Golden Party Badge

The Golden Party Badge (Goldenes Parteiabzeichen) was authorised by Adolf Hitler in a decree in October 1933. It was a special award be given to all Nazi Party members who had, as of 9 November 1933, registered numbers from 1 to 100,000 and unbroken Party membership.[2] Other Golden Party Badges (with the initials 'A.H.' stamped on the reverse) were awarded at the discretion of Hitler to certain members of the party who merited special treatment. An identical badge was awarded each year on 30 January to persons who had shown outstanding service to the Nazi Party or State. Only 20,487 men and 1,795 women were actually approved for and awarded the badge (outside of the ones Hitler awarded at his discretion).[3]

Golden Medal of the Nazi Eagle
Goldenes Ehrenzeichen der NSDAP
Awarded by Nazi Germany
TypeBadge
EligibilityMembers of the Nazi Party
Awarded forbeing one of the first 100,000 members of the Nazi Party[1]
StatusObsolete
Statistics
Established1933
Total awarded22,282 (apart from a certain number personally awarded by Hitler)[1]
Precedence
Next (lower)basic Nazi Party badge without gold wreath

The Golden Party Badge was the basic Nazi Party Badge with the addition of a gold wreath completely encircling the badge. The badge was awarded in two sizes: 30.5 mm for wearing on service uniforms and 24 mm for wearing on a suit jacket. In the event of the death of the recipient, the badge would be kept by the family. However, due to the numbered certificate, no one else was allowed to wear the badge.[2]

Adolf Hitler's own Golden Party Badge had the number '1'. However, his actual Party number was 555, as the numbers started at 500 to make the party's membership at the time, appear larger.[4] He awarded his Golden Party Badge to Magda Goebbels in late April 1945 and proclaimed her as the "First Mother of the Reich".[5] The '1' badge was stolen from a display in Russia in 2005. The guards thought that a cat had set off the alarms and this allowed the burglar to escape with the badge.[6]

In the 1930s, Rudolf Hess had explored the possibility of making the Golden Nazi Party Badge the first degree of a multi-degree award of the German Order. In Hess' proposal, the Golden Nazi Party Badge would have been the lowest degree, followed by a 2nd class medal, 1st class cross, and then a Knight's Cross neck order. Hess's degrees were never bestowed, but the German Order retained the Golden Nazi Party Badge as its centerpiece.[7]

Nazi Party membership badge (Partei-Abzeichen, 23 mm), illustration from Organisationsbuch der NSDAP 1943
Golden Party Badge, kleine Ausführung (24 mm) for wearing on service uniforms, from Organisationsbuch der NSDAP 1943
Golden Party Badge, große Ausführung (30 mm) for wearing on a suit jacket, from Organisationsbuch der NSDAP 1943

References
  1. Angolia 1989, p. 178.
  2. Doehle 1995, p. 71.
  3. Angolia 1989, pp. 178–179.
  4. Kershaw, Ian (1998). Hitler, 1889-1936: Hubris (1st American ed.). New York: W.W. Norton. p. 127. ISBN 0393046710.
  5. Angolia 1989, p. 183.
  6. Times online
  7. Lumsden 2001.

Sources
  • Angolia, John (1989). For Führer and Fatherland: Political & Civil Awards of the Third Reich. R. James Bender Publishing. ISBN 978-0-912-13816-9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Doehle, Heinrich (1995) [1943]. Medals & Decorations of the Third Reich: Badges, Decorations, Insignia. Reddick Enterprises. ISBN 0962488348.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Lumsden, R. (2001). Medals and Decorations of Hitler's Germany. Osceola, Wisconsin: MBI Publishing Company
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.