Orders, decorations, and medals of Nazi Germany

Awards and decorations of Nazi Germany were military, political, and civilian decorations that were bestowed between 1923 and 1945, first by the Nazi Party and later the state of Nazi Germany.

The first awards began in the 1920s, before the Nazis had come to national power in Germany, with the political decorations worn on Party uniforms, along with any awards they may have earned during the First World War or before.

After 1933, the state began issuing a variety of civilian decorations, which could be bestowed upon any citizen of Germany. Thus, some awards (such as Sports Badges) were bestowed on Nazi Party members, members of the German military, and regular civilians. Many standard awards of the German state, such as life-saving medals, were redesigned to incorporate the Nazi symbol, the swastika.

A number of military awards were established pre-war, including Wehrmacht long service decorations, followed by awards for participation in the Spanish Civil War and for the annexation of Austria and the Sudetenland, with the greatest number established after the start of World War II in 1939. Regulations of award also permitted the simultaneous wear of military, civilian, and political decorations on any military or paramilitary uniform of Nazi Germany.

Nazi awards and decorations were discontinued after the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, with display of the swastika banned. In 1957 the Federal Republic of Germany permitted qualifying veterans to wear many Nazi-era awards on the Bundeswehr uniform, including most World War II valor and campaign awards, provided the swastika symbol was removed. This led to the re-design of many awards with, for example, the swastika being replaced by a three-leafed oakleaf cluster on the Iron Cross and by the date 1939 on the War Merit Cross.

Orders and decorations

State orders

War decorations: pre-1939

War decorations: 1939–1945

These awards were bestowed by the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS between 1939 and 1945, during World War II.

Military service decorations

Military long service medals

Arm shields

Campaign cuff titles

Military and paramilitary badges

Army/Waffen-SS war badges

Naval war badges

Luftwaffe badges & other awards

The Luftwaffe maintained two non-portable awards, the "Honour Goblet of the Luftwaffe" (Ehrenpokal für besondere Leistung im Luftkrieg) and the "Luftwaffe Honour Plate" (Ehrenschale für hervorragende Kampfleistungen der Luftwaffe). Recipients of both awards automatically received the Luftwaffe Honour Roll Clasp in January 1944.

Foreign volunteer awards

Order of precedence

Within the Wehrmacht, wartime awards (German: Kriegsorden) took precedence over peacetime decorations.

See also

• Political decorations of the Nazi Party

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

• Angolia, John (1987). For Führer and Fatherland: Military Awards of the Third Reich. R. James Bender Publishing. ISBN 0912138149.
• Littlejohn, David; Dodkins, Colonel C. M. (1968). Orders, Decorations, Medals and Badges of the Third Reich. California: R. James Bender Publishing. ISBN 978-0854200801.
• Littlejohn, David (1994). Foreign Legions of the Third Reich. Volume 4. United States of America: R. James Bender Publishing. ISBN 0-912138-36-X.
• Lumsden, Robin (2001). Medals and Decorations of Hitler's Germany. England: Airlife. ISBN 1-84037-178-1.
• Previtera, Stephen Thomas (2007). The Iron Time: A History of the Iron Cross. Second edition. Winidore Press. Richmond VA. ISBN 978-0967307039.
• Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger: 1939-1945 (in German). Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag, Jena, Germany. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.

External links

• WW2 German Medals and Awards Guide