Olympic badge for sale.

[Adrian]

Guys, have any of you seen one of these before or have any thoughts on it's authenticity?
It's for sale in the classifieds section and one of our members has raised concerns on it being a period item.

[Woolgar]

The pin set up looks period. There are many types of those badges that the Hitler Youth wore during the Olympics.

I have seen that slogan before on Olympic issue HJ knives. ' The Glory of Sport is the honour of the Fatherland'

Sorry I cant help any further

Nick

[big ned]

I've seen one before. It was marked on the back C.T.D which I took for being Christian Theodore Dicke the buckle makers. Has anyone heard of W.A.&Co. Munchen? Could that be Willi Annetsberger of Munich? I don't know.

I find it odd that the Swastika on the badge is covered by the laurel crowned head of an athlete (or Apollo?), It seems strange that the Germans allowed this, I have never seen an officially sanctioned National Socialist item that has a covered/hidden Swastika anywhere before. Also, the lack of a DRGM patent protection mark is unusual I would have thought. Strange.

I wonder if these badges were just knocked up by oppurtunists trying to make a bit of money out of the Olympic bandwagon as happens today with loads of unlicensed stuff being churned out? Maybe that's why the Swastika is covered, in an attempt to avoid trouble from the state? Then again, one would expect the state to come down severely on such 'entrepeneurs'.

These are likely controversial, a bit like the 'Org.Todt helmet' thread on here regarding the legitimacy of the decal; so little is really known. One thing I will say is that the fixing pin appears legit for the time; the other one I saw by C.T.D. had the dreaded post war coffin shaped pin that is considered a mahoosive no no.

All in all an item that is controversial for many reasons,......but maybe original?

Regards, Ned.

[HPL2008]

I find it odd that the Swastika on the badge is covered by the laurel crowned head of an athlete (or Apollo?), It seems strange that the Germans allowed this, I have never seen an officially sanctioned National Socialist item that has a covered/hidden Swastika anywhere before.

A very good observation. Obscuring the Swastika like this would have been unacceptable, even offensive, in the Third Reich period.

It could be a fake/fantasy item, but these are normally much more likely to feature "overdone" rather than "subdued" Nazi symbolism.

My gut feeling is that this is actually a (possibly early?) post-war item, manufactured as some kind of commemorative pin for the 1936 Olympic Games. This would explain the "censored" Swastika: Displaying Nazi symbols is punishable by law in Germany, but a nearly totally unrecognizable Swastika, with nothing more visible than small bits of its arms should just about be legal.

If this theory - and of course it is just that - is correct, the badge would appear to have some kind of extreme right-wing/Neo-Nazi/Old-Nazi background due to its very nature and its design and slogan.

[winterhilfswerk Book]

Just an FYI~

Many dagger collectors feel that the HJ Olympic knives are fantasy pieces themselves.

Chrys

[Sir Payne]

These things show up in auctions all the time. I have seen over 15 variations. Some are enameled, others are not. I've always considered them fantasy pieces, or perhaps post war occupation souvenirs, just my opinion as well.

Regards,

Corey

[Walkwolf]

One I've seen which is similar, is a 'German-Japanese' badge.
Far as I remember, pins like these started showing up
around ten years ago or so - all with the same blue
coloured enamel - along with HJ 'Sieger' badges.

Not saying I know for sure, but I doubt if a secret cache of
badges appeared out of some long forgotten warehouse.

It would be good to have Bob Coleman's opinion.........

[Sir Payne]

German World War II 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics Badge | eBay

Here is another

[winterhilfswerk Book]

These are all the same...HJ, NSKK, Zeppelin, Friendship (Japan & UK), Driving, Lebensborn, etc, etc. I thought that the story was that they came out of Austria in the 80's...but I can't be 100% sure on that.