This is a tunic made in the 1920s for Wilhelm Mutschke, a veteran of the South West African Landespolizei. It is privately tailored to the same specifications as the standard 1907 Landespolizei uniform but with the most noticeable exception of not having the authorised green stand and fall collar but rather a sewn standing collar of the same dark khaki as the rest of the tunic. It is missing its shoulder straps and their buttons. The rest of the tunic is exactly as worn in Africa before the First World War- the shade of dark khaki, the pleated pockets with pointed flaps, the yellow metal buttons bearing the Imperial crown and the rank pips on the collar. Although Wilhelm Mutschke held the rank of Polizei-Sergeant, his two collar pips indicate the rank of Wachtmeister. It appears that retiring servicemen were sometimes promoted by one rank on leaving the service as is customary in many armies and police forces around the world.

Many German veterans wore their Imperial uniforms on ceremonial or official occasions in the 1920s and 30s. There were a multitude of veterans societies across Germany including those for former overseas and colonial soldiers such as the "Verein ehemaliger Kolonial- und Auslandstruppen". There were more groups for specific units or theatres of conflict such as the "Vereinigung ehemaliger Kamerunkämpfer" for those who fought in Cameroon, "Bund der Asienkämpfer" for veterans of the Palestine Front and even the "Deutscher Frauenverein für Krankenpflege in den Kolonien" for female nurses who had served in the colonies. Wilhelm Mutschke himself was a member of the "Verband der Polizeibeamten für die deutschen Kolonien" for former colonial police officers.

It was quite common for veterans to get new "Imperial" uniforms made. This was especially true in the case of the colonial veterans as few of their original uniforms had survived intact after four years spent either in Prisoner of War Camps or trekking around the jungles of East Africa. For the modern militaria collector these uniforms can be very confusing as it is often impossible to tell them from the pre-war uniforms. On the one hand they are not strictly "original" yet on the other hand they are "historical" and they were certainly not cheap forgeries like many modern crude copies. They were privately tailored to the same regulations as previously used, often by the same craftsmen who had worked before 1914. As such these new uniforms are still worthy of collection and study as a benefit to understanding the uniforms originally worn in the colonies.

Although there is no tailor's label inside this particular tunic, it may have been made by Gustav Damm who it seems was the tailor of choice for post-war Landespolizei tunics. In the February 1919 issue of the Former Landespolizei Officers Journal ("Nachrichtenblatt der Verbandes der ehemaligen Angehörigen der Landespolizei Deutsch-Südwestafrika" Nr. 3) there is an advertisement for his firm making new Landespolizei insignia, medals and clothing. Then in the October-December 1933 issue of the former Colonial Police Officer's Journal ("Nachrichtenblatt des Verbandes der Polizeibeamten für die deutschen Kolonien e.V." Nr. 10-12) it was recorded that Gustav Damm's tailoring business had closed and that Felix Heine of Halberstadt was now the recommended tailor.