickel Silver Type (w Gold Color Plating) - and - in the more common (later) Aluminum (w Gold Color Plating) Type. ... Txs, Dave/dblmed

• TeNo / TN Einsatzgruppe in France - 1940

Here is a photo of men of one the TeNo / TN Einsatzgruppen, involved in the invasion of France. (Young guys - Not an old guy in the bunch!).

1) They are fully kitted out, with Gas Capes etc.
2) Blank RT. Tabs, which is seen in a lot of 'outside the Reich' photos.
(Some 'invasion' photos show the lack of both Tabs & Shoulder Boards.)
3) Wearing the Classic TeNo Greatcoat, with 5 buttons / side (these are Silver & have the TN emblem, later on in the war the TN buttons were painted Green, then finally replaced with just Green Heer buttons.)

Their rifles have been ID'd as being French Model 1916 Caliber 8mm Lebel. (Must have done some secondary rearming from captured supplies.)

?? - Anyone know what the leather 'box' is, which the TN Mann on the Left, is carrying under his Ammo Pouches? ....... Txs, Dave/dblmed

Dave :Looks to me like a camera box for those small photo, box shaped cameras .

Dave : Just a reminder ,since you showed the gilted visor cap eagle ; at the start of this thread , I had shown my gilt Teno visor wreath .

BERND, your GOLD TeNo Mützenkranz is so special, that I am bringing it up to this section, where we can better review it.

Who in the TeNo was Authorized to wear the TN Goldene Eagle und Mützenkranz?
There were only 3 TN Ranks:

• Chef Der TN
• Stellv. Chef Der TN
• Landesführers

I've also wondered WHAT the # of Authorized TN Gold wearers would be - because it is this same group which wore the GOLD TN Buckle, an example of which has not been shown in any text (to my knowledge) - yet, so I'm still looking! I have tried to 'guestimate' the number as follows (subject to some assumptions!)

• Chef Der TN ........... H. Weinreich (1934-1943); W. Smelcher (1943-45) = 2
• Stellv. Chef Der TN... E. Hampe (pre-1933 - 1942); Seibert (1943-45) = 2
• Landesführers - the number of Landesgruppen changed, over time in WWII,
• but there were 21 listed LG Numbers (minus about 3 numbers which were not used.) So that is 18, but some LF's retired or died, but let's still use the number 18, to err on the high side.

• let's assume that Each Landesführer had 2 dress Uniforms + 1 summer Weis Uniform = 3 Gold Sets per each Landesführer
• So 18 x 3 = 54 Landesführer expected Gold Sets sets used.

• Then 2 x 3 + 2 x 3 (for Chef & Stellv. Chef) = 12 other Gold Sets used.

• Total = 54 + 12 = 66 TN Goldene Eagle und Mützenkranz Sets (and the TN GOLD Buckle & Brocade Sets.)

BUT, I imagine that ASSMANN made More than 66 Gold sets, just as a matter of business, PLUS a few unused Gold sets are found by collectors (such as the one which I will Post.)(Also as PaulBear noted, perhaps other Manufacturers made 'model' sets, just to be in on the competition for potential orders?)

My totally 'Guestimated & Scientifically Unsubstantiated' Number of these types of Gold TN sets is about 100 (which is still subject to a wide possibility of errors!)
(Even if I am wrong by 100%, the # of Gold TN Sets would be 200). Still a small number. (But, it's fun to try to arrive at some Number, and the number is certainly a low one.) ... Txs, Dave/dblmed

Comparison Side-by-Side of my TN SILVER and TN GOLD Visor Sets. FRONT
Txs ... Dave/dblmed

Reverse of TN GOLD and TN SILVER Visor Sets.

"Gesc. Gesch." is in lower LEFT of the TN Mützenkranz (best seen on Bernd's example), & is one part on each side of the upper edge of the wings of the TN Visor Eagles.

Surprisingly, when I examined the two TN Mützenkranz, I found that the GOLD one is at least 3-4 x heavier? Also there is discoloration on the reverse, which looks like the type of discoloration seen on Nickel Silver items? (I don't have a small scale yet for more accurate weight measurements.)

That leads me to believe that this GOLD TN Mützenkranz is constructed of Nickel Silver, and not of Aluminum, which was then Gilted for Gold color. (I have only examined this Gold one, so I have no other basis of comparison.)

BERND - is your GOLD TN Mützenkranz also heavier than the Silver one?

1) Also, I believe that I remember that Doug commented on a Nickel Silver construction SILVER Visor set, for his very early TN Visor, for which he was looking for a Nickel Silver Eagle?
2) So, perhaps there were Nickel Silver Mützenkranz models early on?
3) Also, perhaps the GOLD TN Mützenkranz was made in Nickel Silver, as would be more fitting for the higher officers?

Just some observations.
It will be interesting to see what the Forum thinks about this.
... Txs, Dave/dblmed

ASSMANN CATALOG - for the TN Visor Sets

I used the "Reddick" copy of the ASSMANN catalog, and Photoshopped the applicable Metal Visor parts.

The ASSMANN catalog states that:

1) the TN Kranz (# 24216) was available, either in Silver (Weis Metal, Aluminum), or in Gold (the Goldene Plated Model.)
- and -
2) the TN Eagle (#24250) was Also available, either in Silver (Weis Metal, Aluminum), or in Gold (the Goldene Plated Model.)

Both are "Gesc. Gesch." by ASSMANN. Fun and interesting stuff! .... Txs, Dave/dblmed