RAD "ANHALT" Commemorative Cufftitle

[bigmacglenn]

Greetings Friends,
I managed to score this original & quite scarce RAD Commemorative Cuff-title, worn by RAD Units of Sachsen/Anhalt... The seller thought it was "Saxon-Anhalt Civil-Service"... I was the only bidder and paid a mere fraction of it's value...
I often say that "Knowledge trumps money" in this hobby, and I say that to encourage especially our beginning collectors that you do not necessarily need loads of cash to score rare & valuable militaria...
I hope you like the Cuff-title!
cheers, Glenn

[BOB COLEMAN]

Glenn-
A nice aquisition of an item seldom encountered. It appears to be in unissued condition. Your point about "knowledge trumps money" is quite true. Over the years, I have been fortunate to have a number of similar experiences. Congratulations!

[Gunny Hartmann]

Great find Glenn!....

[bigmacglenn]

Thank you for the kind words, friends...The market is alive & well, and knowledge is the key (I was the only bidder, apparently nobody else knew what it was!)...There is no real substitute for research & dedication in this, our common endeavor...
cheers, Glenn

[harryamb2]

well done Glenn.

[Wilhelm Saris]

Always nice to see "Anhalt"- material, BMG1966. Great you showed it!

I must dig out my own information as there are two forms of this cuffband:
the late 1933-form and later form.
Received in between material from my RAD-mentor from Germany and must
check. Maybe I can do this tomorrow!

I will give the official descriptions for both and some extra information from
old, official sources.

[bigmacglenn]

I'm a bit startled to see one offered at $495 by the Collector's Guild...That's more than I would have expected...
I paid $28...
cheers, Glenn

[slados28]

Not an item that I have seen before but... very nice! And that price --- you're certainly right about knowledge paying off within the vast and varied collecting realm The best I have ever done was $250 for an item found on ebay resold a year or so later for $9000 --- not militaria related though.

[Wilhelm Saris]

About the cuffband "ANHALT", here it's development:

The earliest version is from 1933 and was granted by Hierl October 22, 1933.
The note comes from a book about the labor service at Anhalt (Der Anhaltische staatliche Arbeitsdienst
1932-1993, published in 1935). The book mentions the first granting. The total members that could
have received it at that moment were about 1,200, all from the RAD-group 135 Dessau-Grosskühnau.
Possibly all may have received the early pattern in late 1933, or maybe in early 1934. The other smaller
text-part is from "Der Tag von Grosskühnau August 20, 1935".




Not much is known about the first pattern. The first who wrote about it was Dr.Klietmann in the series
"Die Deutsche Wehrmacht 1934 bis 1945", published in 1964. His work was controlled by the
former RAD-archivist Dr. Helmuth Croon. In b/w a part of an early cuffband was shown, coming from the
Colonel C.M. Dodkins collection. The text from the article did include an early discription of the looks of the
cuffband. It is practically sure variations will have existed. Material and sizes are mentioned (width 2.4 cm with red
edges about 3.0 mm. The height for the letters is 1.1 cm).



The wearing was only allowed when RAD service was done. It was possible the cuffband was granted for wearing
for those retired.



In late 1935 or early 1936 the form for the cuffband did change. It was included in an RAD plate about insignia
from 1936. This form remained and did not change anymore, but variations are known:



With the January 16, 1939 RAD uniform-regulations (RAD Dv. 18) in section II a description was given. About
the same texst was included in the handbook from 1939:



Desciption: bright green, with red edges, woven aryificial silk cuffband with a 2.5 cm width in total. The edges each were
0.5 cm. In block-letters in whitish artificial silk the word "ANHALT" was woven in. Height of the letters 0.8 cm.



Two of such cuffbands from the Gillain-collection. There is a diffrence in the height for the word:



Parts of a text as published in spring 1937, but included in the "Zusammenstellung noch gültiger Erlasse und Verfügungen
des Reichsarbeitsdienstführers", re-printed per January 31, 1941. The order was still valid.



Tekst, as published in the "Verordnungsblatt für den Reichsarbeitsdienst" from May 13, 1942 with the Hierl-order D3 1022 -
1480/42 from April 29, 1942. Much of the earlier told information and cuffband description are included here.



Hope this post gives the information you were looking for. Enjoy!

[bigmacglenn]

Thank you kindly for this trove of scarce official-source material, Wilhelm...Very much appreciated, friend!
cheers, Glenn