Service pin for German railway women
The service pin for German railway women is one of the rarest civil awards from the time of National Socialism during the Second World War . It was awarded in three stages and exclusively to women, in bronze for three-year-olds, in silver for six-year-olds and in gold for ten-year employment with the Deutsche Reichsbahn or one of its affiliated bodies.
history
To compensate for the rapidly increasing shortage of personnel during the Second World War, not only forced laborers and prisoners of war from the occupied countries but also “ Reich German ” women were massively committed to the Deutsche Reichsbahn, which by the end of 1943 already employed 190,000 women. They had to work 54 to 56 hours a week, were allowed to do night duty and, according to a decree by Reich Minister of Transport Julius Dorpmüller , were "allowed" to use all devices. On July 25, 1944, five days after the assassination attempt on Hitler , the latter appointed Joseph Goebbels as "Reich plenipotentiary for the total war effort". One of his first measures in this function was to instruct administrations and authorities to vacate thirty percent of their personnel for military use. The Reichsbahndirektion Berlin thereupon ordered that in the "total war" it must not occur under any circumstances, "... that work is now carried out by men who are fit for war, which can also be done by older workers, women and foreigners". The Reichsbahner women particularly affected by the additional workload, on whose loyalty and motivation the functioning of the Reichsbahn was directly dependent, should be honored with a "service pin" as a symbolic gratification.
Probably in August 1944, the exact date is unknown, Reich Minister of Transport Dorpmüller donated the "Service Pin for German Railway Women". On September 6, 1944, the official news bulletin of the Deutsche Reichsbahn reported:
- “The large numbers of women employed by the Deutsche Reichsbahn and the German railways not owned by the Reich have proven themselves excellently in the railway service. With their zeal for work and their loyalty to their duties, they have contributed to the German railways being able to carry out their enormous tasks in the service of warfare and war economy. In recognition of the exemplary achievements of the German women railway workers, the Reich Minister of Transport recently donated a service pin as a special award for women railway workers. It is awarded to the female followers who, under particularly difficult circumstances, serve in place of a man on the German railways and is also intended to express the gratitude of the male followers of the German railways for the cooperation that the woman side by side with the man in heavy war operations. "
- "The service pin is awarded in three stages, in bronze for three-year-olds, in silver for six-year-olds and in gold for ten-year employment."
The German Uniform Magazine of September 1944 published a very shortened version of this text, in which the "service pin" was also referred to as the "honor pin". As a result, she had to print a clarification from the presidential chancellery in the following edition , in which it was stated, among other things, that the service pin is not a badge of honor in the sense of the Order Act of 1937, and therefore the designation "badge of honor" was incorrect.
The first 30 awards were made in October 1944 by Albert Ganzenmüller , State Secretary in the Reich Ministry of Transport.
decoration
The service pin consists of a stylized laurel wreath approx. 30 mm wide and 22 mm high , which is tied towards the top and united in a swastika . The lower part of the laurel wreath shows in the middle the drive wheel of a locomotive with eagle wings ; an impeller , similar to the symbol of the Reichsbahn. It is believed that the gold version was never awarded, but some copies are on sale from around € 925.
Individual evidence
- ↑ See Axel Ulrich: The future has a past - The history of TRANSNET ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Cf. Lothar Gall, Manfred Pohl: The railway in Germany. From the beginnings to the present , CH Beck, 1999, ISBN 978-3-406-45334-2 ; P. 234ff.
- ^ The Reichsbahn - Official news sheet of the Deutsche Reichsbahn . No. 36-37; Quoted from Kurt-Gerhard Klietmann : Awards of the German Reich , Motorbuch, Stuttgart 1981, ISBN 3-87943-689-4 ; P. 194
- ↑ Klietmann, p. 194
- ^ A b Gordon Williamson: World War II German Women's Auxiliary Services , Osprey Publishing, 2003, ISBN 978-1-84176-407-8 ; P. 42
- ^ Prices from: Jörg Nimmergut , Klaus H. Feder, Heiko von der Heyde: German Order and Badge of Honor , Battenberg, edition: 6th updated edition (April 25, 2006), ISBN 978-3-86646-002-7 ; P. 48
