A Gau badge (''Gau-Abzeichen'') or Gau Commemorate Badges (''Gau-Traditions'', ''Gau-Ehrenzeichen'') were a
political award of 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 ...
, issued by various
Gauleiter
A ''Gauleiter'' () was a regional leader of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) who served as the head of a ''Administrative divisions of Nazi Germany, Gau'' or ''Reichsgau''. ''Gauleiter'' was the third-highest Ranks and insignia of the Nazi Party, rank in ...
s of the Nazi political districts to recognize loyal service or to commemorate an event.
A Gau 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 ...
, which was a geographical region parallel to the
traditional German states (known as ''
Länder''). The Gau badges were considered Party awards, but were not recognized as national awards. Regulations for award were determined by the Gauleiter as were any award degrees. They could be worn at any time, except when wearing the
Golden Party Badge. A few were issued in different classes, such as silver and gold.
List of Gau badges
* General Gau Badge (1923 and 1925)
*
Thuringia
Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area.
Er ...
Gau Badge
*
Baden
Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine.
History
The margraves of Ba ...
Gau Badge
*
East Hannover Gau Badge
*
Essen
Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...
Gau Badge
*
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
Gau Badge
*
Danzig Gau Badge
*
East Prussia
East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...
Gau Badge
*
Wartheland
The Reichsgau Wartheland (initially Reichsgau Posen, also Warthegau) was a Nazi Germany, Nazi German ''Reichsgau'' formed from parts of Second Polish Republic, Polish territory Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, annexed in 1939 during World War ...
Badge
*
Sudetenland
The Sudetenland ( , ; Czech and ) is a German name for the northern, southern, and western areas of former Czechoslovakia which were inhabited primarily by Sudeten Germans. These German speakers had predominated in the border districts of Bohe ...
Badge
Notes
References
*{{cite book , last = Angolia , first = John , title = For Führer and Fatherland: Political & Civil Awards of the Third Reich , publisher = R. James Bender Publishing , year = 1989 , isbn = 978-0-912-13816-9
Orders, decorations, and medals of Nazi Germany
Nazi Gaue