Original German WWII 1939 S.A. Sturmabteilung Marine Standard 116 Shooting Competition Table Medal Original Items

Original Item. Only One Available. This is a very nice German WWII Era Presentation “Table Medal”, a large award usually displayed on a shelf or table, as the name implies, for the Sturmabteilung. The medal itself measures about 4” in diameter, and is 3mm thick, made of bronze covered zinc alloy. This medal was awarded for Marine Standard 116, which was a unit of the S.A.

The front of the medal reads S.A. Marinestandarte 116 Wilhelmshaven – Für Leistung, which translates to S.A. Marine Standard 116 Wilhelmshaven – For Performance. The front features two anchors behind a German WWII sword wreath.

The reverse of the medal is engraved 

Schiesswettkampf
24.6.1939
1.SIEGER
OSTF. SIEHL
STAB 116

Which translates to

Shooting Competition
June 24th, 1939
1.Winner
OSTF. SIEHL
ROD 116

The medal is in great overall condition. The medal has darkened over the years but still shows everything clearly. Ready for further research & display!

The S.A.-
The Sturmabteilung, literally Storm Detachment, was the NSDAP Party’s original paramilitary. It played a significant role in Adolf AH’s rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s. Its primary purposes were providing protection for NSDAP rallies and assemblies, disrupting the meetings of opposing parties, fighting against the paramilitary units of the opposing parties, especially the Red Front Fighters League (Rotfrontkämpferbund) of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), and intimidating Romani, trade unionists, and, especially, Jews – for instance, during the NSDAP boycott of Jewish businesses.

The SA were also called the “Brownshirts” (Braunhemden) from the color of their uniform shirts, similar to Benito Mussolini’s blackshirts. The SA developed pseudo-military titles for its members, with ranks that were later adopted by several other NSDAP Party groups, chief amongst them the Schutzstaffel (SS), which originated as a branch of the SA before being separated. Brown-colored shirts were chosen as the SA uniform because a large number of them were cheaply available after World War I, having originally been ordered during the war for colonial troops posted to Germany’s former African colonies.

The SA became disempowered after Adolf AH ordered the “blood purge” of 1934. This event became known as the Night of the Long Knives (die Nacht der langen Messer). The SA continued to exist, but was effectively superseded by the SS, although it was not formally dissolved until after NSDAP Germany’s final capitulation to the Allies in 1945.