Frontsoldaten was originally established in 1998 as a small website consisting of information on all known Zweiter Weltkrieg deutsche Reenactmentgruppen (with links to their websites or email addresses to their coordinators) as well as all known Zweiter Weltkrieg militaria dealers (especially ones that catered to deutsche reenactors). The website was originally hosted on a "free" webspace provider (I cannot remember the original company but it had ridiculous banner ads imbedded at the top and bottom of the web pages). By 2000, I had relocated to a remote location in Texas (far away from any metropolitan area) where there were no local (or regional) reenactmentgruppen. After the relocation, I turned the website over to an interested party and it soon dissappeared from the web.
Along with the website, Frontsoldaten was a company name for a business I started that originally sold reproduction German uniforms and equipment as well as modern Bundeswehr (and other European countries) military surplus. Most of the inventory came from the military surplus wholesaler Sturm Handels GmbH. In mid-2001 Sturm began to stock some reproduction German uniforms and equipment. During the same time period Sturm received a large influx of used reproduction German uniforms that had been utilized in the production of the film Enemy at the Gates (de - Duell: Enemy at the Gates). Of the used uniforms there was a large quantity of feldblusen. Most of these feldblusen had schulterklappen, but the waffenfarbe on most was that of Artillerietruppe (Hochrot), which seemed odd. By 2002 the Frontsoldaten company was shuttered due to low sales.
The only thing that remains from the two (2) previous Frontsoldaten incarnations is the "mascot" that was utilized by both - the Wehrmacht Heer Oberleutnant (pictured on this website's Startseite). The image is from the box art of Tamiya's 1971 MILITARY MINIATURES 1:35 maßstab GERMAN ARMY OFFICER kit (Tamiya Nr. 35010). I originally used this same image for a very early Tamiya (specifically Wehrmacht related) information database website that was started circa 1996-1997. The website was originally hosted on free webspace offered to Internet America subscribers.
