Original German Early WWII 1938 Dated Aluminum SS EM/NCO Belt Buckle – RZM 822/38 Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. The Allgemeine-SS, (General-SS), was originally formed in May 1923 under the auspices of the SA, Sturm Abteilung, (Storm/Assault Detachment), as the Stosstrupp Adolf AH (Shock Troops), and was redesignated Schutz Staffel, (Protection Squad), in April 1925 with the official acceptance of the name verified on the second anniversary of the failed Munich “Beer-Hall” Putsch on November 9TH 1925. As a subordinate unit to the SA, early SS personnel wore the standard SA style box belt buckle. It is believed that Adolf AH personally designed a new pattern box belt buckle specifically for wear by SS Enlisted Men (EM) and Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) personnel with the manufacturing patent being originally granted to the Overhoff & Cie. firm in Lüdenscheid.

This new style buckle was adopted for wear by EM/NCO personnel in late 1931 or early 1932. Generally the early buckles were produced in solid nickel/silver until sometime in 1936 when injection-molded aluminum alloys replaced the nickel/silver versions. In 1940 the EM/NCO’s belt buckles began to be manufactured in steel replacing the aluminum alloy buckles. The steel buckles were at first zinc coated then painted grey.

This Aluminum SS buckle (Koppelschloß) is offered in very good condition, with moderate wear from service. The reverse of the buckle is marked (RZM) 822/38 (ᛋᛋ). indicating 1938 manufacture. There is a bit of wear on the markings from the attachment clip on the other end of the belt. There are unfortunately no accurate records of the SS RZM contractors, but some suggest that 822 is Richard Sieper & Söhne of Ludenscheid.

Box belt buckle features a smooth, outer field with a high relief, embossed, central motif pattern consisting of an SS style national eagle with out-stretched wings, clutching a wreath, encompassing a static swas. The swas and wreath are in turn encompassed by a circular, simulated, twisted rope border with the Gothic script motto, Meine Ehre heißt Treue!, (My Honor is Loyalty!). The script is situated on a subtly textured background field and is encircled by the inner and the outer simulated twisted rope borders. The reverse of the buckle is a mirror image of the obverse and the cast buckle catch, prong bar and prongs are all intact. We have checked it with a magnet, and no part of this buckle is magnetic.

A very nice example, and so far the only the second example we have had. The Nickel Alloy and Steel examples seem to be much more common. Ready to display!

The RZM, Reichzeugmeisterei, (National Equipment Quartermaster), was officially founded in June 1934 in Munich by the NSDAP, Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, (National Socialist German Worker’s Party), as a Reich Hauptamt, (State Central Office), and was based on the earlier SA Quartermaster’s Department. The functions of the RZM were not only to procure and distribute items to Party formations, but also to approve chosen designs and to act as a quality control supervisor to ensure items manufactured for the Party met required specification and were standardized. Starting in late 1934 items manufactured for the SS came under the quality control of the RZM and as a result were to be marked with the RZM/SS approval/acceptance mark. In 1943 the Waffen-SS assumed full control over their uniform item production and no longer fell under the authority of the RZM.