Artur Becker Medal
The Artur Becker Medal was the highest award of the Free German Youth of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and was associated with a monetary bonus. It was donated in three stages, bronze , silver and gold in 1959 by the Central Council of the FDJ. It was named after the politician of the same name Artur Becker . The medal was the successor to the award for the socialist education of our youth , the awards of which had been discontinued in 1958.
The Artur Becker Medal was awarded for outstanding achievements in the socialist youth association to individuals and collectives by the Central Council of the FDJ. The gold and silver level were mostly awarded by the district management of the FDJ. The bronze level only at the county or city district level. Initially regarded as the highest honor of the FDJ and accordingly rarely awarded until around 1971, the medal, however, increasingly became a mass award of the FDJ in the long period of its existence.
The prerequisite for being awarded a higher level was possession of the previous one. A multiple award was not planned. However, this procedure was no longer complied with with the beginning of the mass awards. Individuals were honored with the gold level or received it twice or three times. Bronze or silver levels were also awarded, although the entrusted was already in possession of the gold level.
Appearance and wearing style
The gold-plated, silver-plated or bronze-colored medal, embossed without a border, has a diameter of 32 mm and shows on its obverse the head portrait of Becker with his name ARTUR BECKER underneath . The head is flanked on both sides by a small branch of laurel bent upwards.
The lapel shows the embossed symbol of the FDJ in the middle and the inscription: FOR THE SOCIALIST FUTURE OF OUR YOUTH . This saying was carried over from its previous award, which was not to be found there as a legend, but as a four-line inscription.
The medal was worn on the upper left side of the chest on a blue enamelled clasp in the middle of which the symbol of the FDJ could be seen. The clasp for the bronze step is only blue, that of the silver step shows a narrow silver vertical enameled stripe on both sides, the gold step, on the other hand, has two narrow golden ones. Both the clasp edge and the FDJ symbol are kept in the colors of the awarded level. The first copies of this type were lent without an interim clasp, which otherwise had the same quality as the carrying clasp. That meant, if the entrusted only wanted to wear the clasp, he had to hang up the medal, which was possible. It was not until around 1964 that an interim clasp was also awarded when the medal was awarded. The first type was awarded from 1959 to 1971. In the course of 1972, the enamelled clasp of the Artur Becker Medal, which had been awarded to date, was transformed into a blue fabric-covered clasp. It showed in its center the approximately 12 mm high × 10.5 mm wide FDJ symbol, which was held in gold, silver or bronze in the level of the awarded medal. The non-ferrous metal medal remained unchanged.
The medals of the third type, the year of introduction of which is unknown, differ from their predecessor only in their diameter, which has been reduced by 0.5 mm to 31.5 mm. The braces and interim editions have also been reduced. Their dimensions were only 11 mm × 9 mm. The fourth and final type of Artur Becker medal was introduced in 1985. While the appearance remained unchanged again, the diameter of the medals, which were now made of iron , was 32.2 mm. The braces and interim editions remained the same at 11 × 9 mm.