Hungary, Kingdom. A Superb M1911 Austro-Hungarian Army Generalmajor's Waffenrock to Vitez Lajos Szurmay

Acquired from an advanced collector, this is a fine untouched, unaltered example of what is formally designated as the M1911 Attila, however with updates in the late 19th century, including the M1891, M1893 and finally the M1911 update. While individual regiments occasionally had slight tailoring adjustments, the structural template for Hungarian officer's tunics remained fiercely loyal to these 19th-century models right up to the brink of the war.

This prewar  is a highly ornate, distinctively tailored garment known as an 'Attila jacket' is crafted in light blue or 'lichtblau' cotton weave and features five rows of intricate, heavy gold cord loops (braiding) across the chest, fastening with olive-shaped gold knots or toggles. It features a stiff, upright stand-up collar and cuffs heavily adorned with scarlet red cloth backing. The collar is framed with wide, intricate gold embroidery (Generalborte) featuring a stylized oak-leaf or zig-zag pattern. To denote the rank of Generalmajor, one silver embroidered star is placed on each side of the scarlet collar patch, positioned over the thick gold general's border. The cuffs are decorated with elaborate gold cord looping forming a traditional Hungarian knot (Suatache or vitézkötés). It also features four external scalloped flap pockets. The interior collar has blue silk adding comfort for the wearer however is the non-liner version throughout the remaining interior. 

Worn around the neck, an Order of Merit, Commander, in silver and enamels, measures 53.4 mm (w) x 58.1 mm (h), small flecks to the enamels, worn on a thin period neck ribbon, in extremely fine condition. 

Displayed upon the recipients chest are his awards which include a fine medal bar with all period ribbons having been period hand stitched to the tunic itself. These awards include:

1. Order of Merit, Knight. (Magyar Érdemrend). Instituted in 1922. In bronze gilt with red, white and green enamels, the reverse bears the inscription SI DEUS PRO NOBIS QUIS CONTRA NOS 1922, measures 42 mm (w) x 47 mm (h), missing centre red enamels;

2. Military Merit Cross, Third Class, in silver and enamels, with war decoration, measuring 31.02 mm (w) x 35.18 mm (h - inclusive of integral ring), hallmarked on ring;

3. Military Merit Medal, (Signum Laudis). Karl I. In silver with bronze gilt swords' on ribbon;

4. Military Merit Medal, (Signum Laudis). Karl I. In silver with bronze gilt swords' on ribbon;

5. A Signum Laudis Medal, Ii Class Bronze Grade, in bronze gilt, measuring 32.07 mm (w) x 49.30 mm (h);

6. Bravery Medal, II Class (Small Version), Karl I variant (1917-1918), in silver, 31.09 (d);

7. Karl Troop Cross, in war materials, measures 29 mm (w) x 33 mm (h);

8. Wound Medal, Karl I. In war material, featuring Karl I, ribbon with one stripe denoting one wound;

9. Long Service Decoration for Officers, Second Class, in bronze gilt and silver, 34.25mm (w); 

10. First World War Commemorative Medal, in silvered bronze, measuring 37 mm (d);

Also presented on the tunic are two additional awards, both affixed upon their original multiple thread loops, including:

11. Order of Merit, Officer’s Cross, Instituted June 19,1923. In silver gilt and red, green and white enamels, Slovak Cross in the center of red enamel on obverse, reverse bearing Latin “Si Deus Pro Nobis Quis Contranos” (translation: If God is for us, who can oppose us), measuring at 50.80 mm (w) x 51.09 mm (h), weighing at 31.6 grams, enamel flake on3 o'clock arm and loss to laurels;

12. Order of Vitez Badge, in bronze and enamels, measures 37.3 mm (w) x 56.7 mm (h), two slats on the reverse;

Overall, this example of a Generalmajor's Waffenrock is a perfect and rare example of a high ranking officer's tunic and measures 44 cm across the shoulders, sleeve length of 62 cm from shoulder to cuff edge, and a total length of 72 cm. Extremely fine.

Footnote: Vitéz Lajos Szurmay (21 August 1888 – 21 November 1959) was a Hungarian military officer who rose to the rank of major-general and became a senior commander responsible for national air defence during the Second World War. Born in Vienna, the son of Antal Szurmay (1853–1945) and Ilona Misoga (1853–1890), he initially pursued an academic career, studying at the Eötvös Collegium in Budapest and qualifying as a secondary-school teacher in Greek and Latin in 1911. 

Following the outbreak of the First World War, he entered military service with the Austro-Hungarian 14th Field Artillery Regiment in 1914, serving at the front as a platoon commander. Wounded on 20 August 1917, he subsequently returned to active service and commanded an artillery battery in 1918. His wartime decorations included the Military Merit Cross, military bravery medals, the Wound Medal and the Karl Troop Cross. Following the war, Szurmay continued his military career in Hungary's reorganized armed forces, undertaking staff and intelligence assignments, including service in military intelligence and counterintelligence. He completed staff-officer training in 1924, was promoted to colonel in 1938 and attained the rank of major-general in April 1942. His subsequent appointments included command of the 2nd and 1st Air Force Divisions, as well as responsibility for national air-raid protection and air defence through the Hungarian Ministry of Defence. Appointed to lead the 6th Air Force Division in August 1942, he became an important figure in Hungary's wartime air-defence organization. 

Although he formally retired on 1 April 1944, he was recalled to service and, from July 1944, undertook government responsibilities connected with evacuation and national resettlement. These duties included organizing evacuations from several counties, among them Komárom, Győr, Pozsony (present-day Bratislava), Moson and Nyitra. In the final months of the war, he also served as an inspecting general in the Dunaszerdahely and Somorja districts. He left Hungary in March 1945, resided in Bavaria, and returned to Hungary in October 1946. 

On 29 May 1947, he was taken into pre-trial detention and, on 11 December of that year, the Budapest People's Court sentenced him as a war criminal to eight years' imprisonment, ten years' suspension of political rights, loss of employment and pension, and confiscation of property. The conviction was upheld in 1949, and he was released from prison in Vác in July 1954. The proceedings concerned his wartime governmental service under the Arrow Cross regime and an allegation that he had encouraged the continuation of the war. Szurmay died in Komárom on 21 November 1959, aged 71. 

On 21 November 1994, the Hungarian Supreme Court overturned the earlier judgments and acquitted him of the war-crime charge. His major-general rank was restored in 1995, and he was posthumously promoted to lieutenant-general. He had been inducted into the Vitézi Rend, a Hungarian order associated with military service, on 22 May 1938, and received several further decorations, including the Hungarian Order of Merit, Officer's Cross (1939) and Commander's Cross (1942), the Transylvania and Southern Territories Commemorative Medals (1941), and the German Order of the German Eagle, Merit Cross with Star and Swords (1944). His military career reflects the transition from Austro-Hungarian artillery service during the First World War to senior Hungarian air-defence and civil-administration responsibilities during the Second World War, followed by postwar imprisonment and eventual judicial rehabilitation.