Everything Old is New Again.

One of the missions of the people designing camouflage is to find a pattern that works well in all environments. This is to not only make a more effective soldier but to save money as well. Modern examples of this is the disaster that is Army Combat Uniform (which stands out equally well in all environments) and Multicam.

This isn't a new concept however. The Germans in WWII realized that patterns became less effective during seasonal changes so developed several versions of reversible uniform items.* These included smocks (a stopgap measure since it wasn't feasable to re-equip the entire military), helmet covers, softcaps, and shelter halves. One of the more common examples is the "Oak Variants" w/ Summer and Autumn sides:

Summer

Autumn

There were other variations of this as well as Autumn/Winter reversible coats. Later, they developed a pattern called "44 Dot" that one could argue is a primitive "MultiCam" pattern as it was intended to account for seasonal changes. In fact, it does have some pattern similarities. Most notable small sized color combinations on lighter backgrounds:

44Dot

Multicam

Since these were patterns used by the SS, after the war, the newly created Bundeswehr and Nationale Volksarmee took different directions in their choices of uniforms.



*Note that this is just a very basic covering of some patterns available.