Last updated: May 28, 2026·🔄 Product links checked and unavailable products replaced with current alternatives for 2026.· By Serdar

Halloween Costume Guide

Matthias Erzberger Halloween Costume Guide

The man who ended the war. The costume that requires a brief explanation at most parties.

Daniel Brühl Glasses Moustache Oscar Vintage World War
🎩
Quick Answer: The Erzberger costume is a period-accurate civilian build where the mustache and glasses do the character work.
  • Tweed Woven Suit (essential)
  • Fake Stick-On Mustache (essential)
  • Round Prescription Eyeglasses
  • Paisley Cravat
  • White Dress Shirt
  • Pocket Watch
  • Oxford Dress Shoes

Matthias Erzberger does not fire a rifle. He signs a document, and in doing so ends the war that the film has spent two hours refusing to let you look away from. He is the German Centre Party politician who led the armistice delegation in 1918, signing the Compiegne agreement that ended World War I (Wikipedia). In the 2022 Netflix adaptation directed by Edward Berger, he is played by Daniel Brühl. The film won four Academy Awards including Best International Feature Film. The costume is a tweed suit with period details, and recognition at a general Halloween party will depend almost entirely on how much the crowd watches international cinema.

Items Total7 Items
DifficultyEasy
VibeWWI-Era German Civilian
Cost$60–$140

Matthias Erzberger Halloween Costume Items

Matthias Erzberger Halloween costume infographic from All Quiet on the Western Front showing tweed suit, round glasses, stick-on mustache, cravat, pocket watch, white shirt, and Oxford shoes

Matthias Erzberger Costume Items

Affiliate links. We may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Matthias Erzberger All Quiet on the Western Front Daniel Brühl WWI Civilian
  • 1 Round Prescription EyeglassesPeriod-accurate round wire frames are one half of the character read. They do not need to have a prescription. Clear lenses in a thin metal round frame are correct. Avoid plastic frames or anything with an obviously modern silhouette.
    See on Amazon
  • 2 Fake Mustache Stick On (essential)This is the other half of the character read. Erzberger wore a full, dark mustache, and without it the costume is just a man in old clothes. Apply it to clean dry skin and press firmly. If the mustache shade does not match your complexion, a thin line of dark eyebrow pencil along the edges helps it read at a distance. Practice the application once before the actual night.
    See on Amazon
  • 3 Pocket WatchTuck the chain into the waistcoat or jacket pocket. It is a small period detail that reads immediately as pre-war European. Fill it in so the chain has something to hang from.
    See on Amazon
  • 4 Paisley Color CravatA cravat sits higher and fuller than a standard necktie. Tuck it into the shirt collar so the patterned fabric fills the neckline. It does not need to be perfectly knotted. Early 20th century men wore these with some looseness.
    See on Amazon
  • 5 Dress Shoes OxfordBrown or black. The one item most people already own in a version that works. Check your closet first.
    See on Amazon
  • 6 White Shirt (essential)Buttoned to the collar, no exceptions. The collar needs to be fully closed before the cravat goes on. A plain white dress shirt is correct. Avoid shirts with obvious modern details like spread collars or contrast buttons.
    See on Amazon
  • 7 Tweed Woven SuitThe suit anchors everything. Brown, grey, or olive tweed in a period cut, meaning the jacket sits slightly boxy and the lapels are wider than modern tailoring. Slim lapels or a fitted contemporary cut will pull the look out of the 1910s and into a costume that reads as vintage-ish without landing anywhere specific.
    See on Amazon
WWI German soldiers in long coats and Stahlhelm helmets charging across a muddy battlefield toward a large explosion, with barbed wire in the foreground, from All Quiet on the Western Front 2022

How to Style the Matthias Erzberger Halloween Costume

The mustache and glasses together are what shift this from “man in a tweed suit” to a specific character. If either one is off, the whole read softens into generic period costume. The mustache needs to be dark, full, and correctly placed on the upper lip. If it sits crooked or starts peeling at a corner, that is the thing people notice first, and it makes the rest of the costume look unfinished. The glasses frame the face and add the bureaucrat read. Get both right and the suit does the rest of the work without needing to be perfect.

In the film, Erzberger sits across a table from Allied officers and signs a document while the front continues fighting just a few hours away. He is completely composed, which is either cold or just exhausted, and the film is not entirely sure which. That is the character at the party: someone who has made a decision no one else wanted to make, and is not looking for praise about it.

Carry a prop document

A folded piece of paper labeled “Waffenstillstand 1918” or “Armistice Agreement” gives you something to reference when someone asks about the costume. Most people will not immediately place Erzberger at a party. A physical prop closes that gap faster than a verbal explanation. It also gives you something to do with your hands, which matters more than people expect at loud events.

The mustache adhesive has a time limit

Stick-on mustaches hold well for roughly three to four hours on clean skin, then the edges start to lift. If you are at a long event, bring the adhesive backing or a small spirit gum stick. The mustache lifting on one side is the specific failure here because once it starts to peel, it draws more attention than if you had just taken it off. Check it around the midpoint of the night.

Matthias Erzberger Group Halloween Costume Ideas

Group Idea: The Armistice Delegation

Matthias Erzberger, Paul Bäumer, Kat Katczinsky, General Friedrichs

Strong group for anyone in a crowd that watched the film, because the contrast is the whole point: the man who negotiated the peace and the soldiers who lived the war, standing in the same room. Erzberger is the civilian in the suit; Paul and Kat are in uniform; Friedrichs is the general who chose to keep fighting until the final minute anyway. The tension between these four characters is what the film’s final act is built on. At a general party, it reads as a WWI group with one politician, which still works without requiring people to know the film.

Matthias Erzberger Paul Bäumer Kat Katczinsky General Friedrichs

Group Idea: The Burden of Leadership

Matthias Erzberger, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln

Might work, but only at a party where people enjoy explaining their costumes, because the concept requires context to land. Four real historical figures who each made a single enormous decision that ended something. Oppenheimer is the most recognizable by a large margin right now. Churchill and Lincoln are iconic enough on their own. Erzberger is the one the group will spend time explaining. The concept is coherent in theory, but in practice it is four solo costumes standing near each other.

Matthias Erzberger J. Robert Oppenheimer Winston Churchill Abraham Lincoln

Group Idea: The Daniel Brühl Dossier

Matthias Erzberger, Baron Helmut Zemo, Fredrick Zoller, Niki Lauda

Might work, but this is a group concept built entirely for people who track actors across roles, and that is a narrow audience at any party. Zemo from the MCU is widely recognized. Niki Lauda from Rush is recognizable to film fans. Zoller from Inglourious Basterds is niche. Erzberger is niche. The concept only lands if someone in the group announces the conceit upfront, and even then it requires most of the crowd to be fluent in Daniel Brühl’s filmography. I would only attempt this at a film-nerd event.

Matthias Erzberger Baron Helmut Zemo Fredrick Zoller Niki Lauda

Group Idea: Early 20th Century Power Brokers

Matthias Erzberger, Thomas Shelby, Nucky Thompson, Jay Gatsby

Strong visual group because the period suits do a lot of shared work. Thomas Shelby is the most recognizable anchor here by far, and his presence helps the group read as intentional even if not everyone places Erzberger or Nucky. Gatsby is broadly known but requires commitment to the costume to read as Gatsby specifically. The group works at a general party because the 1910s-1920s suit aesthetic is coherent enough to hold together without detailed explanation.

Matthias Erzberger Thomas Shelby Nucky Thompson Jay Gatsby
WWI German soldiers in dark helmets and long coats charging toward the camera across a muddy waterlogged battlefield in All Quiet on the Western Front 2022, used as costume reference for the film's Halloween looks

Matthias Erzberger Halloween Costume DIY Tips

Building the Look

This is one of the easier builds on the site because there are no props to fabricate, no armour, and no complicated makeup. The difficulty is purely in the period accuracy of the suit and the mustache adhesion holding through a full night.

  • Tweed suit: thrift stores are genuinely useful here. Pre-2000s suit jackets often have the wider lapels and boxier cut this era needs. Check before buying new.
  • White shirt: fully button the collar. Non-negotiable.
  • Cravat: any paisley or patterned neckcloth works. The exact pattern does not matter. Just avoid a standard modern tie.
  • Round glasses: cheap wire-frame readers from a pharmacy work perfectly. Buy the $8 pair.
  • Mustache: practice applying it once the day before. Rushed application on the night leads to crooked placement.
  • Pocket watch: optional if you have nothing that works. The suit and mustache carry the costume without it.
  • Oxford shoes: check your closet. Most people own something close enough.

Playing Erzberger at the Party

Erzberger is not a loud character. He is a man who did an unpopular thing that needed to be done, and he knows the history will not be kind to him for it. That is the energy.

  • When someone asks who you are: “I ended the war. It did not go well for me after that.” Leave it there.
  • The prop document is useful here. Hold it. Reference it. It does more explaining than you will need to do verbally.
  • Do not oversell the reference. If someone does not know the film, a short sentence is enough. The costume works on a period level even without the film context.
  • Erzberger was assassinated by nationalist paramilitaries in 1921, three years after signing the armistice. There is a dark joke in there somewhere if the party is the right kind of party.

Matthias Erzberger Halloween Costume: FAQ

Start with the tweed suit, then add the cravat and round glasses. The stick-on mustache is what shifts the look from “early 20th century gentleman” to a specific character. Finish with a pocket watch and Oxford shoes, and you have the full Erzberger build.

It is a niche pick. The 2022 film won the Oscar for Best International Feature Film and had wide Netflix visibility, but Erzberger is a supporting character, not the lead. Most people at a general Halloween party will read this as “WWI-era German politician” and leave it there, which is fine if you are comfortable explaining the reference.

Two lines stand out. The first captures his position: “I am here to end the war, not to win it.” The second, delivered after signing the armistice, reflects the weight of what he has done: “The war is over. And yet it is not.”

Matthias Erzberger is played by Daniel Brühl in the 2022 German-language Netflix film directed by Edward Berger. The film won four Academy Awards including Best International Feature Film.

Yes. Matthias Erzberger was a German Centre Party politician who led Germany’s armistice delegation in 1918. He signed the Armistice of Compiegne that ended World War I on November 11, 1918, and was assassinated by right-wing nationalists in 1921 (Wikipedia).

Carry a folded paper labeled “Armistice Agreement” or “Waffenstillstand 1918.” It gives you something to reference when explaining the costume and makes the character legible without any other context. The mustache and round glasses do a lot of the visual work, but the prop closes the gap for anyone unfamiliar with the film.