The German Occupation Medals were a series of
awards, also known as the ''"Flower War medals"'', created to commemorate the successive annexations by
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
of neighbouring countries and regions with large ethnic German populations. These comprised
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
(March 1938), the
Sudetenland (October 1938) and
Memel (March 1939). The occupation of the remainder of
western Czechoslovakia (March 1939) was marked by the 'Prague Bar', worn on the ribbon of the Sudetenland Medal.
The awards
All three medals have a common obverse designed by Professor
Richard Klein, Director of the Munich School of Applied Arts and a favoured artist of the Nazi establishment.
The criteria for each of the medals and the Prague bar were broadly the same. They were awarded to those, both military and civilian, who participated in or contributed to the occupation, including members of the German Wehrmacht, German State officials and local Nazi supporters who had worked for union with Germany.
[
The wearing of Nazi era awards was banned in 1945. Occupation medals were not among those awards reauthorized for official wear by the ]Federal Republic of Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...
in 1957.
A Campaign streamer
Campaign streamers are decorations attached to military flags to recognize particular achievements or events of a military unit or service. Attached to the headpiece of the assigned flag, the streamer often is an inscribed ribbon with the na ...
() in the colours of the appropriate medal ribbon could be attached to the flag of those regiments that had taken part in these occupations.
See also
*Anschluss
The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938.
The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...
- The German annexation of Austria
* Occupation of Czechoslovakia by Nazi Germany
* The German annexation of Memel
* Interwar period
References
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, portal1=Military of Germany
, portal2=World War II
Military awards and decorations of Nazi Germany