Original German WWII Armband Lot – DRK Red Cross & State Service Volunteer Eagle Armbands Original Items

Original Items: Only One Set of 2 Available. The “armband system” was instituted by the NSDAP Party in 1939 at the same time that the political leadership ranks were expanded into their final form. The purpose of the armband system was to denote positional titles within the NSDAP Party in contrast to a party member’s political rank.

There were three groupings of armbands, classified as “operational”, “administrative”, and “command”. The operational armbands were used by Party political leaders on the local and county levels and were worn by those Party leaders directly engaged in implementing Party policies to the public. During World War II, this was most often associated with food rationing, war relief efforts, and civil defense.

The administrative armbands were worn by office staff across all levels of the party, although mostly were used by the regional staff of the Gauleiters. The third, and least common of the armbands, were the command armbands worn by the Deputy Gauleiters, Gauleiters, and Reichsleiters.

The Party armbands were intended for immediate implementation upon the outbreak of World War II in 1939, although it was not until 1943 that the system was in total effect. Even then, photographic evidence reveals it was not uncommon for some political leaders to simply wear the pre-1939 bare swas armband, with some photographs as late as 1945 revealing political leaders failing to wear the appropriate NSDAP positional armband.

The Armbands In This Lot:

– One Embroidered State Service Volunteer Eagle Armband: The yellow German State Service Armband was worn by uniformed German personnel who were attached to the Armed Forces during WWII. Often, these were worn by men of the Reichsarbeitsdienst (State Labor Service) and Reichsbahn (State Train Service) who were operating with the German Army in the occupied countries. It has a textbook BeVO woven Reichsadler Eagle insignia. There are no stamps on the armband, and it shows just a bit of light surface staining from storage.

– One Deutsches Rotes Kreuz Embroidered Arbmand: The DRK used these white cotton arm band with heavily embroidered red cross and black script that reads Deutsches Rotes Kreuz (German Red Cross). The DRK, “Deutsches Rotes Kreuz” (German Red Cross), a voluntary civil assistance organization originally instituted in 1864, was officially acknowledged by the Geneva Convention in 1929. In December 1937 it gained status as a legally recognized organization by the NSDAP. As with other essential services in Third Reich Germany, it came under control of the NSDAP in late 1938 under the auspices of the Ministry of the Interior’s Social Welfare Organization.

Condition is very good, with a bit of light staining and small tears. The armband is not stitched together in the back, but has some plastic tape on the back holding it together, which could easily be removed.

This is a lovely set of two of armbands. Comes more than ready for display.