The term () refers to a reorganized front organization of the ''

Sturmabteilung The (; SA; or 'Storm Troopers') was the original paramilitary organisation under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party of Germany. It played a significant role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power, Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and early 1930s. I ...

'' or SA which was formed in April 1924.Davidson, M. (2010). ''The Perfect Nazi: Uncovering My SS Grandfather's Secret Past and How Hitler Seduced a Generation''. United Kingdom: Penguin Books Limited. It was created to replace the SA which had been banned in the aftermath of the failed

Munich Putsch The Beer Hall Putsch, also known as the Munich Putsch,Dan Moorhouse, ed schoolshistory.org.uk, accessed 2008-05-31.Known in German as the or was a failed coup d'état by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler, Erich Ludendorff and other leaders i ...

. It was disbanded in February 1925 after the ban on the SA was lifted.

History

The Frontbann was a reorganized and renamed version of the SA. It was created in April 1924 as a substitute for the then banned SA in the aftermath of the failed "Beer Hall Putsch" of November 1923. 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) including the SA was outlawed by the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

government following the putsch. The Nazi Party was briefly renamed the National Socialist Freedom Party to maintain its legality and the SA was similarly renamed. Like the party it served, the Frontbann included the same members and performed the same functions as its predecessor. It contained many of the original members of the SA and was still led by Ernst Röhm. Frontbann units were formed throughout Germany.

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 ...

was the leader of the Frontbann unit in Berlin and

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 ...

was a member of the unit in Thüringen. It had about 30,000 members across Germany. The Frontbann was disbanded on February 27, 1925 when the ban was lifted on the Nazi Party and was reformed back into the SA.

The uniform

The Frontbann uniform was similar to the Nazi Party SA uniform. Instead of a brown shirt and brown cap, they wore a field grey shirt with a grey cap; otherwise, it was the same. The arm band was essentially the same as that of the Nazi Party. The only change was the placement of a steel helmet at the centre of the red brassard, instead of the black swastika.

Frontbann badge

The Frontbann Badge (''Frontbannabzeichen''), was established in 1932 by the SA-Gruppe-Berlin-Brandenburg. It was a badge to commemorate the Frontbann. To be able to obtain and wear the badge, one had to have joined the Frontbann prior to December 31, 1927 and had membership in the Nazi Party or another right-wing paramilitary organisation prior to that date. The badge was silver in color, had a pin back and measured 20 mm. It consisted of a

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 a

Stahlhelm The ''Stahlhelm'' (German for "''steel helmet''") is a term used to refer to a series of German steel combat helmet designs intended to protect the wearer from common battlefield hazards such as shrapnel. The armies of the great powers began ...

in the middle; written on the arms of the swastika were the words, ("We want to be free"). It was listed as an official decoration of the Nazi Party in 1933. By the end of 1934 the authorization was removed. It was no longer a badge that could be worn by NSDAP members.

Notes

References

* * * {{cite book , last = Miller , first = Michael , year = 2006 , title = Leaders of the SS and German Police, Vol. 1 , publisher = R. James Bender , location = San Jose, CA , isbn = 978-93-297-0037-2 Sturmabteilung Orders, decorations, and medals of Nazi Germany