Awards and badges of the DRK der DDR

[HPL2008]

A few more additions from the Wasserrettungsdienst. Here are five Ehrennadeln that I could recently acquire from German eBay. The seller was Frank Bartel, and these actual specimens are pictured in his DDR Spezialkatalog Band VIII: Auszeichnungen des Deutschen Roten Kreuzes der DDR.


Ehrennadel in bronze [Honor Pin in Bronze], with "WRD", enamelled, pierced, pinback version (no. 73d in the catalog):

DDR_DRK_WRD-Ehrennadel_br_73d_1.JPG DDR_DRK_WRD-Ehrennadel_br_73d_2.JPG



Ehrennadel in silber [Honor Pin in Silver], with "WRD", enamelled, pierced, stickpin version (no. 72b):

DDR_DRK_WRD-Ehrennadel_si_72b_1.JPG DDR_DRK_WRD-Ehrennadel_si_72b_2.JPG



Ehrennadel in bronze [Honor Pin in Bronze], with "DDR", painted, pierced, pinback version (no. 73h):

DDR_DRK_WRD-Ehrennadel_br_73h_1.JPG DDR_DRK_WRD-Ehrennadel_br_73h_2.JPG



Ehrennadel in bronze [Honor Pin in Bronze], with "DDR", painted, solid, stickpin version (no. 73i):

DDR_DRK_WRD-Ehrennadel_br_73i_1.JPG image_4732804.jpg



Ehrennadel in silber [Honor Pin in Silver], with "DDR", painted, solid, stickpin version (no. 72i):

image_4732802.jpg image_4732805.jpg

[HPL2008]

Bought on the same occasion from the same seller, this Rettungsschein badge in the screwback version:

DDR_DRK_WRD_Rettungsschein_08.JPG

image_4732809.jpg

DDR_DRK_WRD_Rettungsschein_10.JPG

[HPL2008]

Which reminds me of something else. (I think I already posted this back in June, but it was lost in the move to the new server.)

As I had mentioned in post # 36, the "Rettungsschein" ["Lifesaving Certificate"] badges are in Frank Bartel's catalog on awards of the DRK of the GDR, where he remarks that he included them because they came from stocks of the DRK. However, it was not known at the time of writing by whom or by what organisation they were actually instituted and what the award criteria were, making the DRK connection a bit unclear.

A while back, I managed to find and purchase a specimen of the actual document. It was offered on German eBay and came with three certificates for first aid training (not shown here). The full designation is "Rettungsschein des Wasserrettungsdienstes des Deutschen Roten Kreuzes in der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik" ["Lifesaving Certificate of the Water Rescue Service of the German Red Cross in the German Democratic Republic"], proving that it was definitely awarded by the DRK, more specifically, its WRD. According to the note in the top part of page 2, the certificate did not qualify its holder for official lifeguard duty:

Front and back:

DDR_DRK_WRD_Rettungsschein_01.JPG DDR_DRK_WRD_Rettungsschein_02.JPG

Interior pages:

DDR_DRK_WRD_Rettungsschein_04.JPG

With the cloth badges already shown in post # 36:

DDR_DRK_WRD_Rettungsschein_05.JPG

[Ralph P]

HPL2008 - I like it!!!