Brunswick Rally Badge, also known as the Badge of the SA Rally at Brunswick 1931 (''Das Abzeichen vom SA - Treffen in Braunschweig 1931''), was the third badge recognised as a national award of the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

(NSDAP). Through the regulations of 6 November 1936, a special Party Honour Badge commemorating the SA Assembly in Braunschweig on 17-18 October 1931 was created.

The rally

The event itself was a joint rally of ''

Sturmabteilung The (; SA; literally "Storm Detachment") was the original paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party. It played a significant role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s. Its primary purposes were providing protection for Nazi ral ...

'' (SA) and ''

Schutzstaffel The ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS; also stylized as ''ᛋᛋ'' with Armanen runes; ; "Protection Squadron") was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe d ...

'' (SS) men put on to show both strength in strife-weary Germany and loyalty to their leader,

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

. This was before Hitler came to national power as Chancellor of Germany in January, 1933. A total of 104,000 SA and SS men participated in a six hour march in review before Hitler and the first inspection of the SA Motor and NSKK (

National Socialist Motor Corps The National Socialist Motor Corps (german: Nationalsozialistisches Kraftfahrkorps, NSKK) was a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) that officially existed from May 1931 to 1945. The group was a successor organisation to the old ...

) units. The (''

Braunschweig Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( , from Low German ''Brunswiek'' , Braunschweig dialect: ''Bronswiek'') is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the Nor ...

'') Brunswick rally was hosted by SA-''Gruppe Nord'' under the leadership of then SA-''

Gruppenführer __NOTOC__ ''Gruppenführer'' (, ) was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP), first created in 1925 as a senior rank of the SA. Since then, the term ''Gruppenführer'' is also used for leaders of groups/teams of the police, fire de ...

Viktor Lutze Viktor Lutze (28 December 1890 – 2 May 1943) was a German Nazi Party functionary and the commander of the ''Sturmabteilung'' ("SA") who succeeded Ernst Röhm as ''Stabschef'' and '' Reichsleiter''. He died from injuries received in a car ...

. At the rally, the SA assured Hitler of their loyalty and Hitler in turn increased the size of the SA with the creation of 24 new ''Standarten'' (regiment-sized formations). Several years later in 1934, Hitler rewarded Lutze's loyalty by appointing him the commander of the SA succeeding

Ernst Röhm Ernst Julius Günther Röhm (; 28 November 1887 – 1 July 1934) was a German military officer and an early member of the Nazi Party. As one of the members of its predecessor, the German Workers' Party, he was a close friend and early ally ...

as ''

Stabschef ''Stabschef'' (, "Chief of Staff") was an office and paramilitary rank in the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA), the paramilitary stormtroopers associated with the Nazi Party. It was a rank and position held by the operating chief of the SA. The rank is e ...

'', after Röhm was murdered during the

Night of the Long Knives The Night of the Long Knives (German: ), or the Röhm purge (German: ''Röhm-Putsch''), also called Operation Hummingbird (German: ''Unternehmen Kolibri''), was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany from 30 June to 2 July 1934. Chancellor Ad ...

The badge

The badge was to commemorate the event that took place, and to honour the participants of the mass rally. To be able to obtain by purchase and wear the badge, the Party member had to have officially attended the rally. The badge could only be worn on the left breast side of a uniform. It was made in two types; Pattern 1: measured 37mm wide by 50mm high; it had the Party eagle at the top and an oak leaf wreath around the outside rim. At the bottom of the oak leaf wreath was a bow. Inside the wreath was inscribed, ''SA-Treffen Braunschweig 17./18. Oktober 1931''. The second pattern measured 37mm wide by 52mm high but otherwise had the same basic design as the first pattern. Some early badges were stamped out of tin and were silver in colour. Later ones were stamped with a solid back and were grey in colour. The permission to wear the badge had to be confirmed by the Senior SA Party leader or above. The wearing of the badge could be revoked by SA-''

'' Lutze or his successors. In November 1936, Hitler gave new "orders" for the "Orders and Awards" of the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. The top NSDAP awards were listed in this order: 1.

Coburg Badge The Coburg Badge (''Das Coburger Abzeichen'') was the first badge recognised as a national award of the Nazi Party (NSDAP). History On 14 October 1922 Adolf Hitler led 800 members of the SA from Munich and other Bavarian cities by train to Cobur ...

; 2. Nuremberg (Nürnberg) Party Badge of 1929; 3. SA Rally Badge at Brunswick 1931; 4.

Golden Party Badge __NOTOC__ The Golden Party Badge (german: Goldenes Parteiabzeichen) was an award authorised by Adolf Hitler in a decree in October 1933. It was a special award given to all Nazi Party members who had, as of 9 November 1933, registered numbers fr ...

; 5.

Blood Order The Blood Order (german: Blutorden), officially known as the "Decoration in Memory (of the Munich putsch) of 9 November 1923" (), was one of the most prestigious decorations in the Nazi Party (NSDAP). During March 1934, Hitler authorized the Bl ...

(''Blutorden''); followed by the ''

Gau (territory) ''Gau'' (German , nl, gouw , fy, gea or ''goa'' ) is a Germanic term for a region within a country, often a former or current province. It was used in the Middle Ages, when it can be seen as roughly corresponding to an English shire. The ad ...

'' badges and the Golden Hitler Youth Badge.Dombrowski, Hanns (1940), ''Orders, Ehrenzeichen und Titel''.

Notes

References

* * *{{cite book , last = Herzstein , first = Robert Edwin , editor-link = Time-Life , title = The Nazis , publisher = Time-Life Books, Inc , year = 2004 , orig-year = 1980 , isbn = 978-1844471935 Orders, decorations, and medals of Nazi Germany