Garry

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Here's a little info on these badges. Some of it may be new to some of you.

The Potsdam badge in silver was the one worn by those who had been active participants on the day. The bronze version was available for purchase by spectators/non-participants1,2 and was also sold prior to the event as a fund-raiser. Regulations dated 15.5.1937 were introduced to stop the bronze version being worn from that year. The silver version was unaffected by this and could continue to be worn. Edit: please see THIS thread for more information and discussion on these badges.

The Arbeiterjugend badge. This first appeared in September 19273 and after the full introduction of the standard diamond HJ membership badge in 1933 many HJ members continued to wear the Arbeiterjugend pin as an outward sign of their long service. When the HJ honour badge (HJ Ehrenzeichen) was introduced in 1934 it made the Arbeiterjugend pin (the regulation calls it the "old HJ badge" or sometimes the "old round HJ badge") irrelevant and it was no longer permitted to be worn on the uniform. It was however permitted for wear on civilian clothing after that point (the same exception applied to the first and second pattern Jungvolk membership badges). The book 'Aufbau und Abzeichen der Hitler-Jugend' from 1940 shows that this was still the case even at that late stage.

Because it would have been too difficult to issue the HJ honour badge in the same way as the NSDAP honour badge where full records were available of who was a member, the HJ honour badge was initially issued on application only. Those who had been members of the HJ/BDM/DJ/JM and NSS prior to the 1st of October 1932 and whose membership had remained unbroken up to the date of application were eligible. Two referees were also required to substantiate the applicant's eligibility.

There were different qualification criteria for those foreign youth organisations which were incorporated into the HJ in later years. In Poland for example, the honour badge could be awarded to someone who had been a member of a volkksdeutsche youth organisation for at least three years prior to 1.9.1939. There were other qualifying criteria in addition to this.

In later years the badge was awarded in some cases for exemplary service to personnel who would not otherwise have qualified for the award.

Notes on the HJ honour badge:

A pin safety catch was made compulsory by order in 1939 as a reaction to the amount of badges which were being lost. The 1936 RZM price catalogue shows that at that time there were two versions of the badge: one with and one without a safety catch. The 1939 regulation I mention above says 'due to the continuing losses of honour badges I feel compelled to provide for the attachment of a safety device to the badge'. The regulation then gives prices for the A and B badges with this new 'patented catch mechanism'. This would appear to show that an improved version of the safety mechanism was introduced for 1939 and this is the barrel catch type:

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From 1940 replacement HJ Honour badges were no longer issued with the recipient's original serial number:
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1 Anzugordnung für das Führerkorps 15.5.1937
2 Potsdam rally postcards, stamps and the Potsdam badges were also sold prior to the event in order to finance it. 'Ich glaubte an Hitler' Baldur von Schirach 1968 p155
3 Institut für Zeitgeschichte, München Fa88/Fasz. 360, Bl. 4-7
 

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great bit of info as usual garry , the silver potsdam is one of the badges on my wants list
stu
 
Hi all,

Just checking this old post, to try to find more information about this Tinnie.

I would like to know who made the design of this Tinnie and which of the versions was mae in more numbers. about the designer of this Tinnie, i heard something that I would love to confirm.

Or, in case you dont know, you may know about where could I find more information about this particular Tinnie.

Thanks for your help

REgards

Antonio
 
Thanks Stu, always great to know.

From one very good Spanish collector (with a couple of books in German Medals) I heard that the design was made by Hitler himself. But not for this event, just was a general draw in a napkin, kept by von Schirach and later used for this Tinnie.

I trust this person, but obviously I would like to know if there is any source to find about this Tinnie. The most the best.

Thanks

Antonio
 
Hi all,

Just checking this old post, to try to find more information about this Tinnie.

I would like to know who made the design of this Tinnie and which of the versions was mae in more numbers. about the designer of this Tinnie, i heard something that I would love to confirm.

Or, in case you dont know, you may know about where could I find more information about this particular Tinnie.

Thanks for your help

REgards

Antonio

The original design came from Hitler who had sketched it out in 1932 as the proposed badge for the first Reichsparteitag in case the NSDAP came to power in that year. Baldur von Schirach appropriated the design for his Potsdam rally and the only change he made was to replace 'NS-Reichs-Parteitag 1932' with 'NS 1. Reichs-Jugendtag 1932'. Von Schirach presented a special cased silver version of the badge to Hitler on the 11th of September 1932. He was not best pleased about Schirach's pilfering of his design but Schirach got away with it.

Source: 'Ich glaubte an Hitler' Baldur von Schirach 1968 p152-156
 
Here's what he says in the book Norku: "......und überreichte ihm ein kleines Schmuckkästchen. Er klappte es auf. Darin lag auf Samt eine Sonderprägung der Plakette in Silber...."

"and gave him a small jewellery box. He opened it. Inside the velvet-lined box was a special strike of the badge in silver"

I think this would have been actual silver as opposed to silver-coloured.
 
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