Deutsches Rettungsschwimmabzeichen

[HPL2008]

Today, I would like to present some examples of the Deutsches Rettungsschwimmabzeichen [literally "German Rescue Swimming Badge", but perhaps better translated as "German Lifeguard Badge"].

First, a little bit of background information.

Currently, three organisations are officially authorized to undertake qualification tests for and awards of the badge: The Deutsche Lebensrettungsgesellschaft (DLRG) [German Lifesaving Association], the Wasserwacht [Water Rescue Service, a division of the Deutsches Rotes Kreuz (DRK) [German Red Cross]] and the Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund Deutschland (ASB) [Workers' Samaritan Foundation Germany]. Each organisation awards its own unique design of the badge.

The badge comes in three grades - bronze, silver and gold - which can only be attained successively, with increasingly higher requirements for each grade. The requirements are standardized and identical between the three organisations.

The bronze grade is the basic-level qualification badge and an entry requirement for several state police forces. The silver and gold grades are officially recognized as decorations and are authorized for wear on military (and other) uniforms, which is why only these two grades are also available as full-size badges and ribbon bars. (All three grades are available as civilian miniatures and cloth badges for wear on sports clothing.)

[Wilhelm Saris]

HPL2008: do you own also the Totenkopf-Schwimmerabzeichen.
as well as its wearing?
Just a question as I would like to see their documents.

[HPL2008]

Here is the badge as awarded by the DLRG.

The full size badge in bronze, silver and gold. I had mentioned above that only the silver and gold grades come in the full-size metal version. Full-size specimens of the bronze grade were commercially manufactured and are sometimes seen, but these are of an unofficial nature and not authorized for wear on uniforms. This particular specimen appears to have been converted from a silver-grade badge, as the shiny base metal is coming through in places:






The silver grade in its woven cloth version for wear on sports clothing:






Two civilian-wear miniatures of the bronze grade:






A two-place ribbon bar of the silver grade together with the Deutsches Sportabzeichen in Bronze [German Sports Badge in Bronze]. The same ribbon in the Olympic colors is used for all sports-related awards:

[HPL2008]

The Wasserwacht version.

The full-size badge in silver and gold:






Civilian-wear stickpin miniatures of all three grades:






The ribbon bars for the silver and and gold grade:

[HPL2008]

HPL2008: do you own also the Totenkopf-Schwimmerabzeichen.
as well as its wearing?
Just a question as I would like to see their documents.

Sorry, Wim; I don't have any specimens of those.

For those unfamiliar with this badge: The Totenkopf-Schwimmabzeichen [Death's Head Swimming Badge] is for endurance swimming. It comes in three grades (black for 1 hour of uninterrupted swimming, silver for 1 1/2 hours and gold for 2 hours).

This badge is of an unofficial nature and, although once popular, is only rarely tested for since the 1970s or so, as it often led to cases of hypothermia and other serious medical problems, especially when tests were undertaken in open water.

Nowadays, most swimming clubs and baths don't offer tests for these badges anymore. If they do, they usually restrict them to candidates who are known to be good swimmers and in excellent physical condition, and particular care is taken to ensure sufficient water temperature and thorough supervision. (Some Wasserwacht local groups still offer them, whereas the DLRG has strictly prohibited its local groups from doing so.)

All grades are cloth badges. You sometimes see ribbon bars on German eBay with little metal death's head devices affixed to ribbons in the Olympic colors (as on the specimens seen above) which are allegedly for the Totenkopf-Schwimmabzeichen, but these are made-up fantasy pieces. (The badge is not authorized for wear on any uniforms, and the ribbon as such is legally protected under the statutes of the Ordensgesetz; thus, technically, wearing such a bar is an infraction.)

[Wilhelm Saris]

Was just a question. I do have a rather lousy copy of a document from a boy
from the Grosses Militär-Waisenhaus, where it was noted for 15 minutes
Brustschwimmen, as well as 45 minutes the Fahrtenprobe and the 60 minutes
Dauerschwimmen for the Totenkopfprobe. All on the same day November 24,
1942. The lad will have had a cold day then!!



I further do have a photo from girls wearing such insignia. They also are from
the orphanage, but the female section. It is an early form as the photo is from
about 1932 and phrased as "Meisterschwimmen Totenkopfprüfung from the
PGW".



Just would like to show this stuff, as it is quite interesting.

[HPL2008]

I decided to add unissued examples of the cloth versions for all grades to my collection. These are readily available, as they are current-issue.


DLRG:






Wasserwacht:

[HPL2008]

A three place civilian-wear stickpin showing the Wasserwacht-model DRSA in silver together with the Ehrenkreuz der Bundeswehr in Gold [Honor Cross of the Bundeswehr in Gold] and the Deutsches Sportabzeichen in Gold [German Sports Badge in Gold]:

[HPL2008]

The ribbon bars for the DLRG badge:

[HPL2008]

Two more miniature stickpins, this time of the DLRG badge in silver. The larger miniature is 22 mm wide, the smaller one 12 mm: