This website is dedicated exclusively to providing and collecting information about the cleaning kits used by the Germans in the Second World War from the point of view of a simple collector.

This blog has no sympathy or support to the Nazi regime that devastated Europe on the 40's. Also personally, when I see one of these kits manufactured on the war years, I think of the possibility that maybe it was made by a foreign forced worker under harsh conditions - more information about forced labor in Germany during WWII on the Links of interest page -.


Tuesday 14 February 2012

Introduction

  I bought my first Reinigungsgerät 34 (an undated "G. Appel" kit) twenty years ago, and sincerely did not pay much attention. Later I added other kits to my collection with little idea on the subject. Gradually I have been seeing the vast diversity that exists on these kits and their components depending on the manufacturer and period of production.   My colection is too far for to be complete and I think it never will be. Here you will not find much info about rare kits, Rg's with special markings (Marine, Police,...) or the tan coloured kits, lately so much sought.
 
  Unfortunately there is very little reference literature and the information included is not very extensive. The Web and the many forums dedicated to the WWII German weapons allows to gather a lot of info over the Rg 34 and also to see some advanced collections all around the world, althought collectors (I include myself) are sometimes reluctant to give information or show his collection. Many collectors focus their collection only in to obtain a kit from every manufacturer and every year, but sometimes does not care if the contents are original or correspond to that kit. Personally, I focused on the Reinigungsgeräte manufactured during the war period, seeking to find as original as possible.
   
  To me, this is a hobby and I enjoy collecting and studying these rusted kits. I created this blog with the only intention to show the information that I would liked to know before, when I started to collect Reinigungsgeräte. Of course all information contained herein is not intended to be unquestionable and surely will be incomplete. Also, if we think of the large number of Rg 34 manufactured until 1945, we will understand that there may exist variations, exceptions or oddities. I will try to add progressively more info in the future. I added at the end of this page: "what's new", showing the remarkable news.
  
  Lastly, my native language is not English, so my apologies for my spelling mistakes and grammatical errors.
 

  ...also, any remark, correction or new information is welcome ! - reinigungsgerat34@gmail.com -

Acknowledgements:
  • Thanks to Marcel for their photos of the "Ky1941" kit.
  • Thanks to Wolfgang, an advanced collector, for their help.
  • Thanks to Voltor, for their help also.
  • Thanks to Wulf  for providing nice pictures.
  • Thanks to Glen for their pictures also.
What's new:
  • Added a links page with interesting sites related with the rg34. I will try gradually add more (30.11.2014)
  • Updated of the chapter dedicated to the Ky kits (11.07.2013).
  • Some pictures of the flat tools - presumably from post war manufacture - that are abundantly emerging today (29.04.2013)
  • The chapter about the unknown rbl kits ! (31.03.2013).
  • Detailed pictures of some "butterfly chains" (25.03.2013).
  • I added pictures of an arr 4 marked Hülsenkopfwischer and a late war stamped oiler variant (10.03.213). 
  • Pictures of an undated arr kit in "tan" colour (01.03.2013).