Original German WWII Medal Grouping with Eastern Front Medal, War Merit Medal & More – 7 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 an Eastern Front medal, a 1939 War Merit Medal, and a DRL sports badge.

This lovely set includes:

– One German WWII Eastern Front Medal (Ostmedaille), without ribbon.

– One German WWII 1939 War Merit Medal (Kriegsverdienstmedaille): Comes complete with the original ribbon, in very good condition. The ribbon is a bit worn, but overall this is a very nice example.

– One German WWII DRL Sports Badge by L. CHR. LAUER of NÜRNBERG-BERLIN. In very good condition with a functional pinback.

– One German WWII Reichsluftschutzbund ( RLB ) 1st Pattern Stick Pin: marked on the back with HOFFSTÄTTER BONN.

– One German WWII Aluminum Tinnie or Button marked Kriegsmarinewerft Wilhelmshaven, for the famous shipyard.

– One German WWII HJ National Youth Organization Uniform Button.

– One German WWII Era H.B.C. Dirigible stick pin.

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

More on some of the more prominent awards:

The Eastern Medal (German: Ostmedaille), officially the Winter Battle in the East 1941–42 Medal (German: Medaille Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42), was a military award of the Wehrmacht which was created by ordinance of Adolf H on 26 May 1942.

The Eastern Medal was awarded to any member of the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS “in recognition of experience in the struggle against the Bolshevik enemy and the Russian winter within the period from 15 November 1941 to 15 April 1942.” It was also awarded posthumously to any service member who died in the line of duty within the Soviet Union. It was wryly called the Frozen Meat Medal or the “Order of the Frozen Flesh” (German: Gefrierfleischorden).

The War Merit Medal (Kriegsverdienstmedaille) was a World War II German military decoration awarded to recognize outstanding service by civilians in relation to the war effort. It was instituted on 19 August 1940 and usually awarded to those workers in factories who significantly exceeded work quotas. The War Merit Medal was awarded only to Germans and non-Germans civilians, to men and women. An estimated 4.9 million medals were awarded by the end of the war in Europe. It was closely related to the War Merit Cross, which could be awarded to military personnel and civilians alike for outstanding service to the war effort.

The medal was designed by Professor Richard Klein of Munich. It was a circular bronze award bearing the design of the War Merit Cross on the front (obverse), and the inscription “For War Merit 1939” (Für Kriegsverdienst 1939) on the reverse side. It was suspended from a ribbon colored similar to the War Merit Cross, except for a thin red vertical strip added to the center of the black portion. When worn, it was either as a medal ribbon bar above the left breast pocket (soldiers who had earned the medal as civilians could wear it on their uniform), or with the ribbon only through the second buttonhole of a jacket. Since this was a non-combat award, the medal never incorporated swords. After 15 May, 1943, the award of this medal to foreigners was superseded by the Medal of Merit of the Order of the German Eagle.

The German Sports Badge, also known as the “German National Sports Badge” was first created in the year 1913 and is one of the oldest awards of Germany still in active circulation. The badge has an oak leaf wreath around the overlapping letters DRA, standing for Deutscher Reichsausschuss für Leibesübungen (German National Committee for Physical Education). At first the German Sports Badge was only issued to men for the completion of various physical tests. In 1921 it was renamed to Deutsches Turn- und Sportabzeichen and women were eligible as well.

After the NSDAP takeover in 1933, the design of the badge remained basically the same but a swas was added at its base. Since 1935, the letters “DRL” (Deutscher Reichsbund für Leibesübungen) replaced the letters “DRA”. On 1 July 1937 the award was renamed to Deutsche Reichsauszeichnung für Leibesübungen and obtained the status as an official recognised decoration of the state. In 1938, the Austrian Sports Badge was incorporated in the German Sports badge. The last tests for the Deutsche Reichsauszeichnung für Leibesübungen were held in 1944.