Luftwaffe-Style Hartmann-Type Period European Leather Flying Jacket, French Éclair Zip, Razor Buckle Hem, Size 36

A short seal-brown leather jacket in the Hartmann type, with a French Éclair zip, diagonal chest zips, shoulder-strap loops and the flat buckle at the hem, built in the manner of the jackets German airmen bought in occupied France.

Erich Hartmann and His Jacket

Erich Hartmann, born in 1922, flew with Jagdgeschwader 52 on the Eastern Front and ended the war credited with 352 aerial victories, the highest score of any fighter pilot in history. He spent ten years in Soviet captivity after 1945, returned to Germany in 1955 and later commanded JG 71 'Richthofen' in the West German Luftwaffe. He died in 1993.

In many of the best-known photographs of Hartmann he wears not a regulation garment but a short leather jacket with a pointed collar and a zip front. Collectors generally believe it to have been French-made, of the kind German airmen bought privately in France after the invasion of 1940, and the pattern has become known simply as the Hartmann jacket. It is one of the most recognisable silhouettes in aviation clothing, reproduced today by makers such as Eastman Leather, and much searched for by collectors of the period.

Hartmann's own jacket, as seen in photographs, was short, waisted and closed with a zip, with a pointed collar and slanted chest pockets. It was not a uniform garment but a personal choice, of a kind common among fighter pilots who wanted something warmer and less restrictive than a tunic in a cramped cockpit. The fact that the most famous fighter pilot in history chose a privately bought French jacket says a great deal about how Luftwaffe flying clothing actually worked.

The French Cyclist's Jacket

The ancestor of the Hartmann type was a civilian garment: the short French leather jacket, sometimes called a cyclist's or motorcyclist's jacket, made by numerous workshops in the 1930s and early 1940s. Cut close at the waist, with a zip front, slanted chest pockets and, characteristically, a flat 'razor-blade' buckle to cinch the hem, it was practical, warm and handsome. Collars, pocket flaps and linings varied from maker to maker, so no two surviving examples are quite alike.

French zips are one of the signatures of the type. Éclair was a leading French zip maker of the era, and an Éclair slider on the main zip, as here, is consistent with French manufacture.

These jackets were made for civilians first: cyclists, motorcyclists and men who wanted a short, warm leather coat for town and country. Their quality was high, with fine hides, wool linings and careful finishing, and that quality is why German officers sought them out. After the war the same workshops and their successors went on making similar jackets for decades, which is why the dating of any individual example depends so heavily on its hardware, its linings and its construction.

Private Purchase in the Luftwaffe

The Luftwaffe never adopted a regulation leather flying jacket in the way the US Army Air Forces adopted the A-2. Flying suits and other official garments existed, but officers in particular were expected to buy much of their own clothing, and private-purchase leather jackets were widely tolerated. After 1940, occupied France offered skilled tailors and fine leather, and German pilots stationed there bought short French jackets in numbers. Some were fitted with a breast eagle and shoulder boards; others were worn plain.

That culture of private purchase is exactly what makes the field so difficult. Because none of these jackets were official issue, there is no contract label, no specification and no inspection stamp to prove that a given example was worn by a German airman. Experienced collectors describe such jackets as almost impossible to verify, and many on the market are late-1940s or 1950s motorcycle jackets to which insignia were added later.

Insignia, where present, tell part of the story. A private-purchase jacket worn by an officer might carry a breast eagle, shoulder boards showing rank and arm of service and, on the left chest, awards hung from loops. Removing that insignia after 1945, whether by order, by caution or by later owners, left behind exactly the kind of traces seen on many surviving jackets.

Why the Labels Came Out

Many period European leather jackets survive without a maker's label, and several explanations are given. One often repeated in Japan holds that wartime labels were removed so that a factory's location could not be identified by Allied bombers; it is plausible but undocumented. More prosaic reasons are just as likely: labels lost to relining and repair, removed by tailors who resold stock, or taken out by later owners. In occupied Germany after 1945, former servicemen who continued to wear their wartime clothing were obliged to strip it of military insignia, which is why so many jackets show eagle and badge traces without the badges themselves.

This jacket has no label and no visible sign that one was removed, so the question does not arise in the usual way; its interest lies in its construction.

Provenance, Stated Plainly

There is no provenance linking this jacket to a Luftwaffe airman: no documents, no photographs of a wearer and no service history. We describe it as Luftwaffe-style and Hartmann-type because that is what its pattern and hardware support, and nothing more. One experienced collector has remarked that removing an original eagle from such a jacket removes a great deal of its value; the corollary is that insignia, and documents, carry much of the premium in this field, and this jacket offers neither. What it does offer is an unusually complete set of period features, in a size that is rarely seen.

Reading the Details

On the right breast is a shape that has been read as the trace of a removed eagle. On private-purchase leather jackets the eagle was more often worn on the left breast, so we note the reading without relying on it. Two badge loops sit on the left chest, and buttoned shoulder-strap loops on both shoulders could have carried shoulder boards. Each detail is consistent with use by a uniformed wearer of some kind; none, alone or together, proves Luftwaffe service.

The Piece

The leather is a fine seal-brown hide, goat or calf, which we cannot determine with certainty, and it remains supple, with an attractive depth of colour and natural creasing. The cut is short and waist-length, with a pointed lay-down collar, a centre zip with a brass Éclair slider, two diagonal brass-zipped chest pockets, two lower flap pockets with buttons and the flat metal buckle at the hem. The body is lined in a heavy wool cloth and the sleeves in a polka-dot cotton.

There is no label and no trace of removal. A mark on the right breast has been read as a removed eagle; there are two badge loops on the left chest and buttoned shoulder-strap loops on both shoulders. Condition is good for its age, without notable damage.

Its size, roughly a US or UK 36 and a Japanese S, is small, which suits the slim build of many young men of the 1930s and 1940s and makes it a natural fit for a slender collector today. Of the four European jackets in this group, it is the one closest to the true Hartmann pattern.

Taken together, its details amount to a coherent picture of a well-made period European jacket that could have been worn by a uniformed man. That is as far as the evidence goes, and for many collectors it is a satisfying place to stand: an honest Hartmann-type jacket with real age and quality, rather than an over-claimed one.

Details

• Type: Luftwaffe-style, Hartmann-type short leather flying jacket
• Maker: Unknown; probably French
• Contract / label: No label; no trace of removal
• Era: Period European construction, probably 1930s to 1940s; not dated by documents
• Leather / shell: Seal-brown fine leather, goat or calf (undetermined)
• Hardware: Brass Éclair main zip, two diagonal brass chest zips, flat buckle at the hem, buttoned shoulder-strap loops
• Lining & knits: Wool body lining, polka-dot cotton sleeve lining
• Decoration: No insignia; possible eagle trace on right breast, two badge loops on left chest
• Tagged size: Untagged; about US/UK 36, Japanese S
• Measurements: Shoulder 40 cm · Chest (pit to pit) 49 cm · Sleeve 60 cm · Length 52 cm

Condition

• Leather supple and in good order for its age
• No notable damage
• Possible eagle removal trace on the right breast
• No label, no removal trace
• No provenance to Luftwaffe use
• Leather species undetermined

Condition grade A on the Japanese scale; see Japanese condition ranks, explained.

Authenticity & Care

The label, contract and size tags, leather, stitching, zip and hardware, paint and insignia are examined together and documented in Japan before dispatch; anything that cannot be confirmed is stated plainly in the description. Every piece carries the Japonista authenticity guarantee. Condition the leather lightly once or twice a year with a neutral cream and store on a shaped hanger away from heat.

Delivery from Japan

Packed by hand in Japan and shipped insured and tracked by EMS or an equivalent express service. Import duties and taxes, where applicable, are payable on arrival. Every sale is final; please ask anything before you buy, and see our published policy.

Every figure above is taken by hand with the garment laid flat, in centimetres. Lay a shirt or jacket you already love beside them and allow a centimetre or two of margin, the quiet safeguard on a final sale. Our size guide to tops and jackets turns pit-to-pit figures into US, UK, EU and Japanese sizes, and for anything it leaves open the curator team replies within one Tokyo business day.

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