Oak cluster lapel pin with Reichsadler for a Nazi Party meeting

Object | Accession Number: 2005.367.39

Overview

Brief Narrative: Commemorative pin from a 1934 local meeting of the Nazi Party in the German city of Gera, in the district of Thüringen. The design features the Parteiadler (Party’s Eagle) and a shield, with a striped lion holding up a swastika. The Parteiadler, an eagle looking over its left shoulder and holding a wreath with a swastika in its talons, is similar to the Hoheitsabzeichen (National Emblem) of Nazi Germany, which features the eagle looking over its right shoulder. Both of these are variations of the Reichsadler (Imperial Eagle), which has been used as a symbol for German nationhood as far back as the Holy Roman Empire, although the term is often associated with the Nazi regime. The lion shield is drawn from the 13th-century coat of arms for Thürgingen, which was redesigned with the swastika after the Nazi party took control of Germany in 1933. The emblem and coat of arms are overlaid on a trio of oak leaves, an important symbol in Nazi iconography for the connection between German people and the land.
Date: commemoration: 1934
Geography: issue: Gera (Germany)
Credit Line: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of the University of Mary Washington Galleries
Markings: front, top, embossed: gau- /tag / gera/ 1934 [district event, Gera, 1934]
front, left, embossed: Es lebe das ewige [Long live the eternal]
front, right, embossed: deutschland! [Germany]

Physical Details

Language: German
Classification: Identifying Artifacts
Category: Badges
Object Type: Lapel pins (aat)
Genre/Form: Brooches.
Physical Description: Dark, silver-colored metal pin in the shape of three oak leaves with two acorns at the bottom. The embossed design at center has an eagle holding in its talons a wreath with a swastika in its center. At the bottom is a shield with a rampant lion with a small swastika next to it's head. There is embossed German text at the top, left and right. The back has a pin clasp attached by solder.
Dimensions: overall: Height: 1.625 inches (4.128 cm) | Width: 1.875 inches (4.763 cm) | Depth: 0.250 inches (0.635 cm)
Materials: overall : metal

Rights & Restrictions

Conditions on Access: No restrictions on access
Conditions on Use: No restrictions on use

Keywords & Subjects

Topical Term: Germany--History--1933-1945. Germany--Politics and government--1933-1945. Germany--Social life and customs--20th century. National socialism--Germany--Thuringia. Nazi propaganda--Germany.
Geographic Name: Gera (Germany)
Corporate Name: Nazi Party

Administrative Notes

Legal Status: Permanent Collection
Provenance: The pin was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2005 by the University of Mary Washington Galleries.

Record last modified:: 2024-10-03 11:36:22
This page:: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn517420

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