Ehrenwinkel the old fighters
The Old Fighters' angles of honor were decorations of the NSDAP and were donated by Adolf Hitler in February 1934 for members of the so-called "NS-fighting organizations" ( SS , SA etc.). From 1942 these angles of honor were also introduced at all police stations or the main offices, the fire brigade and technical emergency aid .
In the course of the Second World War , the elaborate aluminum and gold embroidery was replaced by simpler cotton braids in silver-gray and dark yellow with black dividing strips. From this point on, the original version was only used in the on-site service or in the various parade uniforms.
General
The angles of honor of the old members of the NSDAP , the so-called " old fighters ", consisted of a 10 mm wide, interwoven gold or silver-colored aluminum braid arranged at a 60-degree angle. Originally lying on a black fabric background measuring 9 × 8 cm, it became customary after 1939 to make an approx. 1 mm wide longitudinal strip of black uniform cloth on the edge to replace the fabric base. This saving measure did not change the dimensions of the Ehrenwinkel, the size of 9 × 8 cm remained unchanged.
The angles of honor of the old fighters were worn on the right upper arm in all party organizations and could also be awarded on an honorary basis. The latter mainly affected those groups of people who joined the NSDAP or one of the affiliated sub-organizations relatively late - mostly in the mid to late 1930s. In order to be awarded, they then had to prove that they had already actively campaigned for the political goals of the NSDAP before the seizure of power , but without having listened to it.
SA-Ehrenwinkel
The SA-Ehrenwinkel , introduced in February 1934, lay on a light brown surface. It consisted of an interwoven gold-colored aluminum braid, which had two red dividing strips about 1 cm wide. The angle of honor was awarded to all members of the SA who had joined the NSDAP before January 30, 1933 and thus had a membership number of up to 300,000. The rank was insignificant and so this angle was worn equally by both crew and officer ranks.
But as early as September 1934 this corner of honor was replaced by the new system of the so-called " strips of honor ". These indicated membership of the NSDAP through a large number of stripes of different widths and were worn on both forearms over the cuffs of the uniform jacket.
NSKK-Ehrenwinkel
The NSKK's corner of honor and its award essentially corresponded to that of the Sturmabteilung . The angle of honor was worn below the "sovereign badge of the National Socialist Motor Corps ". There were three variants of this angle. On the one hand there is an interwoven silver braid with two approx. 1 cm wide brown dividing strips on a brown background and on the other hand the silver braid on a black background and with black separating strips. These variants were also used on the "large service suit of the NSKK" (brown shirt with brown tie, black helmet or gray-green SA cap, black riding breeches with black boots and black belt) and the "small service suit" (gray-green uniform jacket with dark gray stand-up collar, black breeches with matching high boots of the same color and black harness). For members of the NSKK motorboat standards, a gold-colored version was produced on a dark blue background, as they used marine uniforms. In many cases, the "NSKK national badge" was also incorporated directly into the square of honor, since only one badge had to be attached to the uniform instead of two.
NSFK-Ehrenwinkel
The Ehrenwinkel of the National Socialist Fliegerkorps (NSFK) is also derived from the former SA-Ehrenwinkel and its allocation regulations. In contrast to this, however, it consisted of an interwoven silver braid, which on the one hand lay on a light brown fabric background and which had two brown dividing strips approx. 1 cm wide. This variant was worn on the so-called "large service suit of the NSFK" (consisting of the SA brown shirt, blue-gray riding breeches, a black tie and black harness). On the other hand, the angle was also worn on a blue-gray background that was worn on the "small service suit". This consisted of a gray-blue SA cap, the brown shirt of the NSDAP with a black tie, a gray-blue uniform jacket, gray-blue riding breeches, brown belts and black boots.
SS Ehrenwinkel
The SS Ehrenwinkel was also derived from the former SA Ehrenwinkel and was introduced on December 15, 1934 by Adolf Hitler . In contrast to the award regulations within the SA, the original rule of the Schutzstaffel was that a bearer of this angle of honor was only allowed to have an SS number up to 50,000. Alternatively, if the SS number was higher, an NSDAP membership number up to 300,000 was requested, which means that the SS member had to have joined the National Socialist German Workers' Party before January 30, 1933 . The SS square of honor consisted of an interwoven silver braid with two black dividing strips approx. 1 cm wide. The angle was initially on a black fabric background and was replaced from around 1939 by an approx. 1 cm wide black vertical stripe. The square of honor was worn on all SS uniforms . This also affected the members of the Waffen-SS , who were entitled to wear the SS-Ehrenwinkel on the uniforms of the Waffen-SS .
SS-Ehrenwinkel with star for former police and armed forces members
The Ehrenwinkel for former police and Wehrmacht members was derived from the SS Ehrenwinkel and was also introduced like this on December 15, 1934. Its bearers had transferred directly from the police or from the Reichswehr at the time to the SS. The square of honor consisted of an interwoven silver braid with two black dividing strips approx. 1 cm wide. In addition, there was a hand-embroidered ten-pointed star in the middle of the angle, which indicated that the wearer was a member of the police or the Reichswehr (after 1935, the Wehrmacht ). This square of honor was officially called "SS-Ehrenwinkel mit Stern" and was worn on all SS and Waffen-SS uniforms.
In October 1942 this Ehrenwinkel was replaced by the regular SS Ehrenwinkel.
Ehrenwinkel for members of the police, fire brigade and technical emergency aid
Members of the police , fire brigade and technical emergency aid who had already joined the NSDAP before January 30, 1933 or who belonged to one of its subdivisions such as the Sturmabteilung , the National Socialist Motor Vehicle Corps or the Schutzstaffel before the seizure of power . From October 1942 they were entitled to wear the "SS-Ehrenwinkel für Alte Kampf" with their uniform. The material underlay had the color of the respective uniform as it was used in the relevant organizations. Crew and officer ranks used the standard SS square, officers in the general ranks had the golden square of honor.
Ehrenwinkel for former Stahlhelm members
The angle of honor for former Stahlhelm members represents an independent development and is based on the angle of honor of the later NS-Reichskriegerbund . Like the SS Ehrenwinkel, it was introduced on December 15, 1935 for the former members of the Stahlhelm who had joined the Sturmabteilung and Schutzstaffel between 1933 and summer 1934 . This means that the porters must have been members of the NSDAP before the forced incorporation of the Stahlhelm as "SA Reserve II" or the SS before the so-called Röhm Putsch .
The square of honor consisted of two black woven strips of fabric, which were separated from each other in the middle by a gray, approx. 0.5 cm thick aluminum thread. The square of honor was also 9 × 8 cm, making it the same size as the other square of honor of the Nazi organizations. It was initially only worn on the earth-gray uniform and not on the black uniforms of the SS by the former Stahlhelm members who now served in the SS disposable troops . In contrast to the other common variants, this square of honor was not worn on the right, but on the left upper arm.
In October 1942 this Ehrenwinkel was replaced by the regular SS Ehrenwinkel .
Known carriers (sorted by organization and numbers)
- Max Amann (NSDAP number: 3)
- Philipp Bouhler (NSDAP number: 12)
- Karl Kaufmann (NSDAP number: 95)
- Friedrich Hildebrandt (NSDAP number: 3,653)
- Hans Weinreich (NSDAP number: 5.920)
- Walter Buch (NSDAP number: 7.733)
- Wilhelm Grimm (NSDAP number: 10.134)
- Martin Bormann (NSDAP number: 60.508)
- Albert Forster (SS number: 158)
- Heinrich Himmler (SS number: 168)
- Fritz Weitzel (SS number: 408)
- Kurt Daluege (SS number: 1.119)
- Sepp Dietrich (SS number: 1.177)
- Friedrich Karl von Eberstein (SS number: 1,386)
- Theodor Eicke (SS number: 2.921)
- August Heissmeyer (SS number: 4,370)
- Reinhard Heydrich (SS number: 10.120)
- Franz Xaver Schwarz (SS number: 38.500)
- Hans Baur (NSDAP number: 48.113; SS number: 171.865)
- Felix Steiner (SS number: 253.351)
- Leo von Jena (honorary bearer)
- Karl Hanke (NSDAP number: 102 606; SS number: 203.103)
- Friedrich-Wilhelm Krüger (NSDAP number: 171.199; SS number: 6.123)
Individual evidence
- ^ David Littlejohn: The SA 1921-45: Hitler's Stormtroopers. Osprey Publishing 1990, p. 15.
- ^ A b Brian L. Davis and Ian Westwell: German Uniforms and Badges 1933–1945. Motor Buch Verlag 2006, pp. 95, 97 and 113
- ↑ : Hundreds of weights and needy: The great lexicon of the Third Reich , p. 23.
- ↑ Andrew Mollo: Uniforms of the SS. Vol. 1 Allgemeine SS 1933-1945 , p. 61.
literature
- Brian L. Davis, Ian Westwell: German Uniforms and Badges. 1933-1945. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-613-02676-7 .
- Andrew Mollo: Uniforms of the SS. Volume 1: Allgemeine SS 1933-1945 . 4th edition. Windrow & Greene, London 1991, ISBN 1-872004-90-3 .
- Dieter Deutster: German Police Uniforms 1936–1945. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-613-03105-0 .