Düsseldorf Schlageter 1933

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Hi Guys,

This Tinnie was my very first one, so allow me to say a few words about it. Also, it is like a good bye to this fantastic city crossed by the Rhein.

What always caught my attention is that there are 2 crosses in this Tinnie. Why this? And what or who was Schlageter? You can see 3 pictures of this badge attached. Picture 3 belongs to my collection and Picture 4 belongs to Stuart’s collection (page 8 of http://www.hj-research.com/forum/f27/hj-tinnies-day-badges-database-21/index8.html )

In such a small thing, there is a big history behind.

I will be starting for the end, the crosses. The Christian and the Swastika together make a weird match. Well, we know that the Protestant youth groups joined the HJ with no much difficulty. But with the Catholic Church, that was a different history. But no. the Christian church doesn’t symbolize any church, the explanation is far simpler, that cross was the memorial site of Albert Leo Schlageter (see picture attached).

And now, we go to our second question. Who was Schlageter? And why his name is in a HJ Tinnie? And what has to do with Düsseldorf?

To understand who was Schlageter, we have to go back to 1922. When he was part of the Freikorps in Upper Silessia (East from Germany and now part of Poland). Since that year, it is believed that he got in contact with the NSDAP.

But it was during 1923 where he became famous (or for the French, infamous). This year was famous in Germany because the Hyperinflation, which helped to “not” meet the repayments that Germany had to make to France, in concepts of reparations for the WWI. France, claiming what it was believed to be theirs, took a strong action against the German, occupying the Ruhr area, West of Germany and industrial heart of it, apart from all the mines located there.

Schlageter was part of the “passive resistance” against the French Forces with act of sabotage. Until he was arrested and condemned to death. He was executed near Düsseldorf on the 26th of May 1923.

Obviously, his death was always “revived” by the Nazis as apart of their philosophy of remembering the Martyrs for Germany. So you can imagine, put yourself as a HJ kid in 1933, in the middle of the forest around the fire with more kids like you, and one of them telling the histories of his fights, his heroic acts against the invading French troops, those black soldiers who humiliated Germany and German women. I can imagine how “encouraging” for those kids this type of history sounds.

So all the pieces of the Tinnie have been already found. We know the reason for the cross (Memorial), for the date (10 Years of his death) and for Düsseldorf.

I told you guys, didn’t I? There was a big history behind this Tinnie.

Best Regards

Antonio

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Hi Guys,

Maybe it could be a good idea to explain the back ground more Tinnies!!

Regards

Antonio
 
collecting Schlageter items can be a hobby within itself have several items to him in my collection including a cuff title very historic name in the TR

paul
 
My dusseldorf schlagter

MY DUSSELDORF SCHLAGETER 1933 SOLID HIGH QUALITY maker stamped PAULLMANN & CRONE LUDENSCHIED

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Thanks for that Antonio!

I joined this forum to learn and thet is exactly what I am doing thanks to posts like this:001_smile:

Nick
 
Hi meine Kameraden!!!

I have found a picture of this badge in use. My first tinnie, just love it!!

Regards

Antonio

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Hi Paul,

I love those pictures too.

I will try to get many pictures showing tinnies "on the run" and will open a new thread.

So have I have this one and the lovely Potsdam 1932. I will try to get more!!

Regards

Antonio
 
There's a section in Lauterbacher's autobiography 'Erlebt und mitgestaltet' on this rally so I thought it might be useful to translate his memories of the event.

'Cheered by our success* I ordered a HJ Obergebiet West rally to be held on the 26th of May 1933 to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the murder of Albert Leo Schlageter by the french occupation forces. Schlageter was shot on Golzheim Heath and after the occupiers had gone a national monument was erected. I believe it was modelled on the famous Tannenberg monument. It was a magnificent site - large with a sunken courtyard and standing high above that the Schlageter cross.

*Lauterbacher was the Obergebietsführer West at the time of the Schlageter rally and the preceding chapter of his book deals with the successful period prior to and particularly shortly after Hitler's appointment as chancellor.

Unfortunately the Freikorps Lieutenant Schlageter from the southern Black Forest is largely unknown today. After 1945 the monument inscription was ground off and the cross destroyed. Noone was to know the story behind the monument but dead heroes never sleep and this is something today's politicians know from ancient and medieval history.

And so the largest rally in the history of the HJ came to be. 32,000 participants registered for the event but on the day the numbers swelled to 172,000. They came on carts, on trucks, on trams and down the Rhine on boats. I have to admit that this unexpectedly high number overwhelmed us. We planned the event based on our experience in organising similar events in the past. We had places for everyone in the ghostly quiet of the empty factory buildings in the north of Düsseldorf but we had based this accommodation requirement on the numbers of official applications. We came close to total disaster.

I had arranged for more than twenty huge cooking vessels to be situated on the Rhine river meadows at Düsseldorf-Oberkassel to provide catering for the participants. A bavarian chef with experience of cooking for large numbers at the Oktoberfest did his best to cope but all hell broke loose in the accommodation, in the city and on the Rhine meadows. Those who joined the HJ in 1933 or 1934 could not believe the reports they later read. 172,000! The old fighters who were there on the day knew though.

Much did not go to plan but it was clear from the beginning that this was going to happen. Countless numbers of participants were found unconscious and some 200 were kept in hospital for a day or two. The dam broke but who back then or today can pass negative comment?

Between 10:00 and 17:00 at the opera house the masses marched past Shirach led by a 200 strong mounted formation. The formations of the Reiter-HJ, Flieger-HJ, Marine-HJ and Motor-HJ had been hastily organised overnight and 12 boats, 20 special trains and hundreds of trucks stood in readiness to transport them.

For the march-past the participants were organised into rows of 12 and 16. 20,000 marchers rolled past every hour and all of this, including the mistakes, was our work although I must say that I had a loyal and dependable assistant in my Chief of Staff Hugo Mülbert-Schäfer.

Gauleiter Florian was angry with me at the time because of the unavoidable difficulties but in later years the chaos surrounding the event always raised a laugh between us.

The climax of the rally was not the march-past but rather the ceremony at the Schlageter monument. Fire burned in the sacrificial bowls and those who did not take part in the celebration will not be able to understand how it moved us. We saw ourselves as the final bastion of not only german culture but of the german people.

Lauterbacher felt a particularly strong connection to Schlageter due to their common ancestry and shared beliefs. In addition to the rally Lauterbacher also dedicated his first HJ leadership school (Burg Campen) to Schlageter.
 
Great post GARRY very helpful and information very few are privileged to know. I have a bunch of SCLAGETER memorabilia and love it when more info comes to light. Few know there is enough SCHLAGETER medals buttons etc out there to make a sperate hobby of collecting

:canada:
 
Excellent piece of information Garry. Having lived in Duesseldorf and worked in Oberkassel, my imagination is flying. Nowadays, the DJH building is located in Oberkassel, just a few meters from the Rhein.

172000 people.... amazing.

Regards

Antonio
 
Looks like these guys got the contract for that badge:

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Yes they did. I will be using a bit of the info for this Gebiets Jugend Tag treff. in the new book, as it ties in well to the badge being covered, as do the many different versions of these.
Not to be confused with the Schlageter memorial tinnies for the same day, like Paul`s and the identical tinnie as these minus the wording HJ-Gebiets Jugend tag.

Here are three participants versions I have in silver;

2x Leichte ausführung
1x Schwere ausführung


Hollow-Iron, nickel-chrome plated
Hollow, bronze normal silver gilding
Solid, bronze, normal silver gilding
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There are other badges that were just for the Schageter celebrations on the same day - identical to the Gebietsjugendtag badges, just without the wording HJ ..etc..
here are the bronze and silver versions of those....
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Hi Guys,

This Tinnie was my very first one, so allow me to say a few words about it. Also, it is like a good bye to this fantastic city crossed by the Rhein.

What always caught my attention is that there are 2 crosses in this Tinnie. Why this? And what or who was Schlageter? You can see 3 pictures of this badge attached. Picture 3 belongs to my collection and Picture 4 belongs to Stuart’s collection (page 8 of Hitler Youth tinnies/ Day Badges Database )

In such a small thing, there is a big history behind.

I will be starting for the end, the crosses. The Christian and the Swastika together make a weird match. Well, we know that the Protestant youth groups joined the HJ with no much difficulty. But with the Catholic Church, that was a different history. But no. the Christian church doesn’t symbolize any church, the explanation is far simpler, that cross was the memorial site of Albert Leo Schlageter (see picture attached).

And now, we go to our second question. Who was Schlageter? And why his name is in a HJ Tinnie? And what has to do with Düsseldorf?

To understand who was Schlageter, we have to go back to 1922. When he was part of the Freikorps in Upper Silessia (East from Germany and now part of Poland). Since that year, it is believed that he got in contact with the NSDAP.

But it was during 1923 where he became famous (or for the French, infamous). This year was famous in Germany because the Hyperinflation, which helped to “not” meet the repayments that Germany had to make to France, in concepts of reparations for the WWI. France, claiming what it was believed to be theirs, took a strong action against the German, occupying the Ruhr area, West of Germany and industrial heart of it, apart from all the mines located there.

Schlageter was part of the “passive resistance” against the French Forces with act of sabotage. Until he was arrested and condemned to death. He was executed near Düsseldorf on the 26th of May 1923.

Obviously, his death was always “revived” by the Nazis as apart of their philosophy of remembering the Martyrs for Germany. So you can imagine, put yourself as a HJ kid in 1933, in the middle of the forest around the fire with more kids like you, and one of them telling the histories of his fights, his heroic acts against the invading French troops, those black soldiers who humiliated Germany and German women. I can imagine how “encouraging” for those kids this type of history sounds.

So all the pieces of the Tinnie have been already found. We know the reason for the cross (Memorial), for the date (10 Years of his death) and for Düsseldorf.

I told you guys, didn’t I? There was a big history behind this Tinnie.

Best Regards

Antonio

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This is brilliant
 
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