Soldbuch

Hello everyone.


I'm looking for a Soldbuch from the Wehrmacht,I've looked on the net but did't
find much about the prices of the original ones ,only the repro's

Does anyone know the price of an original soldbuch?

 

Very much depends on unit and war experiences contained therein Thompson.
I've seen 'standard' Landser ones for less than £100, even with decent photo albums and a few other bits thrown in, alongside SS, or ones with famous actions within, for "very very very expensive" according to the smiling seller (accurately judging me as someone who doesn't purchase in such rarified areas ).

You pays your money and takes your choice apparently.
There are other chaps on here that can no doubt give you a more accurate guide than my subjective impression .

Couple here:
Militariasales

~A

 

Adam is quite correct. SS would obtain the most monies, followed by Herr then Luftwaffe with the Kreigsmarine way down the bottom of the pile unless the soldier was a Ritterkeruz recipient. Again depending on branch and theater of operations and very importantly how many and what type of awards did this soldier have.

most of the larger well-known dealers in German militaria have soldbooks for sale

 

I can only confirm what has already been said. I have a few 'normal' Heer soldbuch's in my possession that cost me less then £60 and I also have a Waffen-SS one that cost me £580 so really the price range is large.
A good European soldbuch dealer - and very trustworthy - is Janssen-Militaria (Holland) & another one is Disclaimer
Have a look at these sites and you will see just how the prices fluctuate depending on who the soldbuch belonged to, what battles he fought in, what units he belonged to and what military awards he won. For the Kriegsmarine the most expensive ones tend to be ones to U-Boat crew members and those who served on the big ships and these usually sell for $500-$1000.

 

Weitze and Huesken both had several Soldbuchs the last time I looked. Also, if you have a spare 50,000 Euro to throw around, I know who has General Hasso von Manteuffels Soldbuch. I've seen it first hand about 2 years ago. An American was trying to sell it for someone in Europe.

 

I'm starting to collect soldbuch and i have a few questions.

-Much fakes for sale? (how can I see that?)
-How to decide if the soldbuch is worth the money asked for it?





Greets Thompson.

 

For sure there are fake Soldbuchs on the market ( also Wehrpass, etc ). Usually, the fakers concentrate on higher-ranking officers or well-known units - so if you're buying one with a humble or un-heroic background, you should be OK.

Otherwise, I'd strongly recommend you view and handle the document before buying ; genuine ones are often badly-worm and very dirty indeed ; they had to be produced and shown very often. Also, the movements authorized inside should be many different shades of fountain-pen and rubber-stamp ink - not so easy to fake !

The old rule applies, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.....

As for values, I really don't know how much these sell for these days.

 

Hello,
My area of collecting is Soldbucher & Wehrpasses and as with all areas of collecting there are fakes, as Martin mentioned, but luckily this area hasn't been so heavily 'hit' like the combat badges & cloth insignia areas.
By and large what Martin mentions about the different shades of ink/rubber stamps is true however there are cases where the entire Wehrpass is written in the same ink and has the same stamps throughout and this was usually because it was a replacement for one that was lost (if a HQ was over-run for example) and a replacement was needed to send to the family of the deceased soldier. If it was a replacement then it will have ZWEITSCHRIFT stamped or written across the cover, usually in red.
One other aspect that the fakers sometimes target to try and add a few $$$ to the price of an otherwise seemingly ordinary WP/SB is to add a combat award/medal to the soldier's awards page suddenly transforming him from a normal everyday Feldwebel to a Feldwebel who won the German Cross In Gold, or the Iron Cross 1st & 2nd Class in one day.
With Wehrpasses another area that fakers target was Germany's need for manpower, so that in a normal WP of a 45 year old man who had been categorized as unfit for military service you may suddenly see that he was drafted into the SS in 1944 as a concentration camp guard.
These are just some examples of what to look out for but if you follow the link World War Militaria there is a thread on another forum that has a list of reference books that I would recommend getting (the ones that relate to WP/SB collecting). Knowing the subject matter before diving in will save you a lot of money in the long run. If you have any questions or want pointers feel free to get in touch.

Value wise - the range is vast. A normal soldbuch to a soldier who 'didn't get up to much' (for want of a better phrase) or didn't serve in a prestigious unit/didn't fight in a well known battle can be found for around 50-60Euros, but one to a soldier who won the German Cross In Gold, or who served in the Waffen-SS can fetch 500+Euros. Ones to soldiers/officers who won the Knight's Cross fetch over 1000+Euros - hence why the fakers sometimes target these areas in a WP/SB.
Wehrpasses can be found for as little as 30Euros but these are usually for men who were never called up for military service due to their age etc.
If you think that you are possibly paying too much for a WP/SB or you have a doubt over it's originality then the best advice I can give is to keep your money in your pocket until you see one that catches your eye and you are happy about buying.
It is a rewarding area of collecting as unlike combat awards you can see the soldier's history, his family background, his service etc and you can do a level of research on him. The links below are for 4 WP/SB's in my collection that I recently wrote up (all the information was obtained from the WP/SB and unit histories)...
(you may need to register with the site to see the pictures)

KIA 1st Day Of Op Barbarossa WP http://worldwarmilitaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4925
Battle Of Britain Related WP http://worldwarmilitaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4912
2nd SS Pz Div 'Das Reich' KIA Normandy SB http://worldwarmilitaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4802
JG 52 Fighter Ace KIA July 1943 SB http://worldwarmilitaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4812

 

Thanks for the excellent info, hucks !

My own response was just as a general collector ; it's always fascinating reading input from someone who specializes in any given field.....

 

The points you brought up are all handy ones to know. I have soldbucher that are falling apart but just 'reek of history' which is something that fakers just can't replicate, like the 3 examples shown below - the first 2 belong to a soldier that was assigned to a punishment unit while the second 2 belong to a mountain trooper who served from the 1st day of the war to the last and won an EK II during the Polish campaign, and the last one that is a Wehrpass to a member of the Grossdeutschland Pz Grenadier Division.

 

Thanks for info it's a great help to me.

 

Here's one of my Soldbuch groups. I like the fact the ISA docs hand written. To me that's another variant. If anyone would like to see the other pages of the S/B just ask. Stewy

 

Yep, I would like to see some of the soldbuch for sure.
regards John

 

Any pages in particular John? Stewy

 

Could we see the equipment/clothing issue pages,please?

regards John

 

Here's a couple John,i think some maybe missing. The additional pages i mean,i'll dig it out & check. Stewy

 

Don't know how i missed seeing these? but, I like that grouping. I dont have any Soldbuchs--yet, but this stuff really is great. Congrats on a nice grouping. I'd comment on the rest of your and Fichers stuff tonight but no time till late tomorrow.

 

They are certainly great and once again good quality. Thank you for posting these

 

Thankyou. I've got several Soldbuch/wehrpass groups. I get round to posting them as soon as i can. Stewy

 

Here's another,these didn't come together but are for a display. I'm gonna do a bit of research on the S/B. Stewy
P.S. The Flak badge's a R.Souval