PRE WW2 GERMAN NAZI PARTY ENAMEL LAPEL BADGE BY FRITZ ZIMMERMANN OF STUTTGART

Description

Pre WW2 made Nazi Party Membership Badge. Brass & enamel badge, with good condition enamel face and brass reverse, with lapel catch. Enamel shows some hairline cracks, repairs & small chip to 6 O’clock. M1/72 RZM marked – for Fritz Zimmermann, Stuttgart. Rare to see these brass made lapel worn examples. Measures 22mm wide.

The NSDAP, Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, (National Socialist German Worker’s Party), was originally founded in Munich as the DAP, Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, (German Worker’s Party), on January 5TH 1919. When Adolf Hitler joined the DAP in the autumn of 1919 he was to reform what was basically a debating society into an active political party. Appointed as the first chairman of the party on July 29TH 1921 Hitler was to restructure it along para-military lines in a hierarchy of four levels of government. Of Note: In late 1934 items manufactured for the NSKK, including membership pins, came under the quality control of the RZM, Reichzeugmeisterei, (National Equipment Quartermaster) and as a result were marked with the RZM logo when appropriate. Of Note: The RZM was official founded in June 1934 in Munich by the NSDAP as a Reich Hauptamt, (State Central Office), and was based on the earlier SA Quartermaster’s Department. The functions of the RZM were not only to procure and distribute items to Party formations, but also to approve chosen designs and to act as a quality control supervisor to ensure items manufactured for the Party met required specification and were standardized.