eBay-Pickup: Egendorf Stickpin

[M. Bäcker]

Just a few days ago I was lucky enough to win this auction on German eBay for quite a bargain price: Stickpin of the "Thür. Staatsschule für Führertum und Politik", the Thuringian State School for Leadership and Politics in Egendorf, Thüringen. With a nicely detailed front and silver hallmarked 0.900 on the back these pins may come with two different types of the pin (one as shown here or another one with a single knurled line) and also as a brooch-back variant.

Here's a quick scan first.



It didn't come out well enough so I shall post better pics as soon as possible. Until then you may have a look at the seller's pics. Note how he cut away the swaz on the front and blurred out the word "Führer..." on the back in the hope that his auction may not be cancelled by the eBay police.



Thanks for looking! Opinions and comments much appreciated and questions most welcome!

Cheers, M.B.

[Teutonicknights]

Just a few days ago I was lucky enough to win this auction on German eBay for quite a bargain price: Stickpin of the "Thür. Staatsschule für Führertum und Politik", the Thuringian State School for Leadership and Politics in Egendorf, Thüringen. With a nicely detailed front and silver hallmarked 0.900 on the back these pins may come with two different types of the pin (one as shown here or another one with a single knurled line) and also as a brooch-back variant.

Here's a quick scan first.



It didn't come out well enough so I shall post better pics as soon as possible. Until then you may have a look at the seller's pics. Note how he cut away the swaz on the front and blurred out the word "Führer..." on the back in the hope that his auction may not be cancelled by the eBay police.



Thanks for looking! Opinions and comments much appreciated and questions most welcome!

Cheers, M.B.

Cool! On the first pic, you can see swaz! I like it! Are these rare? Have never seen one.

[Adrian]

This is a new one on me and would be interested to learn more about it.

[M. Bäcker]

Are these rare? Have never seen one.

This is a new one on me and would be interested to learn more about it.

Every now and then somebody posted one of these pins on one of the other known forums. My other pin, which is one with the single line knurled pin, I've also posted somewhere years ago. But back then and until today only little is know about these pins. This however, doesn't keep dealers of German militaria from spreading false or "semi-true" information and from making up some of the wildest stories to sell these pins for prices quite unreasonable. If one however considers dealer prices as an indicator of how rare certain items are, then those pins are quite some rare little thingies, as I am looking right now at one a German dealer's website for no less than 350 Euros. It's been there for months now, if not years, and still hasn't sold.

During my research of the Egendorf pins (which became to some extend a passion, while others may call it an obsession) I got hold of a few period sources that give some (though limited) information that shed a few rays of light on those pins. Unfortunately I have no access to them right now. So I can only summarize a few things from my memory.

Most of you will know that the NSDAP was already in power in Thuringia 1932 even before Hitler took power in Berlin 1933. At that time already preparations started in Thuringia under Staatsminister Fritz Wächtler (later Gauleiter of Bayrische Ostmark) to establish a school controlled by the NSDAP to indoctrinate those who might later act as multipliers of national socialist ideology, i.e. at first teachers but very soon also political leaders of various party organizations, mayors, government officials, lawyers and so on. A suitable location was found at Egendorf which was a former agricultural facility owned by the state of Thuringia, then with several buildings newly erected it became a place where teenagers and young adults in need were educated and cared for and finally it was a site for an experimental work camp for jobless young teachers. The main buildings (completed in 1929 if I remember correctly) can be seen on a variety of postcards of which I shall only show one here. Those buildings still exist today as you can see here, here or here.



Due to the preparations made before 1933 the Staatsschule Egendorf was ready to serve the above mentioned purposes of the NSDAP from 1933 as one of the first party schools of the Reich and it's concept was an example for many other soon to be established Gau Schools. The school was so "successful" that demand soon exceeded the school's capacity so that several courses were to be held in the nearby small town of Bad Berka where a branch of the Egendorf school was then established. However, soon after the outbreak of war teachings at Egendorf ceased and the school was closed due to many being drafted into the Wehrmacht for war duties, while Bad Berka continued to operate throughout the 1940's as a HJ leadership school. During the war Egendorf was at some time a Lazaret for both German soldiers as well as for british POWs of Stalag IXC but also accommodated school children in an initiative called "Kinder aufs Land" in which kids from cities that were threatend by bombing raids were sent to live in the countryside and complete school there. In 1942 plans were brought up to re-open the leadership school. That plan however never came to reality. After the war some sovjet military administration was located at Egendorf. And in the GDR it was again a hospital, this time for children suffering from tuberculosis. Since the 1990's Egendorf is a place where disabled people and their families find adequate living conditions and the assistance of professional personnel to further their developement and healing (more information in German language).

As for the Egendorf pins, they were created in 1934 and could be bought at the school's head office for a few RM by those who successfully attended courses. As it has been said before, those pins come in three different variations, stickpins with the aforementioned two different pin types and brooch type. Furthermore, the vast majority of pins that I have seen so far is silver hallmarked 0.900 on the reverse left side while others are hallmarked 0.800 on the right side. I am convinced that both types are legit originals as their obverse is (almost) exactly the same. The different pin types and silver content hallmarks raise the question which firm made those pins and whether or not there were more than just one manufacturer or if the different pins are just from different production runs of the same firm with 0.900 pins being from earlier production and 0.800 pins being later ones (or vice versa). The answer to those questions is as of yet unknown.

Only once so far I came across one pin which was a very obvious fake as it appeared to be die cast with a totally wrong pin type. I also stumbled over one seller on eBay who was offering Egendorf pins without the swastica as 57'er versions, which of course is bollocks as such type of pins are not covered by the respective law concerning the wear of war decorations in Western Germany. On another day I found a set of pics online obviously uploaded by someone who was trying to sell a white SS tunic which, even to my untrained eye, looked like total bogus. What didn't make it any better was, that the bogus ensemble sported an Egendorf badge prominently pinned to the front of the tie. The Egendorf pins would of course only be worn on civilian clothes but never on an uniform of any kind. Other memorabilia related to the Egendorf pins or the school itself that I have seen include an engraved silver cigarette case on the website of Jamie Cross Militaria (a nice example of how gifts from Grandparents may magically turn into "a gift from the gau leader Fritz Sauckel of Thuringia"), a two volume pocketbook version of "Mein Kampf" that had Egendorf inkstamps as well as the Signature of the school's principal Paul Otto Dünkel on the frontpages of each volume and which were at some time turned into a one volume book bound in precious leather. And just recently I came across a small orange paper card issued by the school comfirming that someone had successfully completed courses at Egendorf. Too bad it was sitting in the middle of a lot of low end paper stuff up for auction with a plainly ridiculous starting bid so that it was not sold.

Alright... now that's some information I can currently provide on those pins. I may add more detail and numbers/statistics someday when I get access to my paperwork on Egendorf. Well, what was planned to be just a short summary turned into quite some lengthy reading for you. If you made it until here I shall thank you for your time and interest. If you can add any more information please share what you know. And if you own an Egendorf pin then please let's see yours.

Cheers, MB.

[Teutonicknights]

Wow! Thanks for the history lesson and many new and unknown knowledge on this subject matter!

Mike

[Adrian]

Interesting, thank you for taking the time to post and sharing your knowledge on this little known pin and organisation.

[Teutonicknights]

I appreciate folks sharing the more unusual items that are from the 3rd Reich era, that most people don't have much history on. These items are rare and there history rare as well, and many of us do not know they even exist.
Thanks Mr. Baecker for sharing this piece of history many do not know about with the forum.

Mike

[M. Bäcker]

Thanks a lot for the replies! I'm glad to see my humble effort being appreciated.

To further illustrate what I was actually talking about in the write-up above I've now prepared a few more pics. The original photos from which they were created were not mine, but stored on my HD for too long for me to remember from whom or where I got them. However, credits shall go to the original owners.

Firstly, the pic below gives you an idea of what I mean when I am talking about "different pin types" and a "brooch type". The stickpin below is knurled only by a single while the one I recently acquired through eBay (see first post) is knurled with multiple lines. I'm sorry if this explanation is confusing but I lack the language skills to explain any better this simple and obvious difference between the two types. Maybe experts in stickpins and masters of the english language can do that in a few simple words.



The only obvious Egendorf fake pin I've found so far can be seen below. In those pics the swastica is blurred out because this particular pin has been posted for sale on a German auction website. You can easily spot it's face when you compare the pin shape and attachment as well as the knurling to those found on originals. As it appears to be a cast copy this fake also lacks the overall quality of originals on both obverse and reverse.



I also mentioned that someone is occasionally selling a "57er version" Egendorf Stickpin on eBay. Again, no serious collector would bother to look at such a pin as it is nothing but a total waste of money. Besides the pin lacking the fine details of originals it has, of course, no swastica on the obverse. The reverse is totally plain with the pin attached to some pin plate and probably just cheaply glued on to the back.



Another "highlight" I mentioned earlier was a white SS tunic. But in this case my memory failed me, my apologies. It is in fact a white political leader's uniform ensemble with makers label of "Günther Malik, Brüx" which can sometimes be found on repro tunics. If you take a close look at the pics below you will spot an Egendorf pin attached to the tie. This of course would wrong as these could only be worn on civilian clothes.



Now this should suffice to clarify a few things I mentioned in the write-up above. However, somebody pls remind me later that I still owe you decent pics from pin I got through eBay.

Cheers, MB.

[Teutonicknights]

Good explaination!!

[Teutonicknights]

MB do you have anymore?