Original German 1957 Pattern Bundeswehr Award Set – EKI, Silver & Gold Luftwaffe Bomber Clasps Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. Following the end of WWII in Europe, Germany had been partitioned into 4 occupation zones, Soviet, American, French, and British, with several smaller zones administered by various other European countries. The Capital of Berlin was also split up into zones as well. It was originally planned that the Allies would administer occupied Germany via the Allied Control Council, however the different goals of the four major powers resulted in a total breakdown of this system. France wanted very much to break Germany back into smaller states, as it had been during the 19th century. The Soviet Union wanted it to become a Marxist state and bullwark against Western Europe.

The eventual result of these disagreements was the partitioning of Germany into the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). This divide became the frontier of the new Cold War, and as such it became clear that West Germany would need to re-arm, as East Germany was already well into that process. This led to the formation of the West German Bundeswehr in 1955, with branches for the air, land and sea forces.

There were still plenty of service age veterans from WWII, which were readily inducted into the fledgling forces. However, many awards and medals from the WWII Era were prohibited from display due to the NSDAP symbols they bore. This was a bit of a sticking point, as members of the military definitely wanted to be able to still display their military achievements. The German Law about Titles, Orders and Honorary Signs (Gesetz über Titel, Orden und Ehrenzeichen) regulated the wearing of these awards in post war Germany.

This led to many awards being reissued in 1957, with the NSDAP symbols either removed or replaced with classic German motifs such as the Iron cross or Oak leaf clusters. Other awards such as the wound badge reverted to their Pre-WWII configurations. 

This is a very nice set of the 1957 pattern awards, which had the designs changed to remove the NSDAP Swas insignia. They are otherwise identical to the WWII designs. This set consists of:

– One 1957 Pattern Iron Cross First class (Eisernes Kreuz I. Klasse), which has the central swas replaced by an oak leaf sprig.

– One 1957 Pattern Luftwaffe Front Flying Clasp for Bombers, Silver Class for 60 Missions.

– One 1957 Pattern Luftwaffe Front Flying Clasp for Bombers, Gold Class for 110 Missions.

A great set of Post WWII 1957 Pattern awards, ready to display!