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The problem was hairy, and in a very specific sense.
Since the mid-1960s, more and more Bundeswehr soldiers, both conscripts and regulars, had long hair.
However, this contradicted the military tradition - as recently as 1967, a service regulation had strictly forbidden members of the West German army to “wear shoulder-length or otherwise feminine hairstyles”.
Almost four years later, however, the number of long-haired citizens in uniform had increased so much that there was pressure to act.
On February 8, 1971, Defense Minister Helmut Schmidt (SPD) officially enacted a decree that replaced the 1967 regulations.
Soldiers of the Bundeswehr in November 1971 at the DKP party conference
Source: pA / Klaus Rose
"The Bundeswehr cannot ignore the development of general taste in its appearance," said the order.
Long hair was permitted with immediate effect, but on one condition: “Hair and beard must be clean and well-groomed.” Then came the sentence that made this Schmidt decree unique in military history: “Soldiers, their functionality and safety through their hairstyle are impaired have to wear a hairnet when on duty. "
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The top officer of the Bundeswehr, Inspector General Ulrich de Maizière, explained the new regulation at a commanders' meeting in Sonthofen, Bavaria: “The critical length begins with the collar.
From then on, hairnets have to be worn. "
Haircut instead of hairnet: two Bundeswehr soldiers have to have a new hairstyle
Source: picture-alliance / dpa
The Federal Office for Defense Technology and Procurement in Koblenz had 30,000 hair nets delivered right on time for the entry into force of the decree, price per piece: 50 pfennigs.
So that there could be no unequal treatment, they all had the same color, dark gray.
In the months to come, more orders were placed, so that almost DM 400,000 was spent on taming hairstyles.
Helmut Schmidt himself did not wear one of these nets, but he set a good example: He had his typical quiff shortened and the hair on the back of the neck was trimmed exactly to collar length.
He justified the decree of his ministry: "Even with older soldiers I often see long sideburns sprouting."
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The public reaction, however, had little influence on this commitment.
Because almost all of the comments were derisive: “Should one laugh or cry?” Asked a letter to the editor from Rhineland-Palatinate.
A non-commissioned officer in the reserve asked for information: “Should this head of hair be a new Made in Germany quality mark?” A man from Koblenz remarked that the net-like headdress definitely had something “good”: “The 'enemy' - which one too may be - laughs himself dead. "
Bundeswehr soldiers with long hair at a demonstration in 1971
Source: picture alliance / Klaus Rose
Just ten days after the decree came into force, the Ministry of Defense leaked that it was already considering a restriction.
The new regulation should not apply to the guard battalion responsible for protocol tasks, reported WELT on February 19, 1971. The sight of soldiers with hair nets should be spared foreign politicians when walking through formations, it said.
Foreign newspapers, such as the "Times of India", ridiculed the Bundeswehr as the "most hairy army in the world" and wrote about the air force as the "German Hair Force".
Such malice reduced the deterrent value of the Bundeswehr and undermined its contribution to peace, criticized Brigadier General Eberhard Wagemann, who was responsible for internal management and personnel in the Defense Ministry at the time of the hairpin decree - he switched from this function to the 7th Panzer Grenadier Division in June 1971, which was probably also with the Dissatisfaction with Schmidt's attitude.
Helmut Schmidt at the defense policy conference of the SPD in Koblenz in 1971
Source: picture-alliance / dpa
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The lack of discipline in the Bundeswehr became almost proverbial in 1971.
“Our boy was always hard-working and tidy,” complained the mother of a Hamburg conscript and continued: “Now he has to join the armed forces.
I'm so scared that it will go to waste there. "
As an immediate reaction to the decree, a letter to the editor asked: “When will the minister responsible for this gigantic innovation receive a carnival medal?” On January 29, 1972, the time had come: although he was ill, the Federal Defense Minister in Aachen personally took the medal against the animal Take seriously.
The award was broadcast directly on ARD.
A reservervist tries with his wife's wig and hairnet how to bring the net and fullness of hair under a steel sleeve
Source: picture-alliance / dpa
Schmidt stood by his decree;
He publicly admitted: “What matters to me is what is under the skull and not what is on it.” He countered critical generals of the Bundeswehr: “If you continue to go for short hair, I will give you the hair length of the old generals and tell marshals. ”In fact, even in the First World War, and much more often in the 19th century, high-ranking officers had long beards and half-length hair.
Nevertheless, the Ministry of Defense cashed the hairpin decree after almost 16 months - still under Schmidt.
The official reason was that there had been an increase in the number of sick notes due to cold from wet hair in the troops.
The new regulation stipulated that the hair was allowed to come within two centimeters of the collar.
About 80,000 of the 460,000 soldiers then had to go to the troop hairdresser.
From then on, only members of the reserve who did a military exercise were allowed to wear a hairnet in uniform.
The Air Force recruit Jürgen Weidner was also affected.
Before he was drafted, his hair was shoulder length.
Because he didn't want to wear the hairnet, he had his hair cut in 1971.
With the new decree, at the end of May 1972, he again had to partially cut off the remaining length: “That is the worst, in the end it had to be shortened again.” Had Weidner not done that, a holiday ban would have been a possible consequence.
"As conscripts, with short military shears, we are out of the window for 18 months," complained Michael S .: "The girls no longer look at us.
After work in the barracks, we are recognizable as soldiers in the discos, clubs and at parties. "
Of course, the new hair decree was sued.
After two years, the Higher Regional Court in Koblenz decided in a test case that the hairstyle rules did not violate the right to free development of the personality of soldiers.
This right finds its limit in the constitutional order to which the defense system belongs: "A short haircut for Bundeswehr soldiers is in the public interest."
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