Nordrhein-Westfalen buckle

[Ron C.]

I assume this buckle is from Nordrhein-Westfalen. Is it Feuerwehr, or something else?

Thanks,
Ron

[Guido L.]

Hi Ron,

a nice and uncommon variant!

I think, these buckles are early post war police buckles!

Nordrhein-Westfalen is possible, because of the similarity of the horses.
I have attached the emblem of Nordrhein-Westfalen for comparison.

The second pic shows a buckle that is believed to be from Niedersachsen/ Braunschweig. It is the more common variant.

Best Regards,
Guido

[Guido L.]

police buckle

[Kurt Doench]

Ron,

Your buckle has the emblem of the Prussian province of Westphalia (Westphalen). In 1945, the Allies abolished the state of Prussia as it was regarded as the seat of German nationalism and militarism. In 1946, the former Prussian provinces of Westphalia and the Rhine (Rheinprovinz), as well as one of the Lippe states, were grouped toghether in the new state (Bundesland) of Northrhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen). The coat of arms shows, at the left, the emblem of the Rhine province, at the right the emblem of Westphalia and in the centre the Lippe rose. The buckles with provincial emblems and Gott mit uns are generally held to be for police forces in the British zone of occupation (which covered all of NRW), but some doubst persist (so many different buckles just for a very short time).

By the way, Guido's buckle is for Brunswick (Braunschweig), an independent state also in the British zone and incorporated into the Bundesland of Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen) in 1946. It is very similar to the Niedersachsen emblem, except that there is some ground underneath the horse and the Niedersachsen horse is prancing, whereas the Braunschweig one is running.

Best regards,
Karl

[Guido L.]

Hi Karl

Thanks for your informations, I appreciate it.

Just to show the left side of the coat of arms: A buckle with the emblem of the Rhine province.

The construction is totally different. It is a steel buckle with a kind of copper coating and silver paint. I'm quite sure, that the maker is C.T.Dicke.

Best regards,

Guido

[Guido L.]

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