The uniform of leading Nazi party member, Hermann Goering, is being put up for sale for £85,000 at an antiques store in the south of England.
Goering was the founder of the Gestapo, the Nazis’ intelligence arm, and he was also commander of the German Luftwaffe.
The owner of the antiques store, John Cabello, who bought the uniform from a Swiss collector, says that Goering was hugely overweight and there are still sweat stains on the uniform’s tunic were Goering would have sweated profusely.
Mr Cabello also says that the uniform is very stressed in parts where Goering’s sheer size put pressure on his clothing. There are many folds and creases in the tunic, while the broaches and buttons show signs of strain as well.
The wear and tear suggests that the uniform was worn over a long period of time. Goering notoriously kept his left hand in his left pocket while out and about, and in line with this the left pocket of the uniform has seen more wear and tear than the right.
The uniform was originally designed and produced by a tailor in Vienna, Austria, called Tiller and was well-known to be one of the main tailors used by the Nazis to make their uniforms.
Mr Cabello says that the blue-grey uniform is tailored very well, but the actual materials used aren’t that good quality. He says that as the war years went by it became more and more difficult for people to get hold of good quality materials.
There was also a purposeful initiative among some of the Nazi officers to look less grand as the war progressed. This was a public relations effort to show the general population that their leaders were also feeling the effects of the war.
The uniform consists of a full set with a tunic, trousers and braces. A Nazi cap and belt also accompany the uniform, but are not from Goering’s original wardrobe, The Telegraph reports.
Goering was captured at the end of the war and was put on trial as part of the Nuremberg trials. He was sentenced to death by hanging, but managed to get hold of a cyanide capsule the evening before his execution and he committed suicide on 15th October 1946.