Hitler Youth Uniforms: Chronology

Figure 1.--These boys in a movie are wearing the uniform caps common in the early 1930s. Campaign caps became more common as the War approached.

We notice some chronological trends in the Hitler Youth uniforms. The early uniforms of the Jugendbund could vary. The first attempt to establish a youth section of the National Socialist Movement was started in 1922 with the creation on the 13th of May of the Jugendbund der NSDAP. As a junior branch of the SA, it came under the command of the SA. Members of the youth section wore an almost identical brown uniform to that worn by the SA, and this gave rise to certain problems. Many of the older boys of 16-18 years of age in the group known as the Jungsturm Adolf Hitler were often involved in street brawls with the political opponents of the National Socialists, some even being killed, when they were mistaken for members of the SA. To distinguish the youth section from the adult members of the SA, in 1924 the Jungsturm took to wearing a separate uniform with a Swastika armband of a special design a-- the pattern eventually adopted by the Hitler Youth -- different to that of the Kampfbinde worn by the rank and file members of the SA Detachments." One the NAZIs seized power and the Hitler Y outh became a state youth program, the uniform became much more standardized. The NAZIs in 1933 after Hitler seized power ofiifically formed the Hitlerjugend as an independent organisation of the NSDAP no longer under the command of the SA. The same year saw the incorporation of all German youth clubs and youth formations into the Hitler Youth, with the international Boy Scouts movement being banned in Germany. Baldur von Schirach was appointed Reich Youth Leader. With the passing of the Youth Service Law--Jugenddienstgesetz on the 25th of March, 1939, service in the Hitler Youth became compulsory for every male child in Germany between the age of 10 and 18 and every female child between the age of 10 and 21. Most of the changes came in the early period after the NAZIs seized power. The basic uniform of brown shirt and black short pants varied little over time. There were, however, some differences, especially with the headwear.

Jugendbund

The first attempt to establish a youth section of the National Socialist Movement was started in 1922 with the creation on the 13th of May of the Jugendbund der NSDAP. As a junior branch of the SA, it came under the command of the SA. Members of the youth section wore an almost identical brown uniform to that worn by the SA, and this gave rise to certain problems. Many of the older boys of 16-18 years of age in the group known as the Jungsturm Adolf Hitler were often involved in street brawls with the political opponents of the National Socialists, some even being killed, when they were mistaken for members of the SA. To distinguish the youth section from the adult members of the SA, in 1924 the Jungsturm took to wearing a separate uniform with a Swastika armband of a special design a-- the pattern eventually adopted by the Hitler Youth -- different to that of the Kampfbinde worn by the rank and file members of the SA Detachments."

Hitler Youth

The NAZIs in 1933 after Hitler seized power ofiifically formed the Hitlerjugend as an independent organisation of the NSDAP no longer under the command of the SA. The same year saw the incorporation of all German youth clubs and youth formations into the Hitler Youth, with the international Boy Scouts movement being banned in Germany. Baldur von Schirach was appointed Reich Youth Leader. With the passing of the Youth Service Law--Jugenddienstgesetz on the 25th of March, 1939, service in the Hitler Youth became compulsory for every male child in Germany between the age of 10 and 18 and every female child between the age of 10 and 21.