SS Related Insignia, Awards and Militaria

 

SS militaria is the most highly faked of the military collectibles in the world.  Here are some examples of original SS related militaria donated by the more advanced collectors in the hobby who are sharing their pieces to further the education of the collecting community.

 

Though not General officer shoulderboards, these Allgemeine officer shoulderboards exhibit the same high quality of construction that is seen on most original SS insignia and merits close visual study.

Shown on these boards are cyphers for "Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler"; "Haupt-Reiter Schule";

"Oberbayern"; "Deutschland"; and the short-lived skull cypher for "Oberbayern".

All cyphers are nickel-silver except for Deutschland, which is in Aluminum.

(private collection)

 

 

SS Honor Chevrons

(private collection)

 

Anti Partisan badges, in Bronze, Silver and Gold.

(private collection)

 

 

SS Long Service Medals

The SS Long Service medals were instituted by order of Adolf Hitler on 30 January 1938, the 5th anniversary of him becoming Chancellor. These medals were designed by Professor Karl Diebitsch of München into the following classes:

 

First Class was designed as a gold swastika with a wreath encircling a pair of runes on the obverse. This was to be awarded to officers, NCOs and men with 25 years of service.

 

Second Class was the same as the first class except it was executed in silver and was awarded to officers, NCOs and men with 12 years of service.

 

12 Year (second class) Long Service SS medal – front of award

(private collection)

Back of award.

 

 

25 Year (first class) Long Service SS medal – front of award.

(private collection)

Back of award.

 

Cases for 12 & 25 Year Awards

(private collection)

Top of cases.

 

 

Third Class was a circular medal 38mm in diameter and 3mm thick with the same design as the first and second class impressed on the obverse. On the reverse was the number eight with the wording superimposed over it. The medal was a bronze color. This was awarded to officers, NCOs and men with 8 years of service.

 

Fourth Class was of the same pattern as the third class except a little larger in diameter (38.5mm), had a 4 on the reverse and was black. This medal was awarded to only NCOs and men with 4 years of service; officers did not qualify.

 

4 Year (fourth class) and 8 Year (third class) Service Awards, cased.

(private collection)

 

Reverse of 4 Year (fourth class) and 8 Year (third class) Service Awards.

(private collection)

 

 

8 Year Long Service SS medal – front of award

This is a miniature of the 8-Year SS Long Service Medal with the cornflower blue ribbon in a bow and attached to a button to be worn on the veteran’s civilian clothes.

(private collection)

Back of award.

 

Medal Bar.

(private collection)

 

 

Reverse of Medal Bar.

 

 

SS Ribbon Bar.

This ribbon bar has two long service ribbons, the second for four years service in the SS and has the small medallion, which resembles the medal. The next two ribbons represent the Anschluss with Austria (Commemoration Medal of 13 March 1938) and the Occupation of Czechoslovakia (Commemoration Medal of 1 October 1938).

(private collection)

 

Heinrich Himmler’s ribbon bar.

Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler’s Medal Bar showing the 12-Year SS Long Service Medal on the left followed by the 15- and 10-Year NSDAP Faithful Service Awards, the Occupation of Austria, Czechoslovakia, Memel and the West Wall Medal

Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler was authorized and wore the 12-Year SS Long Service Medal and Ribbon.

 

 

Period photograph of Himmler wearing the above ribbon bar.

 

Even though the SS didn’t officially exist as such until 1925, and the Third Reich ended in 1945, it was still possible for men to be awarded the 25-Year SS Service Medal with combined service in the Wehrmacht, Landespolizei, reserve military training and duty in officially recognized Freikorps units, as well as service in the NSDAP and its paramilitary organizations in conjunction with a minimum of 4 years service in the SS-Verfügungstruppe, SS-Totenkopfverbände or the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler. Also, the years 1923 to 1933, the so-called Kampfzeit, or Years of Struggle, as well as the war years 1939 to 1945, counted as double time towards these awards. It is interesting to note in the Douglas article that the awarding of the SS Service Medals were discontinued after the beginning of the war. Since these were manufactured only during the pre-war years, their quality is superb to some of the wartime medals.

 

 

I’m always looking for good photographs of original tabs and other General officer insignia.  If you have something to contribute, please visit the submitting photos page.