Original German Pre-WWII NSDAP 1935 Reichsjägermeister Hermann Göring Commemorative Propaganda Medal

Original Item: Only One Available. The Hunting and Forestry organizations under the German monarchy were often controlled by aristocrats and well-heeled businessman. They were generally not organizations habituated by the common man. The purposes were generally formed for the conservation of game and forestry. Elaborate hunts were great occasions for the well-heeled, while the ladies used the hunting lodges for match-making and gossip.

During the period of NSDAP control, the many Hunting and Forestry associations were one of the last areas to be taken over by the NSDAP, however before the war started all were collected into two organizations that were closely associated. The Deutsche Jägerschaft (German Hunters Association) and Forstschutzkommando (Forest Protection Command) were tasked with regulating hunting and protecting the forests during the Third Reich, and both were headed by the same person: Reichsforst- und Reichsjägermeister (National Forest and Hunting Master) Hermann Göring. An arrogant man who saw himself as Nobility, this was a perfect position to help him rub elbows with wealthy Germans.

This is a very nice example of a German Pre-WWII NSDAP Propaganda Medal, made to commemorate Hermann Göring being named to the position of Reichsjägermeister. The party made many commemorative propaganda items, both as a way to raise money, and as a way to make the symbolism of the party ubiquitous in everyday life.

The medal measures 35mm in diameter with a thickness of 3mm, and is stamped on the side by maker BAYER. HAUPTMÜNZAMT, or the Bavarian State Mint, a known maker of these medals. The original designer of the medal was Karl Xaver Goetz, based in Munich, who designed many such medals during the WWI and WWII periods. This example looks to be made from gilt brass, making it very attractive. The front of the medal shows a bust of Göring looking to the right with a hunting cap on, with the year 1935 to his left. Around the perimeter is the following inscription:

REICHS·JÄGERMEISTER·HERMANN·GÖRING

The reverse of the medal shows the classic German forest scene, with a stag in repose in the foreground, and in the background is an Owl watching over nature on top of a monument marked as follows:

FÜR
NATUR-
SCHUTZ

This translates to "For Nature Conservation".

Condition is very good, showing only some light oxidation spotting on both sides. A very interesting piece of Third Reich propaganda material!

NSDAP Party

The NSDAP, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of N**ism. Its precursor, the German Workers' Party (Deutsche Arbeiterpartei; DAP), existed from 1919 to 1920. The Party emerged from the extremist German nationalist, racist and populist Freikorps paramilitary culture, which fought against the communist uprisings in post–World War I Germany. The party was created to draw workers away from communism and into völkisch nationalism. Initially, N**i political strategy focused on anti–big business, anti‑bourgeois, and anti‑capitalist rhetoric. This was later downplayed to gain the support of business leaders, and in the 1930s the party's main focus shifted to antisemitic and anti‑Marxist themes.

Ad**f Hi**er, the party's leader since 1921, was appointed Chancellor of Germany by President Paul von Hindenburg on 30 January 1933. Hitl** rapidly established a totalitarian regime known as the Third Reich. Following the defeat of the Third Reich at the end of World War II in Europe, the party was "declared to be illegal" by the Allied powers, who carried out denazification in the years after the war both in Germany and in territories occupied by NSDAP forces. The use of any symbols associated with the party is now outlawed in many European countries, including Germany and Austria.