Degussa calendar medals.

[Saladin]

Hello All,
Well after posting an enamelled DEGUSSA workers badge in the Non Combat Forum here:
DeGuSSA Factory Badge TR Period?

I thought I would show these two Calendar medals that I have added to my collection.
They are made from zinc and have the Sunday dates for the year it was given/issued for.
1942 and 1943 are the only ‘war years’ medals that I have come across.





They appear to have been distributed by several different firms operating in the TR.
This one is distributed by the LURGI Company, one of DEGUSSA's wartime partners.






It should be noted that DEGUSSA continued with the practice until at least the early 1950s.






Anybody interested in the operations of the DEGUSSA gold smelting factory just needs to type it in to Google to see how the firm came to prominence.

All the best
Doug

[harryamb2]

nice unusual items.

[SteveR]

Thanks for showing. I never new that these types of awards existed.

[Saladin]

Thanks for your input both.
I assume items like these don't generate much interest. These Calendar medals are produced by the Austrian mint. There are a whole series of them with various themes.
Here is a link if you want to see more:
Austrian Custom Calendar Medals


My interest was stoked when reading From Cooperation to Complicity: Degussa in the Third Reich.
It seems that Degussa became sole owners of the firm Degesch. (An acronym for Deutsche Gesellschaft für Schädlingsbekämpfung mbH) in 1922 and were responsible for developing ZyklonB.
The firm sold large quantities of the stuff to the SS in 1942 to 1944.

It is interesting to note that I have not come across a calendar medal dated 1944.
I wonder if the directors realised the way the war was heading.


All the best
Doug

[Wagriff]

I like them! I could easily envision hunting down the complete run of them! Interesting badges!