Original German WWII Heer Army Painted Steel Belt Buckle With Tab by Dr. Franke & Co – Dated 1940 Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This is an excellent worn condition WWII German Wehrmacht Heer (Army) EM/NCO’s Steel Buckle (Koppelschloß). The buckle is embossed with the Heer motto GOTT MIT UNS (“God with us”) surrounding a NSDAP Party Eagle. The buckle is a nice 1940 pattern fieldgrey painted steel construction box buckle with a smooth background. The paint is present on over 85% of the buckle exterior, with just a bit of storage wear. Truly an excellent example.

The inside of the buckle is also marked Dr. F. & Co. / 1940 for Dr. Franke & Co., located in the city of Lüdenscheid, a city with a large garment accessories industry.
The buckle still still retains the leather tab, which is is very nicely marked it reads:

DR. FRANKE & CO. K
1940
LÜDENSCHEID

The leather tab is in excellent condition, still supple with a great color, and fully intact stitching.

This piece has great eye appeal, and is perfect for anyone looking to start a German belt buckle collection.

HEER / ARMY Enlisted Man, Non-Commissioned Officer Belt Buckle – (Koppelschloß mit Lederwiderhalt)

The German Army, one of the components of the Wehrmacht (Defense Force), was composed of divisional ground troops, including infantry and artillery.

Up until 1936 a standard belt buckle was used from 1919 – 1936, considered as the Weimar era. This belt buckle was replaced in early 1936 keeping the basic design of the Reichswehr buckle but adding the Wehrmacht’s stylized national eagle.

This buckle was worn during the whole Third Reich period with only small manufacturing variations. Different colors were used for the painted finish of the buckles and were determined by what uniform was to be worn with the belt and buckle.

Normally these buckles came with a leather tab that helped support the ammunition pouches, however in 1942 due to the shortages of leather this tab was discontinued, though not all manufacturers followed this trend.

Normally made of aluminum which is injected molded, the center of the buckle features the Wehrmacht Eagle with down swept wings clutching a swas. The eagle is encircled with an inner and outer simulated twisted rope border between which is an embossed oak leaf cluster on the bottom. On the top is the script “Gott Mit Uns”, (God With Us).

GOTT MIT UNS
Gott mit uns (‘God with us’) is a phrase commonly used in heraldry in Prussia (from 1701) and later by the German military during the periods spanning the German Empire (1871 to 1918), the Third Reich of NSDAP Germany (1933 to 1945), and the early years of West Germany (1949 to 1962). It was also commonly used by Sweden in most of its wars and especially as a war cry during the Thirty Years’ War. It was used for the first time in Germany by the Teutonic Order.

In the 17th century, the phrase Gott mit uns was used as a ‘field word’, a means of recognition akin to a password, by the army of Gustavus Adolphus at the battles of Breitenfeld (1631), Lützen (1632) and Wittstock (1636) in the Thirty Years’ War.

In 1701, Frederick I of Prussia changed his coat of arms as Prince-Elector of Brandenburg. The electoral scepter had its own shield under the electoral cap. Below, the motto Gott mit uns appeared on the pedestal. The Prussian Order of the Crown was Prussia’s lowest ranking order of chivalry, and was instituted in 1861. The obverse gilt central disc bore the crown of Prussia, surrounded by a blue enamel ring bearing the motto of the German Empire Gott Mit Uns.

At the time of the completion of German unification in 1871, the imperial standard bore the motto Gott mit uns on the arms of an Iron Cross. Imperial German 3 and 5 mark silver and 20 mark gold coins had Gott mit uns inscribed on their edge.

German soldiers had Gott mit uns inscribed on their belt buckles in the First World War. The slogan entered the mindset on both sides; in 1916 a cartoon was printed in the New York Tribune captioned “Gott Mit Uns!”, showing “a German officer in spiked helmet holding a smoking revolver as he stood over the bleeding form of a nurse. It symbolized the rising popular demand that the United States shed its neutrality”.

In June 1920 George Grosz produced a lithographic collection in three editions entitled Gott mit uns. A satire on German society and the counterrevolution, the collection was swifty banned. Grosz was charged with insulting the army, which resulted in a 300 German Mark fine and the destruction of the collection.

During the Second World War, Wehrmacht soldiers once again wore this slogan on their belt buckles, as opposed to members of the Waffen SS, who wore the motto Meine Ehre heißt Treue (‘My honour is loyalty’). After the war the motto was also used by the Bundeswehr and German police. It was replaced with “Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit” (‘Unity and Justice and Freedom’) in 1962 (police within the 1970s), the first line of the third stanza of the German national anthem.