Thuringen Gau-Ehrenzeichen

[Matthew]

I've been bumping into this badge for probably few years now- always liked the piece since it retained most of its sparkly appearance- probably the most of any Gau Thuringen badges I've ever seen. On the other hand, the lettering of 'Thuringen' was the part that would give me a pause- looked much 'thinner' than what I am used to seeing on originals.

[Matthew]

Due to bit of a dry season in the Gau department, I decided to email the seller and ask for additional photos. Much to my delight, the piece turned out to be much better than previously pictured. Only thing left was to pull the trigger...

[Matthew]

Numbered 1393, awarded to a civil servant from Gera, sometime after December 31, 1940- I'm guessing sometime in 1941.

cheers

Matt

[Bob Hritz]

Very nice Matt. I am still looking for one in silver to keep the bronze example company,

Bob Hritz

[CM Alexander]

Congrats Matt...still one I need as well. Nice way to break your 'dry season'.

[Military]

Lovely Adddition Matt! The Gau arena is very tempting but a very expensive start to collect.

[Br. James]

Congrats on a fine addition to ANY collection...wish it was to MINE! Cheers, my friend,

Br. James

[Matthew]

Thanks guys for your kind words. I am still looking for the 0.800 marked model and would appreciate any leads if anyone knows of one available.

cheers

Matt

[Wim Vangossum]

Didden't know there where variations. Great award.


Regards, Wim

[ErichS]

Nice Matt. CG has a 0.800 cased example in the gallery section on his site.

[Matthew]

Thanks Wim.
It is essentially the same award, made by the same die. The 'first 1000' as awarded in 1933 appear to be a 'bare bones' silver with no secondary finish features. Subsequent awards- like this one- feature white frosting and polished highlights.
There is another variation of this badge, same features, same hardware but with different silver purity stamp (0.800 vs 800). It is also stamped on the swastika's verso rather than the bottom part of the badge.
If you believe in the bronze based, silver washed Gau Thuringen, that could also be classified as another type. I am still trying to wrap my head around that one.

cheers

Matt

[Matthew]

0800

Nice Matt. CG has a 0.800 cased example in the gallery section on his site.

Thanks for the info Erich. I grabbed a screen shot for reference.
I wonder if anyone ever got around to testing the content of those 0.800 pins and if so what the results were.

cheers

Matt

[Richard]

Nice catch and addition to your collection Matthew. I'm always grateful when you share pictures of your finds.
Richard V

[ErichS]

These pieces with the frosting and numbers over 1000 seem to be honorary awards rather than the earlier ones awarded to the earliest party members in the Gau. The Niemann catalog shows an award document dated 1942 for a badge numbered over 1000.

[Matthew]

You might find that the 1000 awards to the Oldest Warriors is a general designation rather than 'first 1k to the Alte Kampfers, the rest honorary'.

Here is a award document dated 1942 for a recipient that is not listed on the 1933 list, that names the first 1000 recipients. By 1942 the award numbers were in the 1400 range if not higher so that definitely takes him out of the equation to be one of the Alte Kampfers. But look at the text...