UBB.threads Forums Uniform & Accessories Medals & Badges of the Third Reich Forum Sängerbund or Music related items

It occurred to me while admiring Joe's cased medal here that we do not often see any of the multitude of music/singing related pins, badges & medals that are out there. So I thought that I would start a thread with a couple from my collection. I will endeavour to post more here as I dig them out & scan them. If you have any items related to this area, please share them here...

First of all a group of Thüringen DSB pins that I have accumulated over the years. From left to right, the standard membership badge with pin back & stickpin alongside the "honour" pin. Then we have two variants, one with red enamel wordinng & the last with a narrow Swastika. The reverses are unmarked in any way so I will not use up space posting them unless someone wishes to see them. The red enamel example is so far, the only one that I have come across.

I do not generally collect tinnies, but picked this one up as it showed the Thüringen symbol. It's nicely marked to Brehmer, Markneukirchen on the pin plate....

Finally (for now) a tiny stickpin for Oberschwaben Kreis 30. The markings on the reverse are to faint to make out.

Nice examples Don.
I have one Thüringen DSB pin. Was not aware there were variants.
I will have to see what I do have in the collection. I do not recall any tinnies. That is a nice one.

--dj--Joe

I have the normal Thuringen honor pin. Here is the reverse.
--dj--Joe

I also have these two. Not positive what the small example is for. Have seen one other with a gold oakleaf.

--dj--Joe

Hi Joe, thank you for sharing your pieces. The reveres of my Thüringen pieces are identical to yours, no markings whatsoever. The small stickpin is nice, looks like the silver grade to me? I suspected that they existed but do not recall ever seeing one. The reason for my suspicions is that I once saw one with a bronze leaf.... I believe that I have one with a gold leaf somewhere, if I do I will scan it & post it here when it surfaces to the top of whichever stickpin box it is hiding in.....

Nice Baden piece as well. I believe the reverse is marked to E.Schmidhausler, Phorzheim?

Here is a fairly common & somewhat contraversial piece. Also for the Badischer Sängerbund but with an added Swastika. The question is when were the Swastikas added, during the period or postwar to bump the price & interest.... This is the gold one, marked 800 on the reverse. The can be also be found without the gilding with the 800.

Another piece attibuted to Baden is this. A silver honour badge marked Brehmer, Markneukirchen on the pin plate. They can also be found in gold grade, but alas I have never found one....

Nice Baden pieces Don. I will have to dig my example out to see how it is marked. Wherever it may be hiding.

Bronze, silver, (my example) and gold leafs on the small unnamed pins. Do you feel they may be generic event awards.

I have one other from the period. If informed correctly it is, Deutscher Arbeiter-Sängerbund (German Workers Singer Union) which was a communist association ended in 1933.
Will have to locate it also to see if it is marked.

--dj--Joe

That's a nice piece Joe, a new one for me.

I've no idea about the leaf pin. Could be a generic piece, or something made for a specific local contest.... Maybe one day a document may turn up with an image of one on it to solve the mystery.

D

If a document does pop up I would bet on you to find it.

The reverse of the little leaf pin is marked, MANNHEIM K'LAUTERN

You are correct about the Baden piece being marked, E.Schmidhausler, Phorzheim.

--dj--Joe

Thank you for the confirmation of the Baden maker. Schmidhausler, is probably best remembered for making large pieces such as the Heavy Athletics badges, but they were also a prolific manufacturer of small pins. As well has a number of music related stickpins, we can find a multitude of shooting pins made by them.

Thank you also for looking at the leaf pin, I had forgotten that they were marked.

D

Thank you, Don, for starting this topic. Unfortunately, I have no other sangerbund-related pins.

I wonder if there are other year designations for the Oberschwaben Kreis 30, SSB pins?

--dj--Joe

I have a couple more but I won't post them now, firstly I have to find them, plus it may help to stretch the thread out for a little longer .

I've never seen another number on a Oberschwaben, but I guess that there must be some. I have seen another SSB 30 for a different area, Neckarkries I believe, that one had blue enamel....

Don

We might even get some more collectors to share their examples.

--dj--Joe

Another of the "when was the Swastika added" pieces.... DSB Gau I Ostpreussen. I've seen them with a variety of different style Swastikas in the centre of the S, or treble clef, & also without a Swastika.... Marked on the pin plate to Carl Poellath, Schrobenhausen. Quite large badges around an inch & a half. There is some damage to the Swastika on this one, possibly an attempt to de-nazify it?

Don

De-nazify it or tighten it up. Being riveted they might tend to rotate.

--dj--Joe

You could be right there Joe.

Here's another piece that I have. To my knowledge there are two other designs out there, however I have only ever been able to find this version. DSB for Kreis Nürnberg in Gau Franken with a full laurel wreath surround. Manufactured by Lauer of Nürnberg.

Here for reference are the images that I have of the other two designs. One poor quality scan from Hüsken's catalogue which has a three quater wreath surround & the other taken from a dealer site who had sold the piece just before I spotted it

Don,,, on the DSB Gau I Ostpreussen piece,,,,is the big cross in black enamel?

Yes Gaspare, both the large central cross & the Swastika are enamel.

I have seen none of those variants. The last one you show has a lot of visuals, a rope (cord) and tassel, a lyre, the ribbon band, and laurel leaves without berries.
What are the two cities wappen other than Nurnberg? They look familiar.

( I'm guessing the blue shield with the gold or yellow eagle could represent the (eagle with the king's head) of the greater Wappen of Nurnberg. The half-eagle shield with red and white bars being the lesser wappen of the city). Got it, the half-red and three white (peaks). Franconia.

Thanks for showing them, Don.

--dj--Joe

You have always been sharper than I at figuring out wappens Joe. I have never had the patience to spend the time researching them, so thank you for looking for them And yes, there is indeed a lot going on with that last piece. I would love to be able to find one, but doubt that I will.

When I spotted this little stickpin I initially thought that it was a mini for the Nürnbergs above. However once I had it under my loupe I realised that it was for another area, Gau XIV, Magdeburg-Anhalt. Unmarked to the reverse.

Nice stick pin, Don. More runic on the S.

--dj--Joe

Thank you Joe, yes they haven't used the S as a semi quaver here.

Don

Here it is, I knew there was a gold one somewhere.

Reverse marked as you said Joe, to Frederick Mannheim, Kaiserlautern. I've lightened the close up reverse shot to show the mark better.

As I mentioned earlier, I once spotted a bronze grade but was beaten to it.... The leaf on those matches the colour of the Lyre. If your silver ever needs a new home Joe, just let me know, it will always be welcome this side of the pond....

Here are a couple of pieces that I'm sure that many will have seen before, I know that I have posted them elsewhere....

To give the organisation its full name the Reichsverbandes für Volksmusik in der Reichsmusikkammer, or RfV. Here is my set of pin back, stickpin & honour pin.... These are all marked on the back to Brehmer of Markneukirchen. You may notice that the honour pin is not just the membership badge with an added laurel leaf surround, as the membership badges are one piece with the oakleaves made onto them.

Interestingly examples can occasionally be found with ivory coloured enamel rather than red. At this moment, I cannot remember whether they also came in the honour form as well, or only the standard badge. The reverses are exactly the same as the red versions.... I've no idea what, if any, significance there was for this colour difference.

I also have a couple of membership books from different areas, with slightly different designs to the cover. However I will only show one which was for a Concert Singer...

As with other membership books that I have shown, the colours are bleached out by the bright light of the scanner....

very nice Don.

I wonder what is the significance of the red lyre on the membership badges. Interesting the variant white lyre. I did not see any reference to color in your membership book.

--dj-- joe

I've no idea Joe. I must admit that I haven't tried to read the membership book. There are several pages of script, if I get the time I will dig it out & have a look. The white/ivory ones are much harder to find than the red.....

Don

If there were more colors you would surmise Reichs, Gau, Kreis, and Orts. levels. But just red and white?

--dj--Joe

Unfortuntley we may never Joe

Here's a piece that took me years to find. NSSO, the Nationalsozialistisches Reichssinfonieorchester.... Unmarked to the reverse.

A nice-looking pin.

--dj--Joe

Thanks Joe.

Here's an interesting piece. quite large with multi construction. I've never been able to find out definitively what M.G.V was for. Obviously Austrian as Feldkirch was in Tirol-Vorarlberg. Maker marked to Adolf Beleda, Wein.

Hi Don. Another interesting piece.

M.G.V. = Männer Gesang Verein. What is 1 KRT?

--dj--Joe

That could well be it Joe. And did you notice my school boy error! I must have been having a senior moment…. Whilst Feldkirch is indeed in T-V, this badge isn’t from there, it’s from Feldkirchen which is in Carinthia, or Kärnten. So it’s not 1 KRT, it’s i KRT, im Kärnten….. D’oh!!!

But you caught and corrected your error, Don. Good catch.

If we make no errors we aren't doing anything. Which means I must be busy 24 / 7.

Kärnten from KRT. No wonder this hobby is so much fun!

--dj--Joe

Two more pieces this week. Firstly one that I definitely know that you've seen Joe. Probably a tinnie, but beautifully enamelled... 100 Jahrfeier Sängergau Kurhessen - Kassel. Marked to Ferdinand Wagner.

And a small DSB stickpin for Gau Sachsen-Anhalt. Maker marked Blasberg, Dessau (I've rotated one of the images to make it clearer.

Don,
I do recall the Kurhessen - Kassel piece. The enamel color stands out.
The Sachsen-Anhalt piece is interesting. Partially cut out around the arms and an angular acorn.

Thanks for sharing Don.

--dj--Joe

Yes the Sachsen-Anhalt is an odd piece, it's almost as though the manufacturer lost interest in it & decided not to finish them properly....

Another little piece. I won't bother showing the whole pin as otherwise it would be all stick & no pin so to speak. As you can tell by the thickness of the pin this is a tiny piece from Lobeda which, since 1946, has been a district of Jena. This is a difficult pin to read with the naked eye as it is so small & the blue is such a deep colour. The semiquaver is visable but not so much the name... The reverse is marked to Carl Wild, Hamburg.

Small it may be but it is a looker.

--dj--Joe

Another DSB stickpin "Für Verdienste - Sängerkreis Ostharz" reverse marked once again to E.Schmidhausler, Phorzheim...

Nice Don. I like when they slip in a scenic view of the subject area.

--dj--Joe

Another very small stickpin this week. I assume going by the design of the Lyre that this could be for the Reichsverband für Volksmusik, however I've no idea what the letters represent....

Don

Do you think, Fraktur M and L with a runic style S?

--dj--Joe

I’m glad that you think that Joe as it was my guess as well. However what they represent I’ve no idea

Two pieces from the same group this week. Liedertafel Germania von 1851 from Wesermünde Lehe near Bremerhaven. In 1946 the group merged with M. G. V. Harmonie von 1868 & M. G. V. Concordia von 1888 to form the Chorvereinigung Concordia Bremerhaven e. V. who are still in existance today....

I will not bother with the reverses as they are totally devoid of markings.

Interesting details to the first pin.
I don't know where you keep locating the different pins, Don. Glad you do. Best of luck as you continue to build on these membership pieces.

--dj--Joe

Thank you Joe. I'm afraid that it's mainly the result of a misspent youth & to a lesser degree a misspent old age....

I know that you have a talent Joe for identifying wappen, well here's one for you to tackle. A very early button hole badge with a wappen hanger.... Sängerchor Deutscher Kameraden der Arbeit.

I belive it's Köln, Don. I'm surprised they did not enamel the dangly Wappen. Three gold crowns (for the Magi), on a red field, over eleven gouttes on a white field.
Another interesting badge.

Thanks for showing it Don.

--dj--joe

Excellent!!! Thank you Joe, I know that you would be able to come up with the goods

Forgot that I had this little piece, probably more of a tinnie than an organisational badge for (I assume) the 75 years Jubilee of the music group in Wassertrüdingen....

Hi Don, it does have a day badge look to it.
I can't figure out what is in the shield shape. Is it a folk singer's head above perhaps the castle roof and wall?

The more I look at it the more I think I'm seeing things. What I thought was a singing head is probably a cupola. They have some fancy roof architecture.

--dj--Joe

I think it's a cupola Joe. A stylised image of their town hall. if ylou look carefully at the bottom of the building on the badge, you can just make out the arched entrance.... Here is a full size crop from the badge plus a pic of the town hall today....

I looked right at that entrance gate picture too.

--dj--Joe

I've posted these before elsewhere so you may well have seen them before. Sängerbund Westmark from the Saar region. The standard membership pin along with the silver & gold honor pins. The reverses are marked to E.Schmidhaussler. Interestingly, each letter of the maker marks are individually punched out with a tiny pin or dot punch. The first time I saw this I was naturally worried as to authenticity, however, over the years I have seen many Schmidhaussler pins including Opferschiessen & other shooting pins marked the same way. I cannot imagine how long it took to punch out each tiny letter using a dot punch.... I'll only post one reverse unless you really want to see the others...

Don

Due to the poor depth of field, the scanner doesn't really pick up the maker mark that clearly....

Hi Don. I do recall those pieces.
Interesting about the maker stamp. I will have to dig through my pile and see if I have a Schmidhaussler-marked piece.
My memory clicked slightly - is this the set that there is a variant? Something to do with Gau.

--dj--Joe

Added an image. Can you see the punch marks on mine? My old eyes aren't working.

I'm not sure that I can Joe, looks like yours is a full name stamp rather than pin punched letters.

You pre-empted me regarding the variant . There is indeed one, much rarer than the ones above, although I suspect that they are often missed as the difference is so small - Sängergau rather than Sängerbund. So far, all of the ones that I have seen, which isn't many, are unmarled to the reverse.

Here are my silver & gold honour stickpins. So far I have never seen, or heard of, a standard bronze coloured member pin with Sängergau. I will only show one reverse so save space.

Don

Sangergau, that would be hard to see if not paying close attention.

I wasn't sure about the makers mark, the P appears to have small circular indentations.

--dj--Joe

I see what you mean. Maybe it is pin punched. If it is, it’s a lot neater than mine

I don't have any tinnies, pins, or badges but did run across a few paper items and hope it fits under the 'related items' term.
If nothing else the post will bring a fantastic thread btt. If you feel it doesn't fit don't hesitate to pull.

1) 1928 Hardcover book with many photos but the cool dust jacket made it imo.

Opera program bordered with nearly 150 swastika.
Photo taken under raking light because details are barely noticeable otherwise.

Very nice pieces, thank you for taking the time to post them.

Don

Dean,
Thank you. Great art work on the dust jacket.

--dj--Joe

I finally managed to find a gold Baden honour badge....

With the silver....

Don, nice find. Must have been a limited number issued?

--dj--Joe

Thanks Joe. Possibly, I don't really know. Whatever the reason, it's been a tough piece to find...