Golden Party Badge from start to finish...

[TxGauleiter]

how about a brief history of the GPB from start to finish...

it was only awarded to the first 100k Party members who had continuous membership from the beginning, correct? or was it from 1925?..And there werent 100k of them as I understand..

Did the Party contact you and offer it?
Did you have to contact the Party?
Was the GPB a gift from the Party?
Was it to be purchased, and if so for how much, and how much more did the GPB cost than the regular enameled NSDAP badge?
could you walk into a local RZM outlet and buy one?
if it was special ordered, how long did it take from time of order to time
of delivery?
Was the distribution handled at the Gau, Kreis or Orts level?

What I am looking for is the process from start to finish of the ownership of the award...

thanks

[sjl]

The Golden Party Badge of the NSDAP was authorized by a Hitler decree of October 13, 1933 to honor those Party Members who, as of November 9, 1933, had a registered membership number under 100,000 - provided their party membership had been active and uninterrupted since the NSDAP's re-founding on February 17, 1925.

On November 9, 1933 the Treasury Department of the NSDAP certified only 22,282 of the first 100,000 NSDAP members were still eligible for the badge. This included 1,795 women. I believe they were contacted and informed by the NSDAP Treasury - Gold Party Badge Office - about their eligibility for the award.

Many others contacted the same Treasury office to petition for reinstatement if they had a party membership number under 100,000, but had let it lapse. Some (not a large number) were granted reinstatement right up until 1944, giving them the right to the badge.

Awards were made through the Gau office, which sometimes filtered them down to the lower levels for delivery, and there were apparently both presentations and some were just mailed. There are letters showing both.

The Gold Party Badge was not available through RZM outlets, as it was not RZM controlled (although the office of the NSDAP Treasurer, F.X. Schwarz, controlled both). Replacement badges came directly from the Treasurer's office.

Cost of the badge (replacements or extras) is reported to be 2.5 RM (about $20 today). For an important badge, letters show they were constantly being lost and sometimes found on street car floors and in movie theatres. A plain party badge is listed in RZM price lists at about 1 RM.

[TxGauleiter]

Stephen,
many thanks for your comprehensive answer, as this was exactly the type of information I was looking for...

very interesting, your comments regarding the misplacement of these badges...

thanks again

[militaria.no]

Thank you for very interesting information regarding the GPB Stephen

[sjl]

I should also mention two things. Most Gold Party Badges were awarded in a single large lot right after the award was instituted, which is why they are very consistent in look. Also they were made by only two makers - Deschler only for the large badges, and Deschler and Fuess for the small.

There was also the un-numbered honour version, with "AH" and date on the back for special services to Party or state. Some people who did not get their old under 100,000 number reinstated later got the honour version instead. There were about 900 people awarded the un-numbered honour version in total.

Hope it helps.