The German armed forces of WWII employed a wide variety of materials to construct the different items needed by their troops. Among the articles are badges, medals, belt buckles, awards, etc.

This section of the website provides a list of some of the materials. Photographs are also included to provide a visual of the topic. A basic list of the items that were produced from each material are also provided.

This service is brought free of charge to the visitor/enthusiast courtesy of MilitaryItems.com, a company dedicated to the preservation of military history and to providing quality military antiques and collectibles to museums, institutions and the general public.

BADGE MATERIALS	MATERIAL	ITEMS PRODUCED
	Aluminum Used from the 1930's to around 1941.	Belt buckles Dagger parts and fittings Insignia and tinnies Hat and breast eagles Badges
	Steel	Belt buckles Fighting knives Bayonet parts Badge pins
	Zinc Used from mid to late war years. Very brittle material. It was used primarily because other materials were being employed in the production of weapons. See example of aging zinc badge	Badges Dagger hangers dagger parts and fittings Sword components
	Tombac This material is a copper alloy that ressembles brass. Also spelled Tombak or Tomback. Replaced the use of Nickel-silver and aluminum.	Badges
	Nickel silver Used from the 1930's to around 1941. High quality badges.	Badges Dagger and sword parts

UNIFORM MATERIALS	MATERIAL	ITEMS PRODUCED
	German Army Dress Tunic	Dress tunics
	German Army Inside of Dress Tunic	Dress tunics
	German Luftwaffe Paratrooper Jump Suit	Combat Uniforms
	German Hitler Youth Shirt	Field tunics
	German Desert Shirt	Field tunics
	German Navy Shirt	Work tunics
	German Political Shirt	Field Shirt

CLOTH INSIGNIA MATERIALS	MATERIAL	ITEMS PRODUCED
	Wool	Labor union patches
	Cotton	Military and civilian patches

DOCUMENT MATERIALS	MATERIAL	ITEMS PRODUCED
	Cardboard stock light weight	Used in fold-out ID cards. Refer to documentation section.
	cardboard stock heavy weight	Used with work pay books. Refer to documentation section.
	Light Brown paper	Used for pages in many applications such as work pay books, military ID books, etc. Often times it had a background design which could include swastikas or a checkered pattern. Refer to documentation section.
	Photograph attached via glue	Most commonly used with work pay books. This method of securing a photo to the ID book was abandoned early on because it was much easier to forge. Notice that official stamps are applied to opposite corners. Refer to documentation section.
	Photograph attached via rivets	Most commonly used with identity books. The photo in this example is attached via the use of machined rivets with a gear pattern. This method was more effective as it was difficult to forge. Note the us of ink stamps in opposite corners. Refer to documentation section.
	Photograph attached via staples	Most commonly used with identification cards. Two staples, one on top and one on bottom, hold the photo in place. Some examples used a single staple. The ink seals are applied to opposite corners. Refer to documentation section.