Third Reich & WW2 German Militaria

During the latter stages of WW2, the mass collecting of items relating to the Third Reich really began. American soldiers who landed on the beaches of Normandy rushed to collect as many souvenirs from the battlefield as possible, with items such as Luger pistols being treasured possessions, some of which changed hands between troops for cigarette rations and even money.

The British soldiers unlike the American troops were not able to collect souvenirs in the same way. American troops were able to send kit boxes full of souvenirs home from the European Theatre of Operations.
The fascination for items relating to the Third Reich continued into the early post-war years, with some of the original manufacturing companies in Nazi Germany producing souvenirs for stationed soldiers in Germany from leftover parts - this is more common with Nazi dress daggers.

During the 1950s and 1960s, the collecting of Third Reich Militaria began, some of the most impressive collections in the world to date were collated at this time. During the 1970s – 1990s the collecting bug for items from WW2 continued to grow. Sadly, the demand for items showed the ugly side of the collecting field, the reproduction market. This became flooded in the 1990s, some of which were believed to be original up until the early 2000s when the internet became more accessible. C&T Auctioneers and Valuers Ltd research all items from this period of history to guarantee only original items at auction.

The most popular items from this time period are dress daggers, headdresses, uniforms and awards & decorations.
In 2019 we were consigned a small collection of insignia items and German Army Generals peaked cap from a woman who was given the items by a friend of her fathers who had taken them as war booty at the end of the war. These items were hugely contested for and as a result we achieved very strong prices for the client.

We are always interested to consign single items or entire collections of Third Reich items. The market is currently very strong for original items from the darkest period in world history.