Wehrmacht Large Order, Uniform and Document Estate from the Property of the Holder of the German Cross in Gold and Honor Roll Clasp of the Army Captain Friedrich Hösl, I./Grenadier-Regiment Nr. 62

This remarkable military estate represents one of the most complete surviving assemblages documenting the career of a highly decorated Wehrmacht front-line officer who served continuously on the Eastern Front throughout the Second World War. At its center is the garrison uniform of Hauptmann Friedrich Hösl, manufactured in 1942 by the Munich-based military tailor Christian Schwarz & Sohn, accompanied by an impressive array of decorations, documents, and equipment that together paint a vivid portrait of an infantry officer’s wartime service.

Friedrich Hösl was born on 9 May 1920 in Füssen am Lech, Bavaria. After completing his Abitur in 1939, he served in the Reichsarbeitsdienst (RAD) until September 1939 before entering the Wehrmacht. From October 1939 until the end of the war, he served continuously in Infanterie-Regiment 62, which was subordinated to the 7. Infanterie-Division. This division had been formed on 1 October 1934 in Munich and was renamed on 15 October 1935. On 15 October 1942, the regiment was redesignated as Grenadier-Regiment 62.

Hösl’s combat trajectory can be traced through his decorations. He received the Iron Cross 2nd Class on 24 June 1941, just days after the launch of Operation Barbarossa, followed by the Infantry Assault Badge on 30 November 1941 and the Iron Cross 1st Class on 12 January 1942. Since the winter of 1941/42, the regiment held positions in the Gshatsk-Stellung (Gzhatsk Line). On 3 March 1943, it began its retreat to the Büffelstellung (Buffalo Line).

The year 1943 marked the most intense period of Hösl’s combat service. On 5 July 1943, the 7. Infanterie-Division attacked during the Battle of Kursk from the north, engaging in heavy close combat in well-fortified Russian positions. Hösl was promoted to Oberleutnant, serving as company commander, then as battalion adjutant on the staff of I. Bataillon/Grenadier-Regiment 62, and was eventually appointed battalion commander. He received the Wound Badge in Black on 26 July 1943, followed by the Wound Badge in Silver on 16 August 1943 — the rapid succession indicating the severity and frequency of his wounds.

On 3 November 1943, Hösl was awarded the German Cross in Gold. This decoration had been instituted by Adolf Hitler on 28 September 1941 in two grades: gold for repeated acts of bravery or outstanding achievement in combat, and silver for distinguished non-combat war service. The gold grade required prior possession of the Iron Cross 1st Class and repeated individual acts of valor or sustained outstanding combat performance — with six to eight such acts as a general rule of thumb. An estimated 24,204 awards of the German Cross in Gold were made during the war.

On 20 December 1943, Hösl received both the Close Combat Clasp in Bronze and the Close Combat Clasp in Silver on the same date. The Close Combat Clasp in Silver ranks among the rarer Wehrmacht decorations: of the approximately 18 to 20 million soldiers who served, only about 36,400 received the Bronze Class, a mere 9,500 the Silver Class, and only 631 the Gold Class.

On 7 January 1944, Hösl was named in the Honor Roll of the German Army (Ehrenblatt des Deutschen Heeres) and received the Honor Roll Clasp of the Army (Ehrenblattspange des Heeres). This award required possession of the Iron Cross 1st Class 1939 and the performance of an act of bravery above and beyond the call of duty that did not justify the Knight’s Cross and for which the recipient had not been awarded the German Cross in Gold. A total of 4,556 Honor Roll Clasps were awarded to members of the Army and Waffen-SS. The Honor Roll Clasp had been instituted following the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, but until 30 January 1944, it existed only as a paper award — making Hösl’s certificate dated just weeks before this transition particularly noteworthy.

In 1944, Hösl was promoted to Hauptmann but was severely wounded, resulting in the amputation of his left leg. He received the Wound Badge in Gold on 15 January 1944. In August 1944, he was transferred to the leadership reserve for intended assignment as a tactics instructor at a war school. On 28 July 1945, he was discharged from the Wehrmacht by the discharge center of the US XX Artillery Corps.

The feldbluse itself is a fine example of an M1942 pattern Wehrmacht Heer officer’s tunic, constructed from feldgrau wool with a dark bottle-green collar. The breast eagle is hand-embroidered in metallic thread and hand-sewn. The shoulder straps bear the regiment number “62” with white Waffenfarbe (branch color) indicating infantry. The German Cross in Gold appears as a cloth version hand-sewn to the right breast. An aiguillette on the right shoulder identifies Hösl as battalion adjutant. The interior features stone-gray lining with both woven and printed tailor labels from Christian Schwarz & Sohn München, along with the handwritten wearer designation “Friedrich Hösl, 11.VI.1942.” The tunic includes a built-in slit for wearing the officer’s dagger.

The estate is completed by a size 58 officer’s visor cap with white Waffenfarbe, an Army parade belt (Paradefeldbinde) in its original box, and an Army officer’s dagger manufactured by F.W. Höller of Solingen, bearing the firm’s characteristic thermometer trademark, with silvered fittings, yellow grip, silvered scabbard, portepee, and hanger.

After the war, the wearing of Nazi-era decorations was banned in Germany. In 1957, the Federal Republic of Germany authorized the wearing of alternative de-nazified replacement versions. For the German Cross, the swastika was replaced by a representation of the Iron Cross in the gold division. The Honor Roll Clasp was similarly re-authorized for wear, redesigned with two crossed swords in the center replacing the swastika symbol.

This estate documents with rare completeness the career of a young Bavarian officer who rose from the ranks to become a Hauptmann and battalion commander within just a few years of combat, earning some of the most prestigious decorations available to a German front-line soldier.