Mayer or Schickle?

[Hans N]

I stand corrected Norm, the tool part was an old speculation or theory if you want

[troybyrom]

What was the reason Schickle was told to stop production? I believe I read a little about it some time back in one of my medal books.

[Norm F]

What was the reason Schickle was told to stop production? I believe I read a little about it some time back in one of my medal books.

Hi troybyrom,

It's not known what specific infraction triggered the Präsidialkanzlei's ire, but on page 161 of "The Iron Cross 1. Class" by Maerz/Stimson it's reported that Dr. Otto Meissner (the head of the Präsidialkanzlei) signed a decree dated June 3, 1941 barring Schickle and invoking his own previous decrees from July 25 and Nov 1, 1940 stating that each company needs permission to manufacture 3rd Reich orders and medals and that private purchase items need to have the same finish and quality as the regular award pieces. Who knows what other politics were at work at the time.

The published notice in Uniformen-Markt in the July 1, 1941 issue is quite harsh:

"Der Staatsminister und Chef der Präsidialkanzlei des Führers hat der Firma Otto Schickle, Pforzheim, Zerrener Straße 35, mit sofortiger Wirkung die Herstellung und den Handel mit Orden und Ehrenzeichen, die nach dem 30. Januar 1933 gestiftet sind, sowie deren Verkleinerungen, ebenso die Anfertigung von entsprechenden Stanzen untersagt. Verboten sind der Firma ferner die Anfertigung und der Vertrieb von kombinierten Verkleinerungen, in denen Orden und Ehrenzeichen der vorbezeichneten Art enthalten sind, sowie die Anfertigung und der Vertrieb von Ordensschnallen jeder Art, die ganz oder zum Teil Bänder der vorbezeichneten Orden und Ehrenzeichen enthalten. Wer Anfertigungen der genannten Art weiterhin von der Firma Schickle bezieht, macht sich strafbar."

"The State Minister and Chief of the Presidential Chancellery of the Führer has prohibited the firm of Otto Schickle, Pforzheim, Zerenner Strasse 35, with immediate effect, from the manufacture and trade in Orders and Medals which were founded after January 30, 1933, as well as the miniatures, and likewise the manufacture of the corresponding dies. Further forbidden by this firm are the manufacture and distribution of combination miniatures in which orders and decorations of the aforementioned type are included, as well as the production and distribution of medal bars of all types which contain the ribbons of the corresponding Orders and Medals in whole or in part. Whoever continues to receive further manufactured goods of the mentioned type from the firm of Schickle is committing a criminal offense."

Ouch...whether justified or not, with that somewhat ominous warning, it's hard to imagine any other company risking taking over any of Schickle's tooling. The leftover stock that passed muster in the subsequent LDO-supervised sale of Schickle's acceptable stock was probably the only stuff others could acquire safely.

Best regards,
---Norm

[Thomas Durante]

Great info Norm, thanks for the translation.

We can only wonder what went wrong with Schickle to make this happen. In looking at their IABs & PABs, the quality is very good. And obviously there was no problem with these badges if Prasidialkanzlei allowed the remaining stock to be sold by other firms. So I wonder if there was more of a political motivation behind Schickle's demise (i.e., were they Jewish?)

Tom

[troybyrom]

Norm, Tom,
Thanks for that insitefull info. Yes, it does cause us to wonder why they would have been stopped like this. I believe while it could have been politically motivated, had it involved an issue over race, would they have been allowed to sell off anything? Or would their property have been confiscated. This is a good topic for research.

Troy

[Norm F]

Great info Norm, thanks for the translation.

We can only wonder what went wrong with Schickle to make this happen. In looking at their IABs & PABs, the quality is very good. And obviously there was no problem with these badges if Prasidialkanzlei allowed the remaining stock to be sold by other firms. So I wonder if there was more of a political motivation behind Schickle's demise (i.e., were they Jewish?)

Tom

Hi Tom,

If I'm not mistaken, the Jewish theory was already explored and abandoned for both Schickle and for Walter Lehder of P&L although I don't know the particulars. But obviously you didn't have to be Jewish to run afoul of politics during the 3rd Reich.

As for quality, I agree, the Schickle products of KM badges are first rate. Maybe the higher orders were the issue, like zinc core EKs, one-piece EKs and non-regulation miniature combinations? Perhaps they were made a scapegoat as a severe warning to other makers, at a time when the recenly-formed LDO was flexing its muscles to enforce its mandate, but the reaction certainly seems over-punitive. Obviously by war's end nobody cared that much about quality of war badges, condidering the relative junk that was coming out of Lüdenscheid and the lousy quality of flatbacks (if they were wartime).

Best regards,
---Norm