German WWII Kriegsmarine Wehrpass Identification Document

A Wehrpass (military service pay book) issued to a Kriegsmarine serviceman, with a printed eagle-and-swastika emblem and Gothic-lettered title on the cover. The personal data page identifies the holder by surname and given names, with birth date given as 26 July 1907 and birthplace recorded, along with a photograph of the holder in uniform and his handwritten signature. A separate loose portrait photograph of the same individual accompanies the document.

The Wehrpass served as the standard personal service record for German armed forces personnel, recording personal details, postings, promotions, and decorations throughout a serviceman's career.

The Wehrpass was the standard lifelong military service record issued to German armed forces personnel from 1935 onward, distinct from the shorter-term Soldbuch carried on active duty, and documented an individual's conscription status, training, unit postings, promotions, wounds, and decorations across their career. For a Kriegsmarine holder such as this, born in 1907 and thus likely called up as a reservist or serving through the interwar naval build-up, the document would reflect service within Germany's navy during the Nazi era, whose vessels and personnel were engaged in the Battle of the Atlantic and other naval operations of the Second World War. Such personal papers provide a genealogical and administrative record of an individual serviceman's career rather than of any specific unit or action.