Reichsbund Deutscher Kleingärtner Badge

[Danmark]

Hi all, I went through my collection of small items over a wet weekend and found this little badge – not many would know of it and compared to the various awards we collect, it may pale by comparison, but imagine the pride in a person who wore it.

The Reichsbund Deutscher Kleingärtner - the association of small gardeners ( which was NOT as may be assumed, a group of green thumbed midgets ) but an association of individuals who had turned over their gardens, freeholds or allotments for the cultivation of food for the war effort – and that was recognised with a pin and membership of the aforementioned association.





Now, there is ALWAYS more to any story, and the bigger story is that the bund was headed pre war by HANS KAMMLER, a diehard NSDAP and later SS member who in his career also oversaw Office D (administration of the concentration camp system), and was also Chief of Office C, which designed and constructed all the concentration and extermination camps. In this latter capacity he oversaw the installation of more efficient cremation facilities at Auschwitz-Birkenau as part of the camp's conversion to an extermination camp.

If that was not enough, later in the war he was heavily involved in the Nazi weapons program with the V2 and jet research ( and the odd massacre of slave labour ) so he was much the "charmer" ......not !

Anyway, just thought you'd like the badge & story - more to be found here .Hans Kammler - Wikipedia

Cheers, Dan

[thecyclist64]

I love the more quirky and unusual items. If I had seen it at a militaria show, I would definately have bought it.

[bittaker]

Nice presentation, Dan. The mitgliedskarte ( membership card) is not easy to get now. Any revenues on the reverse?
Stig

[Danmark]

Nice presentation, Dan. The mitgliedskarte ( membership card) is not easy to get now. Any revenues on the reverse?
Stig

Ah, the card ..... well, sadly that's not mine but an image I found to "bulk out" the thread. Wish I had one .....

[Danmark]

Another interesting thing is the maker - B.H. Mayer.

Known as manufacturer 26 ( or L/18 ) and a producer of EK1s, wound badges in all grades, Spanges, Infantry,Panzer Assault and Minesweeper badges and many others during the period, Bernhard Mayer STILL EXISTS today as a Pforzheim's leading medal maker for awards, celebrations, commemorations etc.... and SWISS WATCHES!!

Bernhard H. Mayer(R) | Legacy of Swiss Watchmaking

[Reinhard2]

Hi ! These smallgardener associations existed before and between the wars and they are still existing so no cultivation of food for war efforts ! And the small gardeners still exist in Germany. Also, the shown pin was not recognized (?), but it was a simple stupid member pin. There were awards of this organisation for 10, 20, 25 and 50 years of membership.