The German military had a higher number of eyeglass wearers in service than was common in the American military. Pictures of these servicemen and women wearing glasses are quite common. It is likely this was due to the total war stance taken by Germany in the Second World War. Most German men of service age were enlisted and the age range for servicemen was much broader due to manpower shortages. Men who would have been unfit for service in America were active participants in the German war machine. As a result, there were lots of soldiers in eyewear even in front line combat roles.

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Germany issued two types of eyewear Diest-Brille (service-glasses) and Masken-Brille (mask-glasses) which were designed with cloth ear loops to be worn under a gas mask. Despite issuing eyeglasses the photographic record clearly shows that civilian eyewear predominated. 

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Overwhelmingly the lenses in the glasses in this gallery are round or occasionally oval. Both metal frames and plastic frames are equally common. Nose pads are rarely found on these glasses. Germans also made use of sunglasses as well and these were issued in particular climates such as the desert and to particular roles such as machine gunners. 

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These photographs were taken from a number of online sources and auction sites.  They are presented here for educational purposes.