GPB low number

[der-hase-fee]

Badge was last shown here on WAF in 2007.

Join date was April 2nd, 1925.

[slados28]

Numbers were not generally recycled, although some applied later to have their old numbers reinstated after leaving in order to qualify for the GPB.
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Ahh... I did not know that. So, were these the only known instances where a member received a lower number for the GPB while initially having a significantly higher number? Or were there cases where lower numbers were awarded to notable/connected people (already qualified for the GPB, only with a high number) simply due to the relative prestige that went with having an early number? Hope that made sense ---

[AVRORA]

Thanks friends, exhaustive information !

[Seigfried]

Badge was last shown here on WAF in 2007.

Join date was April 2nd, 1925.

Well spotted. It has also had the reverse soldering 'cleaned up' from what I can see. Good score . It's lineage from 2007 would be interesting along with the inevitable price hikes.

[Br. James]

If there was a solid "process for assigning NSDAP Membership Numbers as of the re-founding of the Party in late February of 1925," it has never come to light. There is a sense of the ad hoc 'seat-of-the-pants' nature of those times, as Hitler had just gotten out of prison and the leadership of the old organization was in scattered disarray. Certainly one can understand how the very earliest membership numbers were assigned, just by looking at the list:
1 - Hitler
2 - Esser
3 - Amann
4 - uncertain
5 - Dinter
6- Schwarz
7 - uncertain
8 - Graf
9 - Strasser (Gregor)
10 - Frick
11 - Feder
12 - Bouhler
Here we see some of the foundational names as regards NSDAP political theory and administration. But as has already been said, it appears that everyone except Hitler himself who wanted to belong to the renewed Party had to re-apply for membership, and the names above were close at hand, residing in Munich, as Hitler was at that time.

While NSDAP membership records are incomplete, I scanned my list to try and see what might show up among the earliest dates of joining the Party. What I found seems to agree with my statement of the ad hoc nature of assigning these earliest numbers and dates:
#180 joined on March 24, 1925
#332 joined on March 1, 1925
#453 joined on April 2, 1925
#502 joined on April 1, 1925
#524 and 525, a husband and wife, joined on April 1, 1925

As the system of assigning numbers to new applications progressed, one gets the sense that groups of numbers were assigned on the same date, and it appears that origin location also played a part in assigning numbers.

In response to the question of whether certain political or social luminaries received special consideration when joining the NSDAP, Price August Wilhelm von Hohenzollern comes immediately to my mind. Prince 'Auwi,' as he was referred to personally, was the fourth son of the last German Kaiser, a long-time supporter of right-wing political movements (especially Der Stahlhelm, which he resigned in mid-1931 when he joined the NSDAP), and who became an SA-Gruppenführer and a high-profile public speaker on behalf of the Party. Some authors state that "the Brown Prince," as he was also known, received #24 when he joined the Party in 1931, while in his autobiography, Putzi Hanfstaengl states that he and Prince August Wilhelm joined the NSDAP at the same time and the Prince received #68 and Putzi was assigned #69 -- and again, this was in August of 1931, over two years after NSDAP Membership Number 100,000 had already been assigned! Clearly, regardless of which number the Prince received, and Putzi as well, they both were given very special consideration by the NSDAP Treasurer's Office!

Sorry for the long response, but such questions are not easy to quickly reply to!

Cheers,

Br. James

[Military]

Very informative thread. Thank for sharing, gentlemen.

Mil

[Kyle Harrington]

What is new?

It is/has/will be who you know in life irrespective of timeline.

[slados28]

A great informative post on what is known about this process and its quirks, James --- thank you very much! I have learned a lot in this thread so far... very interesting.

[sjl]

On November 9, 1933 the Treasury Department of the NSDAP certified only 22,282 of the first 100,000 NSDAP members eligible for the badge. The rest had left the party or did not have an "active and uninterrupted" party membership since the NSDAP's re-founding on February 17, 1925.

Some applied to have their old numbers reinstated so they could get the GPB and join the "elite". They had to explain their leaving the Party and it helped to have a powerful sponsor. Göring is known to have written some reference letters in support of some applicants as well as other Gauleiters and high ranking Nazis.

In the end, it is unknown how many GPBs were issued in addition to the first 22,282, but it wasn't likely to be many. Some people were awarded the unnumbered "Honour GPB", which Patzwall shows only 902 awards.

Here is an Honour version that is custom stamped with the recipient's actual party membership number - in the 3,000,000 range!

[colin davie]

#4 is Heinrich Hoffman (mentioned in his book "Hitler was my Friend")
C

[Br. James]

Thanks, Colin. Would you kindly tell me the page reference for that citation in Hoffmann's book? I have the book and have read it, but didn't notice that statement.

I have Heinrich Hoffmann on my list as holding NSDAP Membership Number 59, as cited by two other collectors. Always interested in obtaining more details!

Thanks,

Br. James

[Br. James]

Many thanks for refreshing our memories of that GPB with the huge number, Stephen! There are a few other members listed as GPB Trägers in the Gau Thüringen list, but their numbers were only in the 100,000 to 200,000 number series. But unlike the number you provided pix of in the 5 million series, those people don't seem to be recipients of the Honorary GPB...so there is no known reason for the Thüringen cases to exist.

One wonders how the Alfred Fuchs badge was ordered, since the standard inscription of Honorary GPBs was the date of award approval and a facsimile of Hitler's signature? I suppose Herr Fuchs could have persuaded his Austrian Gauleiter to ask FX Schwarz to order his badge(s?) from Deschler and Sons with his original NSDAP Membership Number on it/them...

Always something new and interesting!?

Br. James

[sjl]

These "over 100,000" number badges are in fact "AH Honor Badges" with a custom imprint of the holder's NSDAP number. The one shown in the 3.7 million range is for a Sudenten Nazi leader who was awarded the Honour GPB after the annexation. He joined the NSDAP in the 3.7 million range but was awarded the GPB for his contributions to the NSDAP. Instead of the date (as usual with honor GPBs) he chose to get a custom one with his actual membership number showing he joined the NSDAP in 1938. This is an extreme anomaly.

Similarly, it is almost certain that holders on the Thüringen and other Gau lists with NSDAP member numbers over 100,000 were actually awarded the dated honour version for their early party work. There was never an extension of the eligibility rules for the numbered badge beyond the first 100,000 members. Members over 100,000 could only be given the dated honor version. A handful of members who were originally under the 100,000 cut off but left were given their old numbers back in special circumstances.

[colin davie]

Br.James, I'll see if I can find it again in the morning, will have to find the book though, I have all of mine boxed at the moment, but I do remember he said that re. Party #4 I'm sure. I think it was in a statement he made to the Allied authorities.
C

[Br. James]

Many thanks, Colin. I look forward to finding this citation in the Hoffmann autobiography.

Cheers,

Br. James