My new vintage German Police (Polizei) jacket

[Gamma68]

It arrived today. Dated 1979 and made by Werner Roth KG. Fresh out of the box.

Appears to be steerhide. Medium thickness with some nice graining along the backs of the sleeves. It has a snap-on collar which is either cotton or wool. That's kinda nice with the temps below freezing.

The jacket may be a little big for me. But that's okay because it will allow for layering.

Overall, it's in great shape albeit with one missing chest pocket snap (which the seller didn't disclose). Are replacements available?

A police patch has been removed from the upper left sleeve. Think I should replace it with an original patch?

I'm thinking of this as a leather pea coat on days when I don't wear my USN pea coat.

So ... what do you guys think? Although I've seen threads about the German WWII U-boat jackets, there doesn't seem to be much info about German police jackets.

 

[ton312]

Very cool @Gamma68 and the fit looks nice and trim to my eye! These are very nice jackets. I've been tempted over the years but never pulled the trigger. Yours looks great!

 

[Doctor Damage]

The jacket may be a little big for me. But that's okay because it will allow for layering.

The jacket is a perfect fit. Outerwear should not be skin-tight.

A police patch has been removed from the upper left sleeve. Think I should replace it with an original patch?

Not sure I'd want to be wearing police badges, or any badges/ranks I didn't earn. I realize this jacket is from another continent, but still.

Although I've seen threads about the German WWII U-boat jackets, there doesn't seem to be much info about German police jackets.

We have a thread on leather police jackets in which we've posted a few German police jackets, but they're not common in North America and our members aren't knowledgeable about them. We have a couple of German members, but unless they've studied these jackets, it's unlikely they know much either. Just enjoy the coat!

 

[Superfluous]

Very cool!

 

[Gamma68]

Thanks, guys!

Any idea if those little snaps are available? I'd like to fix that so the chest pocket will button and stay flat.

 

[Seb Lucas]

I remember when the dark green versions of this were phased out. They were even available in disposal stores in Melbourne for around $20 each. Mid 1980's. They were always too heavy for practical use down here.

 

[Doctor Damage]

Any idea if those little snaps are available? I'd like to fix that so the chest pocket will button and stay flat.

If you live in a larger city there should will be a local fabric/sewing store and they might have something.

 

[SpeedRcrX]

I really like it and it fits you well, congrats!

 

[Trenchfriend]

@Gamma68
Holy cow!!

I'm interested, how much this jacket weighs. Can you find it out?

 

[Graemsay]

Nice jacket!

The chances are that the snaps are a standard size. If you find a shop that does bag or jacket repairs, they're likely to have something that'll fit.

 

[Edward]

I have one of these somewhere; I planned to sell it on because I picked it up too small to wear over a blazer, but I might hang onto it to wear instead of a blazer when I turn it up. Mine also had the police badge removed. If I hang onto the jacket, I wll probably pick up a patch of some sort to go over it - most likely the BPRD (Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defence) logo from the Hellboy franchise.

 

[TREEMAN]

Looks like it fits well..........enjoy !!

 

[Gamma68]

@Gamma68
Holy cow!!

I'm interested, how much this jacket weighs. Can you find it out?

Thanks, Trenchfriend. It weighs 5.2 pounds.

 

[Trenchfriend]

@Gamma68
Thanks. 2,36 kilogramm.

 

[Gamma68]

@Gamma68
Thanks. 2,36 kilogramm.

Is that considered a "heavy" weight? It's not overly heavy to wear.

I'm a little surprised that these German police jackets aren't more popular. They're high quality, fairly common on eBay and quite affordable.

They're also similar to the U-boat/Dr. WHO jackets, which have received some attention here. I guess the police jackets would gather more interest if someone like Steve McQueen wore one or if they were featured in a movie or TV series.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Is that considered a "heavy" weight? It's not overly heavy to wear.

I think, for a such solid Nappa-leather jacket, it's really not very heavy.

But I'm a flyweight-men. An average 12oz-Denim jacket (around 850 gramm) is ok to me. An average M65-jacket weighs around 2 kilogramm an that's heavy for me!

 

[Seb Lucas]

The older ones are much heavier, over 3 kilos. Bloody useless in Australia.

 

[rocketeer]

We have a thread on leather police jackets in which we've posted a few German police jackets, but they're not common in North America and our members aren't knowledgeable about them. Just enjoy the coat!

I remember the old Aero shop in Battersea(The Thrift Shop) sold American police (non motorcycle) jackets from different state forces. Most were around Teamster length, black horsehide with brass buttons bearing a legend similar to 'Chicago Police Dept' on them to close the jacket. The sides were split at hip level for weapon access. At chest level both breast pockets were dummy, that is non operative but with the small version of the brass buttons. Cant really remember but some jackets closure method was zip with a snap down wind flap.
These were quite popular a while back, I have seen them in the Paris flea markets and other second hand clothing stores. They look 1960-70s so some out there won't class that as vintage wear but I do

 

[Edward]

Presumably some one of those is what Kn based to Aero police jacket on.

 

[Mysteryo]

Not Police but I have one cool german biker jacket from 50's, I guess (it now in the "Classified" section)