Sudetenland Medal

Instituted on 18 October 1938, the medal was awarded to German military personnel who participated in the occupation of Sudetenland and the occupation of Czechoslovakia in March 1939.[2]

The medal was awarded to all German (and as well Sudeten) State officials and members of the German Wehrmacht and SS who marched into the Sudetenland. Later it was awarded to personnel participating in the occupation of the remnants of Czechoslovakia on 15 March 1939. Last awarded on 31 December 1940, a total of 1,162,617 medals and 134,563 bars were given out.[1]

The medal was similar in appearance as the Anschluss Medal, the reverse only differed in the date. It was designed by Professor Richard Klein. It is round and on the obverse of the medal, symbolic of becoming part of the German realm, a man holding the Nazi flag stands on a podium bearing the eagle emblem of the "Third Reich". He assists a second man onto the podium, on whose right hand a broken shackle is seen. This symbolizes the joining of the area to the Reich. On the reverse side is the inscription date "1. Oktober 1938" (1 October 1938). The date is surrounded with the words "Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Führer" (One People, One Empire, One Leader).[3]

The medal was dye-struck and high in detail, with a bronze finish. The medal was suspended from a striped black, red, black ribbon and white outer stripes.[3] These being the colors of the Sudetenland.

For those who had participated in both the occupation of the Sudetenland and the annexation of Bohemia and Moravia on 15 March 1939, a bronze Castle Bar (Spange "Prager Burg") was approved on 1 May 1939.[4] This Bar featured the Prague Castle on the obverse with two triangular prongs in the back, which held it on the ribbon of the prior awarded Sudetenland medal. The bar, like the medal, die-struck and high in detail, with a bronze finish.[5]