Police Long Service Award Second Class (18 Yr Service)

[EvaB1945]

Hi everyone,

Can anyone tell me what this medal looked like and who were the recipients? I was under the impression that neither the Gestapo, Orpo, Kripo or Sipo had not been around in the Nazi Period for 18 years ( seeing as the Nazi period lasted only from when Hitler came to power in 1933? untill May 1945)

I'm aware that Heydrich was awarded this medal, but he wasn't even in the SS/Sicherheitsdienst long enough to warrant a 18 year medal.

Does anyone know anything about this medal at all and was it actually awarded for 18 years service or was it awarded for Long Service in excess of 12 years??

Thanks
Eva

[Tom Yanacek]

Can anyone tell me what this medal looked like and who were the recipients? I was under the impression that neither the Gestapo, Orpo, Kripo or Sipo had not been around in the Nazi Period for 18 years ( seeing as the Nazi period lasted only from when Hitler came to power in 1933? untill May 1945)

I'm aware that Heydrich was awarded this medal, but he wasn't even in the SS/Sicherheitsdienst long enough to warrant a 18 year medal.

Does anyone know anything about this medal at all and was it actually awarded for 18 years service or was it awarded for Long Service in excess of 12 years??

Hi Eva,

The Police Long Service Decorations were instituted in January of 1938. There was an 8-Year Medal, 18-Year Cross, and 25-Year Cross. In order to qualify for the award, the recipient had to be an active member of the police force or an administrator in the service of the police, and to have served loyally for the prescribed number of years. But retroactive credit was given for years of service in the police prior to the date of institution. In addition, service years in the military were also counted towards years of police service. For example, a guy serves in WW1 from 1914 to 1918, then becomes a policeman and serves loyally from 1918 to 1938. He has 20 years service credit as a policeman plus 4 years military service credit, for a total of 24 years service. When the Police Long Service Decorations are instituted in January of 1938, he immediately rates the Police 18-Year Long Service Cross and is just one year short of receiving the 25-Year Long Service Cross. If he stays in the police and serves loyally he would get his 25-Year Long Service Cross the following year. Because of retroactive credit for years of service, thousands immediately rated these decorations on the January 30, 1938 date of institution.

Here is what the Police 18-Year Long Service Cross looks like:

Best regards,
Tom

[Tom Yanacek]

A closer look at the cross:

[EvaB1945]

Hi Tom!

Thanks for your posts. So previous military/navy/luftwaffe experience counted for this award then? Thanks for showing me the medals they look super spiffy!

Hi Eva,

The Police Long Service Decorations were instituted in January of 1938. There was an 8-Year Medal, 18-Year Cross, and 25-Year Cross. In order to qualify for the award, the recipient had to be an active member of the police force or an administrator in the service of the police, and to have served loyally for the prescribed number of years. But retroactive credit was given for years of service in the police prior to the date of institution. In addition, service years in the military were also counted towards years of police service. For example, a guy serves in WW1 from 1914 to 1918, then becomes a policeman and serves loyally from 1918 to 1938. He has 20 years service credit as a policeman plus 4 years military service credit, for a total of 24 years service. When the Police Long Service Decorations are instituted in January of 1938, he immediately rates the Police 18-Year Long Service Cross and is just one year short of receiving the 25-Year Long Service Cross. If he stays in the police and serves loyally he would get his 25-Year Long Service Cross the following year. Because of retroactive credit for years of service, thousands immediately rated these decorations on the January 30, 1938 date of institution.

Here is what the Police 18-Year Long Service Cross looks like:

Best regards,
Tom

A closer look at the cross:

[Tom Yanacek]

So previous military/navy/luftwaffe experience counted for this award then?

Hi Eva,

Yes! That would be correct.

And, just in case you're interested, here is what the Police 8-Year Medal looks like:

Best regards,
Tom

Police 8-Year Medal (front and reverse):

[Tom Yanacek]

Here is a Police 8-Year Medal in its box:

[Tom Yanacek]

And here is the Police 25-Year Long Service Cross with its case:

The cross is identical to the Police 18-Year, except that it is finished in gold rather than silver. The ribbon for the Police 25-Year has an embroidered police insignia in golden yellow thread whereas the Police 18-Year has a ribbon with a silvery-gray embroidered insignia. The Police 8-Year Medal has just a plain blue ribbon.

[EvaB1945]

Thanks Tom!

Pretty impressive medals! Did anyone actually receive a 25 year badge? Would be interesting!

Thanks again for all your help, I'll pm you with some more medal questions that are unrelated to this if you don't mind?

Eva

[Tom Yanacek]

Pretty impressive medals! Did anyone actually receive a 25 year badge?

Yes!!!!! Thousands upon thousands were awarded a Police 25-Year Long Service Cross. Countless numbers of policemen were veterans of the First World War and then served in the police during the entire period between WW1 and WW2 and beyond. As I mentioned in a previous posting, many qualified for the decoration immediately upon its institution in 1938.

Best regards,
Tom

[Tom Yanacek]

Here are some original medal bars with a Police 25-Year Long Service Cross. All three of the following examples are medal bars to German policemen that were WW1 veterans and then served in the police during Weimar and the Third Reich. They were probably awarded their 25-Year Long Service Cross sometime in 1939. Also take notice that only a single Police Long Service Decoration is worn on the medal bar. This is because the regulations stipulated that only one Police Long Service Decoration could be worn on the medal bar i.e., the highest one that the individual had earned.

Best regards,
Tom

Example #1:

[Tom Yanacek]

Example #2:

[Tom Yanacek]

Example #3:

[tranchant]

police medals

hello
and some of mine!
best regards
patrick

[EvaB1945]

Hello all!

Thanks for showing me all your medals! It is amazing the worksmanship on them!

Cheers
Eva