This is a very nice example, although not scarce, of a NSDAP/Gautreffen medallion in porcelain, with "gilding."
A "Gau" is similar to a province, or region, as in Ostgau, Allgäu, etc.
It was issued by the Gau Bayreuth Ostmark, or Eastern Bayreuth March, originally the Gau Bayerische Ostmark (= Bavarian), in 1936 for the Gautreffen, a sort of leadership conference/meeting of the Gau's key leaders and the Gauleiter, usually a high ranking SS officer; their key duties included propaganda, espionage, local defense and the organization of militias, HJ brigades, and hosting NSDAP meetings and conferences, etc.
The obverse is the Wagner-Festspielhaus in Bayreuth as made famous by Wagner, whose "Ring cycle" was a part of the Nazi mythology. The Reichsadler grasps the wreath with swastika within.
On the reverse, you see a prototypical and idealized Aryan male, nude, in the Volkisch art style, wielding a sword in his right hand and a shield, left, with a Nordic rune on it, another reference to Nazi mythology. He is using the sword (which is hilariously and disproportionately large) to fend off the serpent's attack and sever its neck.
The motto means "Make the Ostmark strong for me", literally "Make for me the Ostmark strong" -- a rallying cry to remind the leadership that they need to stand behind their soldiers at war and to remind the citizens to defend the Reich against its enemies.
Unfortunately, in 1945, der Führer declared Bayreuth a Festungßtadt, or Festungsstadt -- fortress town -- and ordered its Gauleiter, an SS-Obergruppenführer (Lt. Gen.) named Fritz Wächtler, to command all NSDAP members and military personnel to bunker down and make a stand. The Allies had other thoughts, and decimated Bayreuth with firebombing and conventional explosives, levelling over half of the city. The brave SS-Obf. Herr Wächtler, who was already hated by Bormann (who considered him a defeatist and traitor), showed his "Stark" by fleeing to a small town and hiding out in a hotel near the Czech border; therein, 35 SS troops acting on Bormann's orders caught up with him and summarily executed him for desertion (19 April 1945), while American tanks went about their business of liberating Bayreuth (which they captured on 14 April 1945, 5 days before.)
A quick search turns up average selling prices, if in its original presentation case, of around 70-120 Euros, =USD75-125. Keep in mind that the sale of this medal is entirely forbidden in Germany, including by US sellers to German residents, and if listed on
ebay, the swastika should be blurred out of the image if used in the listing or your listing may be subject to removal if reported for offensive content. Certain other countries also have very strict bans on the purchase or ownership of Nazi militaria or memorabilia.
Disclaimer: I do not in any way support or endorse the ideals, images, or philosophies of the Nazi Party or the Third Reich.
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"Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done." -- Louis D. Brandeis
Posted 03/08/2017 6:48 pm
