Original German WWII DRK Red Cross Medal for Social Welfare Grouping with Packet Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This is an very nice small grouping of German WWII Red Cross (DRK) items, the main part being a Medaille für Deutsch Volkspflege (Medal for German Social Welfare / People’s Care), complete with its original ribbon, button ribbon, and packet. Along with this is a very nice enamel front “Red Cross” badge with brass split pin attachment.

The Social Welfare Decoration (German: Ehrenzeichen für deutsche Volkspflege) was a German Civil Award created by Adolf AH on 1 May 1939 for services in the social sector. The decoration was issued in three classes and was awarded for a wide variety of service, in the social sector, to the German state. Qualifying service would have been with Winterhilfswerk, National Socialist People’s Welfare, medical and rescue work, or care of foreign and ethnic Germans. As a replacement for the German Red Cross Decoration, it was conferred in four classes consisting of a white-enameled gold Balkenkreuz with Reich eagle and swas. A “Medal for Social Welfare” was also issued for lesser degrees of service, not warranting the higher presentation of a class award.

The main requirement for the award was that the service rendered should be to the benefit of the civil population. Reinhard Heydrich was awarded the decoration for his running of the Gestapo in the 1930s and for providing “security” to the German people. The infamous Doctor Josef Mengele was also awarded the decoration in 1941, for providing medical services to wounded soldiers and civilians alike on the battlefields of the Eastern Front.

This example of the Medal for Social Welfare is in good condition, and is pretty much unissued, with the original ribbon, which is in great condition. It has not been stitched/fitted to a mounting bar, so it is as issued. The Button ribbon is also quite nice.

The included original packet is intact, and in very good condition. The back is marked with the maker information, in German Textura Blackletter Typeface:

Gebr. Godet & Co.
Berlin W 8 Charlottenstr. 55

Gebrüder Godet & Co. was a well-known maker of awards and other small items during WWII. The packet has not been torn open, as many were, and has just a bit of dirt.

A great German WWII Red Cross set, ready to display!

History of the German Red Cross (DRK)

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