Service award (Wehrmacht)

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Service award of the Wehrmacht for 4 years of service
Annex to the ordinance with images of the service awards (Reichsgesetzblatt)
Sample form of an award certificate
Illustration of the service award of the Wehrmacht in the 57 version

The service award (Wehrmacht) was a service and loyalty award for all members of the Wehrmacht , i. H. of all three units of the Army , Air Force and Navy , which was donated by decree on March 16, 1936 on the occasion of the first anniversary of the reintroduction of general conscription by Adolf Hitler . The details of the design, classification and form of the award are determined by the regulation itself and the implementing regulation issued at the same time.

Articles of Association

The service award of the Wehrmacht was awarded to all members of the Wehrmacht who had been in active military service on March 16, 1935 or later, whereby a "non-honorable departure" from the Wehrmacht excluded the right to the award and wearing of the service award. The service award was awarded in the following four classes and a special class established by ordinance on March 10, 1939:

  • 4 years of service in the Wehrmacht (DA IV)
  • 12 years of service in the Wehrmacht (DA III)
  • 18 years of service in the Wehrmacht (DA II)
  • 25 years of service in the Wehrmacht (DA I)
  • 40 years of service in the Wehrmacht (special class from 1939)

This service award, like all previous Prussian service awards, was worn on a cornflower blue ribbon on the left side of the chest, with a miniature eagle in the color of the class awarded on the service award ribbon and on the ribbon buckle. In the army and navy it was a silver armed forces eagle with outspread wings for 4- and 12-year service and a golden eagle for 18 and 25-year service. After 40 years of service, in addition to the golden eagle, a semicircular oak leaf wreath was also placed below the eagle. The Luftwaffe service awards had put on an Luftwaffe eagle instead of the army eagle. The entrusted received a certificate of ownership with the award of the service award.

Implementing Regulations

The implementing regulations for the ordinance on the foundation of service awards, issued on the same day, then regulated the further procedure. It was determined that the entitlement to the award of the service award had to be suspended as long as the Wehrmacht member was serving a prison sentence. The same also applied to pending court proceedings, which under certain circumstances could lead to the termination of the employment relationship and thus to the loss of all rights from the employment relationship through judgment. Furthermore, the crediting of the service time was regulated again, so that

  • a) Wehrmacht members who were actively serving in the old Wehrmacht, including the former recognized volunteer associations (this means e.g. the Baltic Army, Border Guard Corps in Silesia, the provisional Reichswehr, the provisional Reichsmarine, etc.) and with a deadline of 30 September 1921 were accepted into the Reichswehr, their service time was fully recognized.
  • b) Wehrmacht members who actively served in the old Wehrmacht or in the earlier recognized voluntary associations, the provisional Reichswehr and the provisional Reichsmarine or the Reichswehr, who were then withdrawn and later re-employed, were not counted for the periods of their "standing out" . Other periods that could be credited were worker and (civil) salaried employment in the new Reichswehr from January 1, 1921, transfers to the Wehrmacht from former or existing state or protective police facilities, but also the one-year voluntary reserve or training service during the war of 1914-1918 . Likewise, those periods of service that were used for military training purposes were to be equated. With this regulation, the retroactive crediting for the service award was introduced, so that by May 8, 1945, the service award of the special class for 40-year employment was also awarded. From the spring of 1940 the award of the service award "until the end of the war" was postponed. There were, however, isolated awards of the special level in the late summer of 1941, for example to Lieutenant General Franz Barckhausen (Chief of Defense & Armaments Staff France) on September 4, 1941. The service award remained with the bereaved in the event of the death of the borrower.

Appearance and texture

4th and 3rd grade

The service award of the 4th and 3rd class is a round medal made of tombac or iron , whereby the 4th class is held in matt silver and the 3rd class is light bronze. Both medals show the embossed Wehrmacht eagle on their obverse and the Gothic inscription: Loyalty to the Wehrmacht . On the back, either the number 4 or 12 is shown in the center , depending on your class .

2nd and 1st class (including special class)

The service award of the 2nd, 1st and special class is an octagonal cross with a round center shield, which was also made of iron. On the front, the Wehrmacht eagle is also embossed in the center. The inscription was omitted. On the back, either the number 18 or 25 is embossed depending on the class awarded . There was no number 40 in the special class, instead, as already explained, a semicircular oak wreath made of gold-plated metal was placed on the ribbon of the order and on the web of the field clasp.

Strap buckle "Service Award of the Wehrmacht"
DEU WH service award (Heer-KM) 4 years BAR.svg
4 years
DEU WH service award (Heer-KM) 12 years BAR.svg
12 years
DEU WH service award (Heer-KM) 18 years BAR.svg
18 years
DEU WH service award (Heer-KM) 25 years BAR.svg
25 years
DEU WH service award (Heer-KM) 40 years BAR.svg
40 years and more

Others

The exact number of awards can no longer be determined because it was a mass award. According to the law on titles, medals and decorations of July 26, 1957, wearing the "Wehrmacht service award" in the Federal Republic of Germany is only permitted without National Socialist symbols.

See also

literature

  • Heinrich Doehle : The awards of the Greater German Reich. Orders, decorations, badges. 5th edition. Erdmenger, Berlin 1945 (Reprint. Patzwall, Norderstedt 2000, ISBN 3-931533-43-3 ).
  • Reichsgesetzblatt. Part I, No. 23, March 16, 1936, pp. 165-171.
  • Reichsgesetzblatt. Part I, No. 65, April 5, 1939, pp. 705-706.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ordinance on the Foundation of Service Awards of March 16, 1936, Reichsgesetzblatt No. 23, page 165, introductory formula
  2. ↑ Ordinance on the Foundation of Service Awards of March 16, 1936, Reichsgesetzblatt No. 23, page 165, §§ 1 and 2
  3. ↑ Ordinance on the Foundation of Service Awards of March 16, 1936, Reichsgesetzblatt No. 23, page 165, §§ 3 and 4
  4. ↑ Ordinance on the Foundation of Service Awards of March 16, 1936, Reichsgesetzblatt No. 23, page 165, § 5
  5. ^ Ordinance on the Foundation of Service Awards of March 16, 1936, Reichsgesetzblatt No. 23, page 167, addition to Section 2 of the Ordinance on the Foundation of Service Awards
  6. ^ Ordinance on the Foundation of Service Awards of March 16, 1936, Reichsgesetzblatt No. 23, page 167, addition to § 3 of the Ordinance on the Foundation of Service Awards
  7. ^ Ordinance on the Foundation of Service Awards of March 16, 1936, Reichsgesetzblatt No. 23, page 167, addition to Section 3 Paragraph 3 of the Ordinance on the Foundation of Service Awards
  8. ↑ Ordinance on the Foundation of Service Awards of March 16, 1936, Reichsgesetzblatt No. 23, page 167, addition to Section 3 Paragraph 7 of the Ordinance on the Foundation of Service Awards
  9. ^ Ordinance on the Foundation of Service Awards of March 16, 1936, Reichsgesetzblatt No. 23, page 167, addition to Section 3 Paragraphs 5 and 6 of the Ordinance on the Foundation of Service Awards