Leistungsabzeichen der Seesportprüfung

[Gordon Craig]

Gentlemen,

A forum member posted an auction for one of these badges a few weeks ago and there seems to be limited knowledge about them. If Kevin hadn't identified it we might still be in the dark. As the result of the research on another thread more information surfaced about this badge so I though that I would post it here. Here is a page that displays the badges available in this series and what those who are awarded the badge are training for.

[Gordon Craig]

According to the abive chart, these badges have been around for some time being first awarded by the FDJ in 1952. The GST approved the awarding of these badges on 6 Jan, 1953 (Chronik zur Geschicte der GST 1952-1984). The badges come in three performance levels indicated by the number of stars on the badge. I do not know what the criteria is for awarding any of the different perfomance levels. The badges measure 20mm (23/64") wide by 23mm (3/4") high.
Here are some pictures of badge shown on the forum earlier.

[Gordon Craig]

The badge from my collection. The back is identical so I will only post the obverse.

[ehrentitle]

The GST diver's badge in the first photo you show appears to be an early version of the badge. Note the dark blue enamel is almost transparent.

[Gordon Craig]

Kevin,

Thanks for your comments. I hadn't compared the badges for this sort of thing. The diver's badge certainly seems to be of a higher quality than the one in my collection. I'll have to keep that in mind if I come across any more of this series of badges.

Regards,

Gordon