Hi all,
I know there aren't many collecting these, but I thought some might be interested in the solution to a riddle that's been bothering me for a long time. The buckle depicted is not for a municipal etc. fire brigade, but for the company brigade of the BASF, the Badische Anilin- und Sodafabrik AG headquartered in Ludwigshafen am Rhein. The company was founded in 1865 and is still going strong today, being the world's largest chemicals group. The logo shown on the buckle was adopted in 1873. It shows on its right the Bavarian lion resting on the arms of Ludwigshafen, an anchor. At the time, Ludwigshafen formed part of the kingdom of Bavaria. On its right is the rearing horse device of the city of Stuttgart, commemorating a merger with the two Stuttgart firms of Rudolf Knosp and Heinrich Siegle. This logo was used until 1922, when it was replaced with a simple one consisting of the four letters BASF. For decorative purposes, it was reintroduced for use alongside the letters logo in 1952 and employed as such until 1967, when it finally become totally obsolescent.
Thus we have the possible dates for the buckle, 1952 to 1967. As a leading chemicals group, the BASF always had a large and well-equipped company fire-fighting force with model character for other Werksfeuerwehren.
Regards,
Karl
I know there aren't many collecting these, but I thought some might be interested in the solution to a riddle that's been bothering me for a long time. The buckle depicted is not for a municipal etc. fire brigade, but for the company brigade of the BASF, the Badische Anilin- und Sodafabrik AG headquartered in Ludwigshafen am Rhein. The company was founded in 1865 and is still going strong today, being the world's largest chemicals group. The logo shown on the buckle was adopted in 1873. It shows on its right the Bavarian lion resting on the arms of Ludwigshafen, an anchor. At the time, Ludwigshafen formed part of the kingdom of Bavaria. On its right is the rearing horse device of the city of Stuttgart, commemorating a merger with the two Stuttgart firms of Rudolf Knosp and Heinrich Siegle. This logo was used until 1922, when it was replaced with a simple one consisting of the four letters BASF. For decorative purposes, it was reintroduced for use alongside the letters logo in 1952 and employed as such until 1967, when it finally become totally obsolescent.
Thus we have the possible dates for the buckle, 1952 to 1967. As a leading chemicals group, the BASF always had a large and well-equipped company fire-fighting force with model character for other Werksfeuerwehren.
Regards,
Karl
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