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"Not easy to find pictures of him wearing the large GPB."
Thanks for providing the portrait photo of Brückner in his Army officer's uniform. As he was extremely visible in close company with Hitler and a highly-placed SA official in the Reichschancellery and at the Berghof, it was quite an embarrassment for him to be ostracized from Hitler's Inner Circle, which must have made his return to military life most awkward for him. And in addition to all that, the exposure of his infidelity must have created havoc with his marriage and his family!
This portrait shows Brückner wearing both the GPB and the Blood Order. He knew what prestige each of those awards wielded in military as well as civil circles, and he continued to wear them because of that reason. He was very lucky that Hitler did not remove him from either the Party or from the roles of "The Order of 8/9 November" when he was dismissed as Senior Adjutant to the Führer!
Br. JamesComment
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"...I wonder if Bruckner had the ‘AH’ removed after his dismissal from the ‘inner circle’ in 1940 - and had Godet create the new fastening at the same time."
A good question, Chris...one which we will probably never know for certain.
Br. JamesComment
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I don't see any evidence that the small badge ever had any other markings originally. My guess is it was a special order replacement / 2nd copy badge (probably not the presentation badge, which would have normal markings) with a completely blank back for Godet to work on.
He probably got one like this (except 1938 - most were awarded on Jan. 30th of the year), then ran out to get a "special" one using his inner circle connections.Comment
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Yes, that's a good point.Originally posted by Kehlsteinhaus View Post
Based on this thread and everything I can find online, I am wondering if...
1. Brückner is awarded the AH Gold party honor badge in January 1938.
2. He either loses it or, more likely, immediately orders an unmarked duplicate to wear day-to-day.
3. Brückner then sends this new unmarked badge to Godet's in Berlin, who fix a button fastening onto the back and engrave his name and the date of the award. From what I gather, the Godet box it comes in features their 'early' logo, before they changed to 'Gebruder Godet & Co' later on, as per his medal bar they made for him.
4. He then wears this 'workaday' one, while his 'official' one either remains lost or locked away.
Looking at the photo below, the badge appears to fit very tightly to his lapel, as if held in place by the button back we see on this badge. It doesn't seem to hang like a regular pin back would – but maybe others view it differently.
ChrisComment
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Brückner's original honor badge could well be in someone's collection. The problem with the honor version is that they are just dated, and the vast majority were awarded on Jan 30th of each year (1935 to 1944, although later badges were mostly 'special occasion' badges for a specific achievement and unique date). The bulk of the badges seem to have been awarded either in 1938 or 1939. After that, the awards tapered off.
Unless it is a special date badge when you can figure out who the recipient was, the dated "30.1.3X" badges are untraceable when they are separated from a grouping. So even though there were only 902 awards of the "AH" honor GPBs - which makes them 22X rarer than numbered GPBs - the fact that they become untraceable keeps their price lower than its rarity says they should be.
So Brückner's "30.1.38" badge may be out there loose in some collection, but impossible to trace back to him.Comment
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It is a great photo, but looking at the cut of his suit, i wonder if indeed a button hole was really there. Notice how close to the edge of the lapel the badge is located, as well as the cut of the suit.Originally posted by CPB View Post
Perhaps some answers to the questions you posed would be found in national archives party correspondence records. Often member requests for replacement badges are found in these files.Comment
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Replacement GPBs of either origin -- numbered or AH Honorary -- had to be ordered through the FX Schwarz office in Munich, so how Brückner would have secured a blank version of the small GPB could only reside in personal contacts and his position in Hitler's Inner Circle.
Br. JamesComment
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Originally posted by JoeW View Post
Well observed, Joe, I was about to post the same concern.Comment
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Originally posted by sjl View Post
1943 was a busy year, accounting for over a third of the Ehrenhalber total.Comment
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1943 and 1939 seem to be the biggest years for honor badge awards according to Patzwall.Comment
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Personally never been a fan of the AH honour badges- absolutely no way of attributing them to a specific individual, regardless of story and fable passed on with a badge. The badge in question, well it a huge leap in faith isn’t it? Was it wartime engraved, or has a blank been sexed up to double the value at some point?
I am on the side that thinks it was wartime engraved, but would always have a small nagging doubt in my mind, and that’s why I personally would not buy it. It’s the same with a lot of the SS daggers with stamped numbers, you can think they are period stamped, but you never just know for sure do you.
Different with the standard textbook numbered GPB, you know for 100% the number, and the owner if you get an archive match.
It’s a lot of money to lay down on a hunch or a feeling.Comment
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