Awards and badges of the DRK der DDR

[TabsTabs1964]

I agree. Thanks for teaching us so much.

[HPL2008]

I can already add another recently-arrived piece:

The seven grades of the blood donors' awards weren't enough to adequately honor long-time donors, and so a new award was created and first presented in 1983: The Landsteiner-Medaille [Landsteiner Medal], named in honor of the Nobel Prize winner Dr. Karl Landsteiner (1868 - 1943), who is recognized as the father of transfusion medicine due to his discovery of the blood types in 1900.
The Landsteiner-Medaille came in three grades: Stufe III [class III, bronze] for 50 donations, Stufe II [class II, silver] for 60 donations and Stufe I [class I, gold] for 80 donations.

(Also, 1987 saw the first awards of the Hufeland-Medaille [Hufeland Medal] in silver for 90 donations and gold for 100 donations. However, this decoration was a general award for merit in the fields of public health, social welfare and medical science and -education and not directly related to blood donations or the Red Cross as such.)

Here is the Class III medal:

[HPL2008]

Just in and presented as an addendum to post # 9, here is the first model of the "Junger Rettungsschwimmer" ["Young Lifeguard"] cloth badge worn until 1972, when it was replaced by the second model. It's a heavily worn and quite faded piece:






With the second model (previously shown in post # 10):

[HPL2008]

This is the Abzeichen "Vorbeugen und Retten" ["Prevent and Rescue" Badge]. Instituted in 1972 and issued until the end of the GDR, it was awarded in three grades (I, II and III) and came in a printed cloth version only.

Unfortunately, I don't have any details on criteria etc., but as far as I know, it was part of the swimming training undertaken at schools.

Note the poor accuracy of the print:

[HPL2008]

Another new addition are these badges for the"Rettungsschein DDR" ["GDR Lifesaving Certificate"].

These badges are in Frank Bartel's catalog on awards of the DRK of the GDR, where he remarks that he included them because they came from stocks of the DRK (so I will include them in this thread, too). However, it was not known at the time of writing by whom or by what organisation they were actually instituted and what the award criteria were. Thus, the DRK connection is a bit unclear.

In any case, they appear to have been an equivalent to the West German Lifesaving Badges as awarded by the DLRG and the Wasserwacht of the West German DRK.

So, here is the metal badge (also known to exist as a stickpin and a screwback badge) and cloth versions in woven and embroidered form. The latter also exist with a red letter "B" in the lower part, apparently indicating a higher qualification level:

[HPL2008]

I have already shown the silver and gold grade of the Ehrennadel [Honor Pin] of the Bergrettungsdienst/Bergunfalldienst [Mountain Rescue Service/Mountain Accident Service] in post # 13. Here are two variations of the bronze grade now.

The Ehrennadel can be found both in a variant where only the wreath is in the color of the grade (left) and one where the entire pin is in that color (right):

[HPL2008]

But this one is an even nicer addition: The first model of the full-size qualification badge (with skies and rope for winter- and rock training).

Note the elaborate, multi-piece construction (compared to the simplified one-piece second model shown in post # 12). These badges can be found with a screwback attachment (as seen here) or a pin assembly and both with and without award numbers.

On the very earliest badges, the (two-digit) award numbers have been directly struck onto the badge. These are very rare. The commonly seen later ones (like this) have a glued-on metal plaque with the number. (in this case # 490). It is estimated that a total of some 3,000 of these badges (in the various qualification levels) were manufactured:

[Watchdog]

[QUOTE=HPL2008;2009032]But this one is an even nicer addition: The first model of the full-size qualification badge (with skies and rope for winter- and rock training).

Note the elaborate, multi-piece construction (compared to the simplified one-piece second model shown in post # 12). These badges can be found with a screwback attachment (as seen here) or a pin assembly and both with and without award numbers.

On the very earliest badges, the (two-digit) award numbers have been directly struck onto the badge. These are very rare. The commonly seen later ones (like this) have a glued-on metal plaque with the number. (in this case # 490). It is estimated that a total of some 3,000 of these badges (in the various qualification levels) were manufactured: [QUOTE]


I like it! Such an intricate design. Must have been very labour-intensive to produce

[HPL2008]

I like it! Such an intricate design. Must have been very labour-intensive to produce

Indeed, Mark. Unfortunately, it was a too intricate for its own good. The BRD/BUD chronicle seen in post # 12 tells us:

"1980. Wegen des hohen manuellen Aufwands bei der Herstellung des bisherigen Dienstabzeichens wird ein neues, geprägtes Dienstabzeichen im Format 34 mm x 34 mm eingeführt."
["1980. Due to the high manual effort involved in manufacturing the previous duty badge, a new stamped duty badge measuring 34 mm x 34 mm is introduced."]

(That's the one seen in the same post.)

Just in is this day badge for the 1. Bezirks-Spartakiade der Sanitätseinheiten [1st District Competition of the Medical Units] held at Leipzig in 1960:

[HPL2008]

Here's a little postscript to post # 18.

I had mentioned that a gold grade honor clasp for for 20 blood donations was introduced in 1975 and that the system was revised in 1979; the gold grade clasp now being for 40 blood donations, with newly-introduced clasps in bronze for 20 and silver or 30 donations. I have just acquired an example of the 1975 - 1979 gold clasp for 20 donations:




Although the actual design of the award was not changed with the 1979 revision, it is still possible to tell apart the 1975 - 1979 gold clasp for 20 donations from the 1979 - 1990 gold clasp for 40 donations by three differences: The suspension for the pendant was different between the two models, the first model only came in enamelled versions (opaque and translucent) while the second model was only made in a polyester-coated and later a painted version and the first model was very slightly smaller (29 x 19.5 mm vs. 29.5 x 20 mm for the pendant and 9 x 19 mm vs. 12 x 19.5 mm for the clasp). A direct comparison: