Original German WWII DAF Belt with Aluminum Buckle by F. W. Assmann & Söhne Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very nice WWII German Deutsche Arbeitsfront (DAF) Aluminum Belt Buckle (Koppelschloß) with correct leather belt. The front is embossed with a fourteen tooth cogwheel encompassing a swas in the center. The buckle also has a small embossed circular bead to each corner. This example has a two piece buckle, with the a stamped aluminum single piece box with stamped slot, with the hook loop attached on the sides and peened over.

The back of the buckle with an RZM circle, with the code M4/39 and “barred A” trademark. The Reichszeugmeisterei, or RZM, was was based at the Brown house in Munich and NSDAP party headquarters in Berlin. The RZM ensured that the manufacturers of military items were consistent in design, quality of materials and other characteristics of the items. It also defined standards of design, manufacturing and quality and published an authoritative color chart for textiles.

The M4 in the code stands for buckles, and registrant 39 is F. W. Assmann & Söhne of Lüdenscheid, a large maker of belts, buttons, and other accoutrements. The “barred A” on the buckle is their trademark, registered with the German trademark office.

The belt itself measures 34” when fully extended, and is marked with the remnants of a WW1 regimental marking. The leather is definitely worn, and the belt has been repaired and spliced together on the hook end. Most likely this was a WW1 Belt, kept and pressed into service during WW2.

With the dissolution of all Free Trade Unions in Germany in May 1933 the Deutsche Arbeitsfront, (German Labor Front), was established to replace the unions and to educate the workers in industry and commerce for smooth and efficient operation of all labor in the Third Reich. In October 1934 the DAF was given official status as a sub-section of the NSDAP and in March 1936 it was recognized as an independent NSDAP affiliated association and granted control of its own monetary budget. In 1934 the first pattern of DAF uniform was introduced for DAF Werkscharen, (Work Squads), and a belt buckle was introduced in late 1935 for wear by all ranks.