The Blood Order (), officially known as the Decoration in Memory of 9 November 1923 (), was one of the most prestigious decorations in the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

(NSDAP). During March 1934, Hitler authorized the Blood Order to commemorate the 9 November 1923 coup attempt of the Nazi Party. The medal is silver, with the obverse bearing a depiction of an eagle grasping an oak leaf wreath. Inside the wreath is the date and to the right is the inscription . The reverse shows the entrance of the

Feldherrnhalle The Feldherrnhalle ("Field Marshals' Hall") is a monumental loggia on the Odeonsplatz in Munich, Germany. Modelled after the Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence, it was commissioned in 1841 by King Ludwig I of Bavaria to honour the tradition of th ...

in relief (where the coup ended in defeat), and directly above is the angled

swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍, ) is a symbol used in various Eurasian religions and cultures, as well as a few Indigenous peoples of Africa, African and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American cultures. In the Western world, it is widely rec ...

with sun rays in the background. Along the top edge is the inscription: ("And after all, you won").

History

The first issue of the decoration, struck in 99% pure silver, was awarded to 1,500 participants in the putsch who had also been members of the

or one of its formations before January 1932 (continuous service), or had been cadets from the Munich Infantry School who marched in support of Ludendorff. All medals were numbered (except Hitler's and Göring's) and awarding was done very carefully. Unlike other medals, the ribbon was worn on the right breast of the uniform tunic in the form of a rosette and the medal sometimes was pinned on and suspended below. In May 1938, to the dismay of the putsch participants, the award was extended to persons who had (a) served time in prison for Nazi activities before 1933, (b) received a death sentence which was later commuted to life imprisonment for Nazi activities before 1933, or (c) been severely wounded in the service of the Party before 1933; subsequently it was further extended to members of the Austrian Nazi Party who had participated in the 1934

July Putsch The July Putsch () was a failed coup d'état in Austria against the Fatherland Front government of Engelbert Dollfuss by Austrian Nazis from 25 to 30 July 1934. The Austrian Legion and Austrian '' Schutzstaffel'' soldiers with support from ...

, or who had received significant prison time or injuries for Nazi activities. It could also be bestowed on certain other individuals at the discretion of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

, the last recipient being

Reinhard Heydrich Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich ( , ; 7 March 1904 – 4 June 1942) was a German high-ranking SS and police official during the Nazi era and a principal architect of the Holocaust. He held the rank of SS-. Many historians regard Heydrich ...

(posthumous). These subsequent medals were struck in 80% silver with serial numbers above 1500 and did not carry the maker's name () as the Type I medals did. If a holder of this medal left the party, the medal would have to be relinquished. In total 16 women received the award, two from the 'Altreich' (

Eleonore Baur Eleonore Baur (7 September 1885 – 18 May 1981), also known as "Sister Pia", was an early member of the Nazi Party and the only woman known to have participated in the Munich Beer Hall Putsch.''The Adelaide Advertiser'', "Pioneer Nazi", 2 Se ...

and Emma Schneider) and 14 from Austria. Given the number of original marchers in the putsch, the number of awards given under the 1938 extensions (436), and the awards for outstanding service under those same extensions, the total number of recipients numbered fewer than 6,000. In November 1936, Hitler gave new "orders" for the "Orders and Awards" of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. The top NSDAP awards are listed in this order: 1.

Coburg Badge The Coburg Badge () was the first badge recognised as a national award of the Nazi Party (NSDAP). Subsequently, it formally was given precedence as the highest Party award. History On 14 October 1922 Adolf Hitler led 800 members of the ''S ...

; 2. Nürnberg Party Badge of 1929; 3. SA Treffen at Brunswick 1931; 4.

Golden Party Badge __NOTOC__ The Golden Party Badge () was an award authorised by Adolf Hitler in a decree in October 1933. It was a special award given to all Nazi Party members who had, as of 9 November 1933, registered numbers from 1 to 100,000 (issued on 1 Oc ...

; 5. Blood Order; followed by the Gau badges and the Golden HJ Badge.

Selected recipients

Wilhelm Adam Wilhelm Adam (28 March 1893 – 24 November 1978) was an officer in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. Following the German surrender after the Battle of Stalingrad, he became a member of the National Committee for a Free Germ ...

Max Amann Max Amann (24 November 1891 – 30 March 1957) was a high-ranking member of the Nazi Party, a German politician, businessman and art collector, including of looted art. He was the first business manager of the Nazi Party and later became the hea ...

* Heinrich Bennecke *

Joseph Berchtold Joseph Berchtold (6 March 1897 – 23 August 1962) was a German Nazi official and journalist who was the 2nd ''Reichsführer-SS'' from 1926 to 1927. An early senior Nazi Party member, he was a co-founder of the (SA) and (SS). Berchtold serve ...

Johannes Block __NOTOC__ Johannes Block (17 November 1894 – 26 January 1945) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II who held commands at division and corps level. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. Blo ...

* Franz Bock *

Martin Bormann Martin Ludwig Bormann (17 June 1900 – 2 May 1945) was a German Nazi Party official and head of the Nazi Party Chancellery, private secretary to Adolf Hitler, and a war criminal. Bormann gained immense power by using his position as Hitler ...

Kuno-Hans von Both __NOTOC__ Kuno-Hans von Both (9 April 1884 – 22 May 1955) was a German general during World War II. He was a recipient of both the Pour le Mérite of the German Empire and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. He was also award ...

Philipp Bouhler Philipp Bouhler (11 September 1899 – 19 May 1945) was a German senior Nazi Party functionary who was both a (National Leader) and Chief of the Chancellery of the Führer of the NSDAP. He was also the SS official responsible for the euthana ...

Wilhelm Bruckner Wilhelm may refer to: People and fictional characters * William Charles John Pitcher, costume designer known professionally as "Wilhelm" * Wilhelm (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname Other uses * Wilhe ...

Walter Buch Walter Buch (24 October 1883 – 12 September 1949) was a German Nazi jurist who served as Chairman of the Uschla/Supreme Party Court from 1927 to 1945. Buch was early member of the Nazi Party, the SA, and the SS, a close associate of Ado ...

Karl-Heinz Bürger Karl-Heinz Bürger (16 February 1904 – 2 December 1988) was a German SS functionary who held positions as SS and Police Leader during the Nazi era. Career Bürger became a member of the brownshirt SA in June 1923, taking part in the Beer Hal ...

Kurt Daluege Kurt Max Franz Daluege (15 September 1897 – 24 October 1946) was a German ''SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer'' and ''Generaloberst'' of the police, the highest ranking police officer, who served as chief of ''Ordnungspolizei'' (Order Police) of N ...

Eduard Dietl Eduard Wohlrat Christian Dietl (21 July 1890 – 23 June 1944) was a German general during World War II who commanded the 20th Mountain Army. He received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. Military career Born in ...

Sepp Dietrich Josef "Sepp" Dietrich (28 May 1892 – 21 April 1966) was a German politician, general and war criminal in the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) during the Nazi era. Despite having no formal staff officer training, Dietrich was, along with Paul Hausser, t ...

* Franz Xaver Dorsch *

Anton Drexler Anton Drexler (13 June 1884 – 24 February 1942) was a German far-right political agitator for the ''Völkisch'' movement in the 1920s. He founded the German Workers' Party (DAP), the pan-German and anti-Semitic antecedent of the Nazi Part ...

Dietrich Eckart Dietrich Eckart (; 23 March 1868 – 26 December 1923) was a German '' völkisch'' poet, playwright, journalist, publicist, and political activist who was one of the founders of the German Workers' Party, the precursor of the Nazi Party. Eckart ...

Hermann Esser Hermann Esser (29 July 1900 – 7 February 1981) was an early member of the Nazi Party (NSDAP). A journalist, Esser was the editor of the Nazi paper, ''Völkischer Beobachter'', a propaganda leader, and a vice president of the Reichstag. In the ...

Karl Fiehler Karl Fiehler (31 August 1895 – 8 December 1969) was a German Nazi Party (NSDAP) official and Mayor of Munich from 1933 until 1945. He was an early member of the Nazi Party having joined in 1920. In 1933, he became a ''Reichsleiter'' in the p ...

Josef Fitzthum Josef Fitzthum (14 September 1896 – 10 January 1945) was a high-ranking Austrian member of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) and Special Representative of the ''Reichsführer-SS'' in Albania during World War II. A commander of the Waffen-SS, he was k ...

Hans Frank Hans Michael Frank (23 May 1900 – 16 October 1946) was a German Nazi politician, lawyer and convicted war criminal who served as head of the General Government in German-occupied Poland during the Second World War. Frank was an early member ...

Wilhelm Frick Wilhelm Frick (12 March 1877 – 16 October 1946) was a German prominent politician of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) and convicted war criminal who served as Minister of the Interior in Adolf Hitler's cabinet from 1933 to 1943 and as the last governor ...

Johann Baptist Fuchs Johann Baptist Fuchs (8 June 1877 – 18 November 1938) was a German professional military officer who served in the Royal Bavarian Army during the First World War, and also was a member of the post-war ''Freikorps''. He became a senior state po ...

Albert Ganzenmüller Albert Ganzenmüller (born 25 February 1905 in Passau – died 20 March 1996 in Munich) was a German Nazi and, as the State Secretary at the Reich Transport Ministry ''()'', was involved in the deportation of German Jews. Career Albert Ganz ...

* Ernst Girzick *

Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician, aviator, military leader, and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which gov ...

Ulrich Graf Ulrich Graf (6 July 1878 – 3 March 1950) was an early member of the Nazi Party and one of Adolf Hitler's inner circle. In 1923, he served in a bodyguard unit for Hitler and was wounded in the Beer Hall Putsch. Graf was considered a lifesaver ...

* Jakob Grimminger *

Ernst Hanfstaengl Ernst Franz Sedgwick Hanfstaengl (; 2 February 1887 – 6 November 1975) was a German American businessman and close friend of Adolf Hitler. He eventually fell out of favour with Hitler and defected from Nazi Germany to the United States. He la ...

* Friedrich Haselmayr * Franz Hayler *

Edmund Heines Edmund Heines (21 July 1897 – 30 June 1934) was a German Nazi politician and Deputy to Ernst Röhm, the '' Stabschef'' of the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA). Heines was one of the earliest members of the Nazi Party and a leading member of the SA in ...

* Wilhelm Helfer *

Otto Herzog Otto Friedrich Herzog (30 October 1900 – 6 May 1945) was a German Nazi Party politician and SA-''Obergruppenführer''. During the closing months of the Second World War, he commanded the ''Volkssturm'' forces during the siege of Breslau and die ...

Rudolf Hess Rudolf Walter Richard Hess (Heß in German; 26 April 1894 – 17 August 1987) was a German politician, Nuremberg trials, convicted war criminal and a leading member of the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, Germany. Appointed Deputy Führer ( ...

* Walter Hewel *

(posthumous, June 1942) *

Friedrich Hildebrandt Friedrich Hildebrandt (19 September 1898 – 5 November 1948) was a Nazi Party politician, a ''Gauleiter'' and an SS-''Obergruppenführer''. He was found guilty and executed for war crimes committed during the Second World War. Early life H ...

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and military leader who was the 4th of the (Protection Squadron; SS), a leading member of the Nazi Party, and one of the most powerful p ...

(withdrawn, April 1945) *

Hans Hinkel Johann Heinrich "Hans" Hinkel (22 June 1901 – 8 February 1960) was a journalist, Nazi Party official and politician in Nazi Germany. He mainly worked in the Reich Chamber of Culture and the Reich Ministry of Propaganda. He was involved in ex ...

* Hermann Höfle * Hans Georg Hofmann *

Adolf Hühnlein Adolf Hühnlein (12 September 1881 – 18 June 1942) was a German soldier and Nazi Party (NSDAP) official. He was the '' Korpsführer'' (Corps Leader) of the National Socialist Motor Corps (NSKK) from 1933 until his death in 1942. Early years H� ...

Ernst Kaltenbrunner Ernst Kaltenbrunner (4 October 1903 – 16 October 1946) was an Austrian high-ranking SS official during the Nazi era, major perpetrator of the Holocaust and convicted war criminal. After the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in 1942, and a ...

* Emil Ketterer *

Günther Korten Günther Korten (26 July 1898 – 22 July 1944) was a German Colonel General and Chief of the General Staff of the Luftwaffe in World War II. He died from injuries suffered in the 20 July plot, assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler on 20 July 19 ...

* Fritz Ritter von Krausser *

Werner Kreipe Werner Kreipe (12 April 1904 – 7 September 1967) was a German World War II Luftwaffe General der Flieger. Luftwaffe career Kreipe joined the Luftwaffe in 1934. Kreipe held various staff positions until the winter 1939/40, when he was selected ...

* Theodor Kretschmer * Otto von Kursell * Wilhelm Friedrich Loeper *

Erich Ludendorff Erich Friedrich Wilhelm Ludendorff (; 9 April 1865 – 20 December 1937) was a German general and politician. He achieved fame during World War I (1914–1918) for his central role in the German victories at Battle of Liège, Liège and Battle ...

Emil Maurice Emil Maurice (; 19 January 1897 – 6 February 1972) was a German Nazi official and a founding member of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS). He was Hitler's first personal chauffeur, and was one of several persons of mixed Jewish and ethnic German ances ...

* Josef Albert Meisinger *

Heinz Pernet Heinz Pernet (5 September 1896 – 30 June 1973) was a German military officer and Erich Ludendorff's stepson. He was a top figure in the Beer Hall Putsch of November 1923. He was among the nine men tried and convicted along with Adolf Hitler and ...

Karl-Jesko von Puttkamer Karl-Jesko Otto Robert von Puttkamer (24 March 1900 – 4 March 1981) was a German admiral who was naval adjutant to Adolf Hitler during World War II. Military service Puttkamer was born in Frankfurt (Oder) and was a member of the Puttkamer f ...

* Helmuth Raithel * Friedrich Josef Rauch *

Ernst Röhm Ernst Julius Günther Röhm (; 28 November 1887 – 1 July 1934) was a German military officer, politician and a leading member of the Nazi Party. A close friend and early ally of Adolf Hitler, Röhm was the co-founder and leader of the (SA), t ...

Alfred Rosenberg Alfred Ernst Rosenberg ( – 16 October 1946) was a Baltic German Nazi theorist and ideologue. Rosenberg was first introduced to Adolf Hitler by Dietrich Eckart and he held several important posts in the Nazi government. He was the head o ...

Julius Schaub Julius Schaub (20 August 1898 – 27 December 1967) was an aide and adjutant to German dictator Adolf Hitler from the 1920s until the dictator's suicide on 30 April 1945. Born in 1898 in Munich, Bavaria, Schaub served as a field medic during ...

Julian Scherner Julian Scherner (23 September 1895 – 28 April 1945) was a Nazi Party official and a high-ranking member in the SS of Nazi Germany. During World War II, he served as the SS and Police Leader of Kraków, Germany-occupied Poland. Early life Sch ...

Arno Schickedanz Arno Schickedanz (27 December 1892 – 12 April 1945) was a German diplomat who held paramount positions in both the NSDAP Office of Foreign Affairs (APA) and the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories (RMfdbO) of Nazi Germany. Bo ...

* Wilhelm Schmid *

Julius Schreck Julius Schreck (13 July 1898 – 16 May 1936) was a German Nazi official and close confidant of Adolf Hitler. Born in Munich, Schreck served in World War I and shortly afterwards joined right-wing paramilitary units. He joined the Nazi Party in ...

Walter Schultze Walter Schultze (1 January 189416 August 1979) was a German physician and (Reich Leader of University Teachers) in Nazi Germany between 1935 and 1943. Early life and career Schultze was born on 1 January 1894 in Hersbruck in the German Empire. ...

* Franz Xaver Schwarz *

Franz Schwede Franz Reinhold Schwede (5 March 1888 – 19 October 1960) was a Nazi German politician, '' Oberbürgermeister'' (Lord Mayor) of Coburg and both ''Gauleiter'' and '' Oberpräsident'' of Pomerania. An early supporter of Adolf Hitler in Coburg, Schw ...

Julius Streicher Julius Sebastian Streicher (12 February 1885 – 16 October 1946) was a German publicist, politician and convicted war criminal. A member of the Nazi Party, he served as the ''Gauleiter'' (regional leader) of Franconia and a member of the '' Reic ...

Adolf Wagner Adolf Wagner (1 October 1890 – 12 April 1944) was a German Nazi Party official and politician who served as the ''Gauleiter'' in Munich and as the powerful Interior Minister of Bavaria throughout most of the Third Reich. Early years Born in A ...

Robert Heinrich Wagner Robert Heinrich Wagner, born as Robert Heinrich Backfisch (13 October 1895 – 14 August 1946) was a German Nazi Party official and politician who served as ''Gauleiter'' and ''Reichsstatthalter'' of Baden, and Chief of Civil Administrati ...

Karl Wahl Karl Wahl (24 September 1892 – 18 February 1981) was a German politician who served as the Nazi ''Gauleiter'' of Gau Swabia from the '' Gau'' inception in 1928 until the collapse of Nazi Germany in 1945. After the war, Wahl spent 3½ year ...

History

Selected recipients

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

Further reading