Jakob Grimminger

[brabander]

Why the trager of the blood flag Jakob Grimminger was maintained a relative low rank only become a standarte-fuhrer.
He was a altekampfer most altekampfers had a highrank in the ss or other orgnisations , was he a dummy ?

[HPL2008]

Whether Grimminger was a "dummy" or not may be judged by somebody who is more familiar with the details of his biography than me, but Standartenführer was the equivalent to a full Colonel. This is not a low rank by any means, and you have to bear in mind that not every single "old fighter" became a General.

Also, Grimminger had in fact rapidly moved up in the ranks of the SS, with no less than five promotions within the five years from 1931 to 1936. Only his final promotion (from Obersturmbannführer to Standartenführer) took longer (7 years), which is still not exceptionally long at this level.

In addition to his progression through the ranks and the general prestige and respect he enjoyed in his day and age thanks to his association with the hallowed Blood Flag, Grimminger was also a holder of the Nazi Party's three highest decorations - the Golden Party Badge, the Blood Order and the Coburg Badge - as well as the SS Honor Ring, the SS Honor Sword and the KVK II (in addition to his various decorations from WWI) and, after first getting a civil service job with Munich's municipal administration after the Nazis' seizure of power, even became a city councillor for Munich.

All things considered, not bad for a man who was a humble mechanic by trade, I would say.

[brabander]

No not bad indeed , but still a relativly low rank considering his status.You see a lot of altekampfer with highranks form gau leiter till ss-general .So i was just wondering why not a nice rank for him.

[DrPMC]

[...] after first getting a civil service job with Munich's municipal administration after the Nazis' seizure of power, even became a city councillor for Munich.

All things considered, not bad for a man who was a humble mechanic by trade, I would say.

Thanks to HPL2008 for his scholarly and informative posting. Given that carrying the Blood Flag was hardly a full time job, I wonder if anyone can say what Grimminger's 'proper' job for the SS was? As a Standartenführer he was presumably senior enough to be a regimental commander or to hold some other significant administrative role. Or did he continue to be a part-timer, turning out for ceremonial duties as a flag bearer but mainly occupied with his work as a Munich civil servant?

[HPL2008]

Thanks to HPL2008 for his scholarly and informative posting. Given that carrying the Blood Flag was hardly a full time job, I wonder if anyone can say what Grimminger's 'proper' job for the SS was? As a Standartenführer he was presumably senior enough to be a regimental commander or to hold some other significant administrative role. Or did he continue to be a part-timer, turning out for ceremonial duties as a flag bearer but mainly occupied with his work as a Munich civil servant?

Grimminger never commanded an SS-Standarte or held any other position of real power or authority in the SS apparatus.

Throughout his SS career, he remained a part-timer in the Allgemeine SS, at first as a member of the 1. SS-Standarte, then listed as being attached to the staff of SS-Oberabschnitt Süd.

For additional information, here is some hard data as found in the SS-Dienstalterslisten [SS officers' seniority lists]:

Name: Jakob Grimminger
Date of birth: 25 April 1892
SS no.: 135
NSDAP no.: 759
Promotion dates:
- Untersturmführer - 11 July 1931
- Obersturmführer - 31 July 1933
- Hauptsturmführer - 9 November 1933
- Sturmbannführer - 20 April 1935
- Obersturmbannführer - 13 Sept. 1936
- Standartenführer - 20 April 1943
Waffen-SS/Army/Police ranks: None
Duty assignments:
- z.b.V. 1. SS-Standarte (as per SS-DAL of 1 Oct. 1934)
- 1. SS-Standarte (as per SS-DAL of of 1 July 1935)
- beim Stab SS-Oberabschnitt Süd (as per SS-DAL of 1 Dec. 1936, 1 Dec. 1937, 1 Dec. 1938, 30 Jan. 1944 and 1 Oct. 1944)
Awards and decorations:
- Goldenes Ehrenzeichen der NSDAP [Golden Party Badge]
- Ehrenzeichen vom 9. November 1923 [Blood Order]
- Coburger Ehrenzeichen 1922 [Coburg Badge]
- Eisernes Kreuz II. Klasse (1914) [Iron Cross 2nd Class]
- Kriegsverdienstkreuz II. Klasse ohne Schwerter [War Merit Cross 2nd Class without Swords]
- unspecified Landesorden [state decorations]*)
- Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer [1914/18 Honor Cross for Combatants]
- Totenkopfring der SS [SS Honor Ring]
- Ehrendegen des Reichsführers SS [SS Honor Sword]
Other data:
- Member of Lebensborn e.V..
- Exempt from having to qualify for the German Sports Badge and the SA Sports Badge due to physical impairments suffered in WW I


*) Photographs show he was awarded the Harp Madalyası (the Turkish War Medal, colloquially known as the "Iron Crescent").

[bigmacglenn]

Excellent information here, thanks to all...Standartenfuehrer Grimminger held higher rank than Hauptsturmfuehrer Adolf Eichmann - a mere Lieutenant-Colonel- (Consider the high level of authority he possessed regarding the Holocaust)...Standartenfuehrer Grimminger's Position as Bearer of the Blutfahne surely enhanced his personal influence within Party Circles beyond his rank...Reading up on his past as a well-decorated young soldier in WWI -He enlisted at the age of 16!- He was a Fighting Nature, not necessarily an Administrative Talent...
He also has his own doll, LOL....
cheers, Glenn

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Standartenfuehrer was hardly a low rank in the SS. Sturmbannfuehrer was a fairly senior rank, with a fair amount of authority.
Andreas' analysis is absolutely correct. There was a species of old fighter who got a relatively senior rank and stayed there.
The rank lists are full of these people. Collectors have odd ideas about how the SS worked. Read the Bastian Hein book
on the Allgemeine SS.

As Andreas mentioned, he was provided for in the local administration with a sinecure, which was typical of doing well.


"....Nach der nationalsozialistischen Machtergreifung erhielt Grimminger eine Anstellung beim Fürsorgeamt der Stadt München, die ihn um 1937 auch mit dem Amt eines Ratsherren ausstattete. Innerhalb der SS war er seit 1931 dem Stab der 1. SS-Standarte in München bzw. später dem Stab des SS-Oberabschnitts Süd zugeteilt, denen er als Ehrenführer z.b.V. angehörte. Den Höhepunkt seiner SS-Karriere erreichte Grimminger, der seit dem 1. August 1936 mit Hildegard Weber verheiratet war, im April 1943 mit der Beförderung zum SS-Standartenführer...." source: shhsh...wikipedia. Oops.