Original German WWII NSDAP Bronze Presentation Eagle with Agricultural Council Director Dedication on Brown Marble Plinth - 16 1/4" Tall

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very interesting WWII German National Socialist Party (NSDAP) presentation eagle, which looks to be made of bronze, standing atop a fantastic brown marble plinth / pedestal. The piece measures an impressive 16 1/4" tall, and the eagle has a wing span of 9 1/2". The base section of the plinth is 6"W x 5"D x 3"H, and pillar atop it about 6 1/2". The front of the pillar has an applied metal "static" swas (hook cross), and the base has a dedication plaque affixed, which reads as follows:

Gewidmet unserem scheidenden, lieben
LANDW.-RAT DIREKTOR KÖSTER
in Anerkennung u. Dankbarkeit für seine
Aufopferung u. ganz hervorragenden Darbietungen.
Zwickau Sa.                 Landw. Verein
Dezember 1939          Zwickau-Stadt

Translated, this reads "Dedicated to our departing, dear Agricultural Councilor Director Köster in recognition and gratitude for his dedication and truly outstanding service." The bottom left two lines indicate it was presented in Zwickau Sachsen (Saxony) in December 1939, and the right side indicates it was presented by the Landwirtschaft Verein (Agricultural Society) of Zwickau City.

Köster was the director of the Landwirtschaftsrat (Agricultural Council), an older organization which during the NSDAP period was made part of the Reichsnährstand (State Food Society). This was one of many organizations made to make sure that Germany would have the production capabilities necessary for the war, and having the most advanced and efficient food production was vital to this. Köster was definitely a person of importance to have received an award such as this. A fantastic display piece more than worthy of further research.

The Reichsnährstand or 'State Food Society', was a government body set up in NSDAP Germany to regulate food production, put into action by the the Reichsnährstandsgesetz (decree) of 13 September 1933; it was led by R. Walther Darré.

The Reichsnährstand had legal authority over everyone involved in agricultural production and distribution. It attempted to interfere in the market for agricultural goods, using a complex system of orders, price controls, and prohibitions, through regional marketing associations. Under the “Hereditary Farm Law of 1933” (Reichsnährstandsgesetz), farmers were bound to their land since most agricultural land could not be sold. The law was enacted to protect and preserve Germany's smaller hereditary estates that were no larger than 308 acres (125 ha). Below that acreage, farmlands could “not be sold, divided, mortgaged or foreclosed on for debt.” Cartel-like marketing boards fixed prices, regulated supplies and oversaw almost every facet in directing agricultural production on farmlands.[6] Besides deciding what seeds and fertilizers were to be applied to farmlands, the Reichsnährstand secured protection from selling foreign food imports inside Germany, and placed a “moratorium on debt payments.”

As the scope and depth of the National Socialists command economy escalated, food production and rural standard of living declined. By autumn of 1936, Germany began to experience critical shortages of food and consumer goods, despite the spending of billions of Reichsmarks on price subsidies to farmers. Germans were even subjected to rationing of many major consumer goods, including “produce, butter and other consumables.” Besides food shortages, Germany began to encounter a loss of farm laborers, where up to 440,000 farmers had abandoned agriculture between 1933 and 1939.

The Reichsnährstand's argument that Germany "needed" an additional 7–8 million hectares (17–19 million acres) of farmland, and that consolidation of existing farms would displace many existing farmers who would need to work new land, influenced Adolf's decision to invade the Soviet Union.