Fantasy buckle?

[JERSEY 34]

I don't think that I will be having any pleasent surprises here with this buckle. I have never seen anything like it before and can only believe its a fantasy buckle made a few years ago. Any info regarding this piece would be much appreciated, good or bad, but bad expected.
All the best,
D

[Erno]

It's not a fantasy buckle, although it is a fake unfortunately. The genuine type on which this is based is referred to as the 'Gau Essen' buckle. The originals are made of nickel (yours is steel, I believe) by the Assmann firm. For years there was a strong belief that these held some sort of SS connection because of the similarity in design, but that has changed because there really is no evidence of such a link.

[kirby]

Here is a real one. I think these might have been produced for the SS but were never issued. Everyone I have ever seen has been in unissued condition. I remember a thread on WAF were Marc V said he got one of these in a grouping from a SS officer. Not sure what other organization these might have been for but I am happy to have one in my collection.

[JERSEY 34]

Hi,
Thanks for your replies, never seen one before. Still a junk piece though.
All the best,
D

[David North]

Good information here.

I think that most collectors now dismiss the notion that this buckle ever had an actual or planned, direct SS association. Rarity never automatically correlates with high value and instead, desirability does! This is a desirable buckle by any definition, irrespective of the enigma as to who the wearer was.

To my knowledge, there is still no concrete supportive evidence regarding the purpose and intent of this more than likely, non issued buckle. I know that there are some collectors and researchers who absolutely despise subjectivity without evidence, however I feel that this Modus Operandi may often act as a catalyst.

On more than one occasion, it has been suggested during light conversations with fellow collectors, that this buckle may have had more of an SA connection, than SS. The suggestion that the buckle was to be worn by the short lived HiPo (Hilfspolizei) during the early and turbulent months of 1933, bearing in mind that Gau Essen was formed in late October 1928.

Essentially a proposed buckle for a newly formed auxiliary police force which was largely made up of members from the SA and where the establishment of "Hilfspolizei - Gau Essen" was of utmost national importance in order to protect the phenomenally important industrial activities and facilities within the said area.

This suggestion raises many questions of course and which I for one cannot answer, although I thought that it was worth mentioning.

Regards,

David

[Ben Evans]

Hi guys, back from holiday, D as you now know steel fake mate

[Wilhelm Saris]

In spite of intensive research since the mid-1970's not any piece of evidence was found about this buckle.
The mayor lot of the buckles is from Neusilber, so may be they were manufactured between 1932-1935.

The word Gau has nothing to do with SS, as it was either Oberabschnitt or Abschnitt for their organization;
for the SA it was Gruppe and commonly used since 1932 (earlier it was as Gausturm);
for the HJ the used name was Obergebiet, Gebiet, Oberbann or Bann. So this would be out of the question.

The word Gau was used by the political organization (political leaders for the NSDAP). Maybe it was intended
to introduce buckles for every Gau, who knows, but this would have been exaggerated and surely rejected by the Reichsleitung.
Since 1932 anyway a double-claw was in use and included in the uniform-regulations. This did not change until 1939.

[Erno]

In spite of intensive research since the mid-1970's not any piece of evidence was found about this buckle.
The mayor lot of the buckles is from Neusilber, so may be they were manufactured between 1932-1935.

The word Gau has nothing to do with SS, as it was either Oberabschnitt or Abschnitt for their organization;
for the SA it was Gruppe and commonly used since 1932 (earlier it was as Gausturm);
for the HJ the used name was Obergebiet, Gebiet, Oberbann or Bann. So this would be out of the question.

The word Gau was used by the political organization (political leaders for the NSDAP). Maybe it was intended
to introduce buckles for every Gau, who knows, but this would have been exaggerated and surely rejected by the Reichsleitung.
Since 1932 anyway a double-claw was in use and included in the uniform-regulations. This did not change until 1939.

This is great information!

My personal unsubstantiated theory is that the Gau Essen buckle might have something to do with factory or industry protection in the industrial Essen region.

[Wilhelm Saris]

The protection of factory and industry was until the mid-1930's a matter of the state-governments,
who were not organized as Gau. A state-governement decided about the wearing of uniforms (die
Landesregierung ist für den Erlass der Uniformvorschrift zuständig). The buckle would be too much
political for that!

By the way: the Hilfspolizei most often did wear a white armband with Hilfspolizei-indication. The front
was visibly stamped by the (local) police-authorities.

[michaelKar]

I believe this buckle (gau Essen in nickel) to be original. There were literally thousands of items found post war in factories and roots that were brand new/ never issued/ prototypes. The build quality, detail, paint color, hardware, all correspond to the original.
If this indeed was a fake, there would be flaws picked up by the experts, and in this case, the only argument no sayers have is that you can’t see it in wear on any photos.