DRL golden sports badge - old or new?

[Frank Heukemes]

I wonder if this Golden DRL Sports Badge is genuine 30ies or maybe a 1957 version ( I do not know if a 1957 version exists at all). What makes me wonder is the missing maker´s name on the reverse. I have never seen these badges without it, mostly Wernstein, Jena. Does anybody know if these also existed without makers name, as my mint badge shown here?

Cheers, Frank

[img]http://communities.msn.com/_Secure/0NgAAABAUOCvKlK!XGRDs5*ANfp9F*4kY7ck1F*IYvy7oOjDlI OU5!uWqhUfdxOk4vMDhmxadmoH8QikhTgdk0g/sportgoldvs.jpg[/img]

[Rick Research]

I have seen these unmarked badges, normally without the insides of the cyphers cut out, only the parts between the wreath and letters.

Always assumed since these were awarded during the peak of Nazi "fitness" mania and the '36 Olympics that these were simply a lesser maker's rush jobs, wearing duplicates at less cost than ones with the hand finishing required to pierce them.

[Frank Heukemes]

Thanks Rick, I just want to make sure it is not a 1957 version of the one with swastika. I guess not, because a lot of former "with swastikas" can be found in "denazified" state. Do you or anyone else know if there actually IS a 1957 version?

Cheers, Frank

[Stijn David]

Hello Frank,


I have such a badge in silver, but as rick stated with the letters not cut out => i have it from a KC ( 1957 ) estate .

THis badge is quite crude made and therefore i pressumed it to be a 1957 wearing form .

If i can i wil try to post pictures this weekend.

Sincerely Yours,

[Frank Heukemes]

Hi Stijn,

Yes, a picture would be helpful. Mine is not crudely done, it matches the quality of other DRLs I have (all of them with swastika).

Cheers, Frank

[Rick Research]

Bringing this back up front in light of related Sports Badge activity.

Note the eloxiert (? correct term) finish on Frank's badge.

Golds are always this soft sort of gold finish, never gleaming polished--those are buffed bronzes flying under false colors.

Approximately 7,000 gold DRLs without swastikas were issued.

[Hugh W. Brock]

"Eloxiert" is anodized, an electrolytic process used only in preparing aluminum for finishing (coloring). Satin finish seems to have been the preferred look, and can be accopmplished on brass (tombak) pieces by acid bath, bead blasting, or textured surface to dies. I have 7 DRL's, all are tombak, 3 different makers, bronze are uncolored, all the others have matte (non shiny)painted finish.
If the association exists today, it should not be "Reich" or imperial, i. e. not DRL. Post war pieces seem to have a shinier finish and the edges aren't hand finished. They just look different. Your badge looks okay but I don't know for sure one way or the other about postwar production (probable) or if your's is or isn't.

[Frank Heukemes]

Hi Hugh,

There is one thing that I find suspicious about my golden badge, apart from the missing maker:
If you look closely, you can see a metal tip protruding over the loop of the band that holds the wreath. That is visible on the obverse and reverse. Unfortunately, all my other sports badges are DRA or DRL with Swaz so I cannot compare and my reference books picture exactly the ones where a comparison makes no sense. The question is: Why should there be a tip of metal visible above the loop that is EXACTLY in the place where the swastika of the third model is if this is the second model? They didn´t know then where the swastika would be, right? If anybody please could post his DRL badge without swastika for comparison that would be great. Also, all your thoughts or comments are welcome.

Cheers, Frank

[stuart c]

Frank, did you ever find out if there was indeed a 1957 DRL produced,or why your badge has the metal tip above the wreath ?

[J Howland]

The pre-45 sports badges had to be requalified for periodically; unlike the EK, it did not become a permanent part of your uniform once you earned it. The post-war badge (gestiftet 1 April 1952) has the letters DSB (Deutsche Sport Bund), although it is most frequently worn as a ribbon bar with a metal device to indicate level. I assume that it, too, must be requalified for every year or so.

Pre-war swastika-less DRL badges were worn briefly by athletes in the post-war period as were badges with the swastika filed off. Some companies may actually have made copies of the no swastika DRL badge up until the DSB badges came into use.

Souval and a couple of other companies on both sides of the ocean heavily repro'd both types of DRL badges well into the 60's or 70's. IMHO, any DRL badge with no manufacturer's name and an almost (but not quite) anodized finish is a post war fake. Feel the inside of the monogram - if its not perfectly smooth to the touch, it's almost certainly bogus....

Jim