History

The headgear, uniforms, and insignia worn by members of the Kriegsmarine were based upon the designs utilized by the Kaiserliche Marine and the Reichsmarine. The official regulations governing the uniforms of the Reichsmarine were issued on April 5, 1921, and they were embraced, with a few alterations, as the Kriegsmarine uniforms in 1935.

From 1933-1945, the uniforms worn by personnel in the German Navy were produced and disseminated by the Navy Clothing Depot and private manufacturers.

The Kriegsmarine utilized general categories of footwear, including riding boots, lace-up shoes, canvas shoes, and riding boots. The make and style of Kriegsmarine footwear tended to mirror the design of the Heer footwear, with slight alterations.

These Kriegsmarine boots were worn as marching boots. They were originally produced with a height of 340-390mm, but they were shortened at the very beginning of the Second World War to approximately 320-350mm. In 1941, the availability of leather became a pressing issue, and they replaced the tall marching boots with shorter lace-up shoes (ankle boots).

The marching boots utilized the Heer design and also employed brown leather that was blackened on the exterior and soft brown leather on the interior. They have also reinforced the boots with leather sections along the rear seam and the heel. The heel could also be protected via the addition of steel plates.

The interior sole of the boot was manufactured with three layers of material. There are also pulling straps on either interior side of the boot that could be pushed inside the boot when they were in use.

When these boots were worn by Kriegsmarine land units they would have hobnails added to the exterior bottom of the boot for extra traction.

The boots may also be known as Marschstiefel, Jackboots, or Marching Boots.

The Wehrmacht footwear continued to be worn by personnel after the end of the Second World War, thus Kriegsmarine footwear examples are rare and usually show signs of wear.