Original Item: Only One Available. The 6x30 Dienstglas (Service Glass) was one of the most used German issued binoculars of WWII. This example is fully functional, with mostly clear optics, and working adjustments. It is nicely marked with the model and serial information on the right barrel base:

The left side has the maker information with a date code:

This indicates manufacture by Optische Präzisions-Werke (Optical Precision Works) GmbH in Warschau (Warsaw), Poland. As this uses a three letter code, it was made post 1941. We have not been able to find much information about this company, except that during World War II, it was under the control of Carl Zeiss director, producing the unrivaled caliber of optical lenses. However it also possibly employed forced labor from the Warsaw ghetto.

Both focus diopter adjustments work correctly, though they need proper greasing and lubrication. The "O" on the left barrel indicates the type of lubricant to use. Also the optics and mirrors could use some cleaning. The bakelite eye cups are in very good shape, with some chipping on the left side. There is a nice leather neck strap installed, though it may be post war. The plastic covering of the barrels is almost completely intact.

Overall a very nice example of the classic eye piece for German infantry officers during WWII!

History of the 6x30 Service Glass:

Among all military binoculars after the end of the First World War, the 6 x 30 service glass became predominant in both the Navy and the Army, and it remained the Army's most used binocular for decades.

From the Army regulations for 1927 and 1940: "As a standard double telescope for all branches of the Army of the Reich, the double telescope 6 x 30 with normal reticle..... and a field of view of 150m at 1000m distance." In terms of its importance and the quantities produced, the D.F. 6 x 30 was increasingly important after WWI was produced in larger quantities than any other. In the Army Regulations of November 29, 1919, after the end of the First World War, an inventory was ordered of the quantity of optical instruments in the infantry, because of new regulations on equipping the troops with optical instruments, and only the Fernglaeser 03, 08, 6 x 30, and 10 x 50 are listed as hand held binoculars. In a March 1939 paper regarding the height calibrations of reticles, only the 6 x 30 and 10 x 50 are mentioned; and in an Army technical regulation of June 1944, concerning the carrying strap for the Doppelfernrohre 6 x 30 and 10 x 50.

The design of the common D.F. 6 x 30 is similar to the equally common Zeiss Silvamar, with only minor differences.