The Cities of Kriegsmarine Badge production

[Norm F]

This is a reference thread to provide a geographical perspective on the cities where Kriegsmarine badges were produced.

It can often be handy to see which makers were from each area since sometimes (but not always) you see similar badge designs and reverse setups used by makers in the same city.

As one can see from the Präsidialkanzlei des Führers Lieferantnummer (PKL) list and the Leistungsgemeinschaft deutscher Ordenshersteller (LDO) list, there were producers of military awards in over 30 cities and towns scattered across Germany and Austria.

Of these, only 9 centers are known so far with producers of Kriegsmarine war badges. This doesn’t mean there aren’t others - just that these are all we know at the moment. They can be seen labeled on the map as follows, along with some representative distances between them:

A. Berlin
B. Lüdenscheid
C. Frankfurt am Main
D. Idar-Oberstein an der Nahe
E. Pforzheim (and F. Unterreichenbach only 15 km away)
G. Schwäbisch-Gmund (possibly)
H. Gablonz and Grünwald (a suburb of Gablonz) - now in the Czech Republic
I. Dresden
J. Vienna, Austria

[Norm F]

If we arrange these 9 centers from largest to smallest by the number of producers of any badge type we get the following list. For this purpose, I counted producer groups (for example Hauptmünzamt Wien, or A.G.M.u.K, etc.) as one producer:

Gablonz and Grünwald - 25
Pforzheim and Unterreichenbach - 17
Vienna - 16
Idar-Oberstein - 14
Lüdenscheid - 13
Berlin - 9
Dresden - 4
Schwäbisch-Gmund - 2
Frankfurt -1

If we arrange the list from largest to smallest by the number of known Kriegsmarine producers to date we get the following:

1. Lüdenscheid - 7 of 13 producers
2. Gablonz and Grünwald - 5 of 25
3. Pforzheim and Unterreichenbach - 4 of 17
4. Berlin - 4 of 9
5. Vienna - 3 of 16
6. Idar-Oberstein - 2 of 14
7. Dresden - 1 of 4
8. Schwäbisch-Gmund - 1 of 2
9. Frankfurt - 1 of 1

[Norm F]

1. Lüdenscheid

LÜDENSCHEID: not bombed during the war

Producers of KM badges:
F.W. Assmann & Söhne
Wilhelm Deumer
Funcke & Brüninghaus
Hymmen & Co.
Friedrich Linden (FLL)
Steinhauer & Lück
Berg & Nolte possibly

Others on the LDO/PK lists:
Ad. Baumeister
Dr. Franke & Co.
Overhoff & Cie
Paulmann & Crone
Schauerte & Hohfeld
Wilhelm Schroder & Co.

[Norm F]

2. Gablonz and Grünwald

GABLONZ: not bombed during the war

Producers of KM badges:
Josef Feix & Söhne (JFS)
Rudolf A. Karneth & Sohn (presumed to be RK)
Adolf Scholze - in Grünwald a.d. Neisse, a suburb (or at least “AS in triangle” if that’s not Scholze!)
Richard Simm & Sohne (RSS, RS&S)
Arbeitsgemeinschaft Metall und Kunststoff (A.G.M.u.K.)

Others on the LDO/PK lists:
Rudolf Berge
Richard Feix
Eduard Gorlach & Söhne
Artur Jakel & Co.
Franz Klast & Söhne
R. Kreisel
Alfred Knobloch
Franz Manert
Gustav Miksch
Roman Palme
Emil Peukert
Julius Pletsch
Augustin Prager
Josef Rossler & Co.
Josef Rücker & Sohn
Aug. G. Tham
Rudolf Tham
Walter & Henlein
Heinrich Wander
Otto Zappe

[Norm F]

3. Pforzheim and Unterreichenbach

PFORZHEIM: bombed Apr 1, 1944 to Mar 23, 1945 – largest was Feb 23, 1945 destroying the entire old city, 83% of the entire town’s buildings and killing 30% of the population

Producers of KM badges:
Förster & Barth
B.H. Mayer
Otto Schickle (expelled from the LDO in 1941)
Petz & Lorenz (in Unterreichenbach) – no PK or LDO number known (expelled by the LDO in 1941)

Others on the LDO/PK lists:
Eugen Gauss
Moritz Hausch A.G.
Robert Hauschild
Karl Hensler
Katz & Deyhle
Gottl. Fr. Keck & Sohn
Fritz Kohm
Franz Lipp
Ernst L. Müller
Eugen Schmidthausser
Heinrich Vogt
C.F. Zimmermann
Liefergemeinschaft Schmuckhandwerker

[Norm F]

4. Berlin

BERLIN: 363 air bombing raids between 1940-1945

Producers of KM badges:
Boerger & Co. (Beco)
C.E. Juncker
Paul Meybauer
C. Schwerin & Sohn - no PK or LDO number known

Others on the LDO/PK lists:
Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Heeresbedarf in der Graveur- und Ziselierinnung
Gebrüder Godet & Co.
Hauptmünzamt Berlin
J. Wagner & Sohn
J.H. Werner

[Norm F]

5. Vienna

VIENNA: bombed in 1944-45

Producers of KM badges:
W. Hobacher (WH)
Friedrich Orth (f.o.)
Rudolf Souval (RS)

Others on the LDO/PK lists:
Hans Gnad
Grossmann & Co.
Karl Gschiermeister
Hauptmünzamt Wien
Franz Jungwirth
A.E. Kochert
August Menzs & Sohn
Franz Petzl
Argentor Werke Rust & Hetzel
Rudolf Schanes
Anton Schenkl's Nachf.
Brüder Schneider A.G.
Philipp Turks Ww.

[Norm F]

6. Idar-Oberstein an der Nahe

IDAR-OBERSTEIN an der NAHE: not bombed

KM badge producers:
Lind & Meyrer (presumed to be the stylized “L above M”)
Sohni, Heubach & Co (SHuCo)

Others on the LDO/PK lists:
Geb. Bender
Gottlieb & Wagner
Eduard Hahn
Rudolf Leukert
Freidrich Keller
Louis Keller
Klein & Quenzer
Carl Maurer Sohn
Julius Maurer
Julius Moser sen
Franz Reischauer
Ziemer & Söhne

[Norm F]

7. Dresden

DRESDEN: thoroughly bombed out in Feb 1945

KM badge producer:
Hermann Aurich

Others on the LDO/PK lists:
Glaser & Söhne
Kerbach & Oesterhelt
G.H. Osang

[Norm F]

8. Schwäbisch-Gmund

SCHWÄBISCH-GMUND: partially bombed (railway bridge and station) in late 1944

KM badge producer:
Alois Rettenmaier

Others on the LDO/PK lists:
Erhard & Söhne A.G.

[Norm F]

9. Frankfurt

FRANKFURT am MAIN (1 of 1): bombed 1944-45 (medieval city centre destroyed)

KM badge producer:
E. Ferdinand Wiedmann

[Jody]

List

Hi Norm,
Very interesting.

Regards,
Jody

[dc9]

Norm,

Nice job putting this together in a succinct, easy-to-follow manner; I particularly enjoyed the map. (Btw, I didn't see Bacqueville-en-Caux listed anywhere... )

Eric

[Jody]

(Btw, I didn't see Bacqueville-en-Caux listed anywhere... )

Eric

Hi Eric,
Could it be because of a recent S-boot article?

Regards,
Jody

[Norm F]

Good point Eric!

Here it is. The "outlier".

BTW, that's the first time I've heard "Bacqueville-en-Caux" as opposed to Bacqueville, Paris. There are several Bacquevilles in France, and I've never heard definitively which is the right one...anyone know? Jody is that in your S-boot article? (I'm embarrassed I haven't got a copy yet...)

Cheers.
---Norm