Original German WWII Luftwaffe Belt Buckle & Insignia Grouping with EKII – 5 Items Original Items

Original Items: Only One Set Available. This is a very nice collection of German WWII Insignia & Awards, which was brought back from the European theater by a USGI after the war was concluded. It includes some lovely items, including a very rare early Luftwaffe “Droop Tail” aluminum Belt Buckle, and an Iron Cross 2nd Class 1939.

This lovely set includes:

– One German Early WWII Luftwaffe Aluminum Belt Buckle with a “Droop Tail” Eagle. This early version is not die cast, and is instead made from two pieces of stamped sheet aluminum.

– One German WWII Iron Cross 2nd Class 1939 (Eisernes Kreuz II. Klasse 1939) with Ribbon. This fine example is in very good condition, though there is adhesive residue on the ribbon interior.

– One German WWII DRK Red Cross Medal for Social Welfare. In good condition, though the ribbon and ribbon hanger ring are missing.

– One German WWII Luftwaffe Aluminum Cap Eagle. In very good condition, with some slight bending and one of two securing clips present. This is the type used on visor caps, though they were sometimes seen on other types of headwear

– One German WWII Fire Protection Police Visor Cap Eagle Insignia. In good condition, with some slight bending of the zinc body and both original clips still present.

A wonderful totally genuine grouping perfect for the WWII German collector.

There is no more iconic German military award than the Iron Cross. The long history of this order began during the Napoleonic Wars. King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia instituted the “Eisernes Kreuz” (Iron Cross) in March of 1813. The award criteria changed somewhat with time, but generally speaking, Iron Crosses could be awarded for individual acts of bravery, or for leadership achievements on the battlefield.

The final reinstitution of the cross came in 1939. For this version, the front of the core for both grades bore a swas and the date 1939. The oak leaves, crown and royal initials were removed from the reverse, with only the date 1813 remaining as a reminder of the legacy of this award. In WWII, hundreds of thousands of Iron Cross First Class awards were bestowed, and four and a half million Iron Cross Second Class awards. Iron Crosses were made by a large number of authorized manufacturers. Some variants of these awards were mass produced in huge numbers. Others were made in very limited quantities.

Please also note the edge seam for authentication, which is not present on reproductions. Iron crosses were commonly constructed from an iron core sandwiched in a surrounding two part silver frame, normally the seam of these two silver parts is visible around the edge of the cross as is seen on this fine example.

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.