Luftwaffe Desk Eagle

A beautifully well-sculpted silver-plated Luftwaffe desk eagle, mounted onto a granite base, showing the inscription of "Führer befiehl - wir folgen"; literally translated as "The Führer commands - We follow". The top surface shows the dedication to "Our outgoing Sergeant in the grateful remembrance of the 14th Panzer Division Company IR 326". This large, heavy desk piece measuring a width of 43cm and a height of 27cm would most likely be given as a token of appreciation. From author’s collection.

The Coburg Badge

 

 
The Coburg Badge (Coburger Abzeichen) was recognised as the first national award of the NSDAP, and later as the top NSDAP award in the party. Hitler ordered the Coburg Badge to be struck on October 14, 1932 to commemorate the event that took place ten years earlier. It was to honour the 800-strong army of SA stormtroopers and a band who had travelled with Hitler by train to Coburg for a rally. Over there, they pitched street battles with the police and the communists but eventually gained an upper hand and they celebrated with a victory. This day was known as the Deutscher Tag in Coburg (German Day in Coburg). 

The badge was designed by Hitler himself based on a sketch. It measured 40mm wide and 54mm high, cast out of bronze and hand finished. The design features sword facing downwards across the face of a swastika and surrounded by an oval wreath MIT HITLER IN COBURG 1922-1932 (With Hitler in Coburg 1922-1932). On the top of the badge shows the Coburg Castle and its surrounding landscape. Next to the badge is a commemorative plaque for a winner during an event held between 17-19 October 1941 at Coburg. The plaque is extremely well made with a highly detailed brass engraving of the Coburg badge, under the watchful eye of a German eagle, standing in front of an Iron Cross. The wood plate measures 17.5cm x 11.8cm and with the manufacturer’s name, Lauer Nürnberg stamped on the bottom. From author’s collection.

Feldherrnhalle Martyrs' Souvenir Plaque

 
The Feldherrnhalle Martyrs' Souvenir Plaque would have probably been sold during one of the Anniversaries of 9 November 1923. The plaque, modelled after the Mahnmal in der Feldherrnhalle in Munich. So what happened on that day? On the morning of 9 November 1923, Adolf Hitler and his followers marched to the Feldherrenhalle where a confrontation soon arose with the Bavarian State Police which then became bloody with 16 of Hitler’s men and four policemen killed. After the seizure of power by Hitler in 1933, the Feldherrenhalle became a special place of Nazi propaganda and on the Eastern side, a plaque with the names of the 16 martyrs were honored. The plaque was removed after the war in 1945.  This plaque came with several other postcards from the era. The plaque was cast in an aluminum alloy and affixed using 3 nails onto a black-stained wooden base. From author’s collection.

The Generalluftzeugmeister Badge

The Generalluftzeugmeister (or GL for short) was the civilian Supply and Procurement Service that handled many of the Luftwaffe's technical duties such as testing and requisitioning supplies. The organisation employed a large number of civilians and they were given a distinct cap badge to wear in order to distinguish it from regular units of the Luftwaffe. It was said that before the war, members wore a visor hat with the standard Luftwaffe eagle national emblem, but later the insignia was redesigned specifically for the Generalluftzeugmeister to include a cog wheel encircling the eagle. However, most period photos show that this was also worn as a breast badge where most men would wear the fliegerbluse with red piping. The badge has been found marked and unmarked where the above shows one in aluminium and a later war variant in heavy tombak and with longer prongs. From author’s collection.

Eagles of the National Socialist Motor Corps

The National Socialist Motor Corps (or Nationalsozialistisches Kraftfahrkorps, NSKK for short) was a paramilitary organization that existed from 1931 to 1945. The organisation was headed by Adolf Hühnlein from 1934 and after Hühnlein's death in 1942, Erwin Krauss took over as Korpsführer (Corps Leader). It was initially formed as a motorized corps of the Sturmabteilung (SA) and when its membership grew, it became an independent organization with an aim to educate members in motoring skills such as the operation and maintenance of high performance motorcycles and automobiles. From 1935 onward, the NSKK also provided training for Panzer crews of the German Army. The NSKK eagle insignias pictured above were used on the first pattern motorcyclists' crash helmets, or on automobile radiator grilles. These were very well made, showing excellent details to the feathers and details. In particular, those eagles mounted onto automobiles tend to be made in cast aluminium or an alloy, whereas those for helmets tend to be struck hollow in aluminum. A second pattern styled insignia for crash helmets, and a smaller insignia for visor caps exist. From author's own collection.

The RMBO Eagle for Eastern Territories

The Reichsministerium für die besetzeten Ostgebiete, or RMBO for short, was the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories created by Adolf Hitler on July 1941. The organisation was headed by Alfred Rosenberg to control the vast areas captured by the Germans in Eastern Europe and Russia. Rosenberg had presented Hitler with his plan for the organization of the conquered Eastern territories, suggesting the establishment of new administrative districts, to replace the previously Soviet-controlled territories with new Reichskommissariats to include Ostland (Baltic countries and Belarus), Ukraine (Ukraine and nearby territories), Kaukasus (Caucasus area), Moskau (Moscow metropolitan area and the rest of near Russia areas).
 

The RMBO was a civil ministry-styled government and was not part of the NSDAP Party branch. It was created by the German civil authorities as an administrative unit of the Grossdeutsches Reich. The governing people were largely party functionaries and senior SS, but it was also staffed by foreign office people because of its ambiguous status of being a German "colony" or administrative district without being part of Germany proper. It was planned to become part of Germany itself following the war and "Germanization" of the population. This also meant that these territories were not under the purvey of the Reichszeugmeisterei (RZM) being the national material control office of Third Reich Germany. There has been numerous discussions about such artefacts from Eastern territories where it should never have come under the RZM and thus objects marked as such have not been recognised by collectors to be original. It was also known that an American company, WW2 Products Ltd., based in St. Louis, manufactured reproductions of these metal RMBO eagles that have a RZM marking on the reverse. The RMBO eagle below has been identified as a late-war visor cap insignia that does not have RZM markings on the reverse. An identical RMBO eagle can also be found today at the Army Museum in Paris (musee de l'armee), at the Contemporary department, the Two World Wars 1871-1945 section (Les deux guerres mondiales 1871 - 1945). From author's own collection. source: Wikipedia / WAF
 

Anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch

November 9, 1923 marks the date of Hitler's attempted Bierkellerputsch (beer hall putsch) in Munich, his failed attempt to overthrow the Weimar Republic (in which four Bavarian policemen and a bystander were killed, in addition to 16 "Putschisten"). The 16 fallen were regarded as the first "blood martyrs" of the NSDAP and were remembered by Hitler in the foreword of Mein Kampf. The Nazi flag they carried, which in the course of events had been stained with blood, came to be known as the Blutfahne (blood flag) and was brought out for the swearing-in of new recruits in front of the Feldherrnhalle when Hitler was in power.

This photograph shows a group of mementos that was offered during the Anniversary - A glass cup given as a special gift to VIPs and Gauleiters on the 10th anniversary of 9 November 1923. The glass is a solid, heavy glass cup cut with national eagle emblem (in the form of the eagle on the 9 November Memorial). Also included is a brochure of the 10th anniversary event of the  "March to the Feldherrnhalle".The foreground shows a rare desk piece of the Feldherrnhalle, as a scaled presentation of the the original Mahnmal in Munich, Germany. From author's own collection.

Early NSDAP Wall or Building Eagle

This is a great looking, well-sculpted early NSDAP Wall or Building Eagle being made of iron (magnetic) and having a hanging device on the reverse and marked to the foundry measuring 14 inches by 9 1/2 inches. This is a seldom encountered piece and is dated to around 1930 where the design of these eagles were still in its infancy. Maker marked J. Kaiser and Co., Uckermunde. The other side of the wing is stamped with the letters "Alleinhersteller", meaning sole manufacturer. From author's own collection.

Classic Gold Gilt Nürnberg Desk Eagle

One of the most magnificent pieces from this collection, this gold-gilt Nürnberg desk eagle was probably a more expensive variant made available for high-level political leaders and VIPs. The details are outstanding and the gold finish is intact even after nearly 70 years. The eagle is mounted on a low-base made of cream coloured marble and with a felt backing on the underside. The reverse shows the RZM marking of M3/100, being identical to the trophy eagle described in one of the earlier posts. This variant in gold-gilt with a crisp maker stamp and in a good condition is extremely hard to find. From author's own collection.

Nürnberg Desk Eagle Swept-Wing Variant II

This beautiful desk eagle shows a spread-out / swept wing style that was described in an early post. It is beautifully crafted and weighs very heavy. The key difference to the previous one is that this desk piece has its eagle soldered on a metal base and with a matt-black semi-lustre finish. Exceptionally craftsmanship. The base shows an engraved dedication made in 1938. There are no maker marks on this piece, although some examples of this particular variant came from the HB foundry. From author's own collection.

High-Relief Polizei Disc

This disc, embossed with a police eagle came with a group of other polizei-related artefacts. The Aluminium disc was made using the stamping process that enabled high relief details to be captured. Its purpose is unknown, but we can speculate that it was possibly used for a memento or attached onto a commemorative plaque. The below right-hand corner shows HB, representing the maker H.H. van Beusekom (Gladbeck) who also made the numerous Nuremberg-styled eagles and other artefacts for the Reich. From author's own collection.

Schellbaum Finial

This eagle was very likely used as a finial for a Schellbaum / Glockenspiel. The highly stylized eagle shows excellent detail with a bright silver finish. It was used by both the SS and the SA. It is believed that this was the first pattern finial, followed by a second type that faces the right and has GES GESCH markings. From author's own collection.

Trolley Car or Bus Eagle with ''V" Maker Mark

The eagle is very similar to a Railway eagle but in a smaller size with a shorter wingspan. The piece is cast of aluminum and depicts the Reich eagle with wreath and swastika. The background of the swastika has been painted red at some time in the past, although whether pre or post 1945 is unknown. The only marking on the piece is a "V" behind each wing. There are tapped holes in lugs on the reverse of each wing, one in the reverse of the eagle's body, and one behind the swastika. The details are splendid with clean, crisp edges that make up a geometric style of this eagle design. There is no damage to the eagle and it retains its original aluminum finish. These eagles are now sought after due to its size that allows it to be displayed and complement with other artefacts. Apart from the V maker, the other more commonly encountered foundry mark is WCP. From author's own collection.