Enamel 1923 Gau Honor Badge

Product Description: The Enamel 1923 Gau Honor Badge is a rare and desirable early political ward that is missing from most collections. This one is a choice piece, pristine, with perfect original enamel. This badge features a bold and striking large black enamel swastika, which has been riveted to a nicely detailed silver oak leaves wreath. The year “1923” is present in the center of the swastika. The enamel is flawless, and the metalwork shows virtually no wear, with very attractive dark toning to the silver. The reverse of this Enamel 1923 Gau Honor Badge is nicely marked, with the maker name “R. Wachtler & Lange, Mittweida” and the silver content stamp “800.” The hardware setup on this one is functional and has never been repaired. It’s an entirely textbook example, with a soldered hinge and catch and a distinctive, doubled round wire pin. The rivets used to affix the swastika to the wreath are also typical and untouched. The condition of this badge rates as near mint, making it extremely hard to upgrade.

Historical Description: The Nazi Party was organized geographically into districts. Below the national “Reich” level were the “Gau” districts, there were the Nazi era administrative equivalent of traditional German states. The leadership of each Gau was authorized to award special badges to recognize a variety of achievements in the political realm. The exact requirements for each award were determined by the leader of each Gau, and could range from outstanding service to the local political organization, to long service to the Party or participation in important historic events during the Party’s time of struggle before 1933. Some Gau badges were issued in several grades to recognize different levels of experience or achievement. These badges were worn on military and civilian uniforms and were a mark of honor for the Nazi political elite. Twelve different Gau Honor Badges were designed for the 33 (later 43) Gau districts of Nazi Germany. They were carefully designed with impressive designs to denote the high levels of achievement for which they were awarded, and the quality of these badges is generally extremely high. These were awarded in limited numbers, and as a result, none of the Gau Honor Badge types are commonly encountered today.

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