Original German WWII NSDAP Political Leader Standard Bearer Gorget Chain by Matthias Oechsler & Sohn of Ansbach - RZM M1/14

Original Item: Only One Available. Gorgets hold an interesting place in history, as they are a throw-back to the days of knights, when suits of armor included a neck protection device called a Gorget. They have been used since that time to identify membership or function in various military and police organizations, and Gorgets were thoroughly used during the Third Reich.

This is a lovely example of the VERY hard to find chain from a a mid-WWII style German National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei - NSDAP) Political Leader Standard Bearer's Gorget. These would be worn at meetings and even in the field, to make it clear who was of a higher rank, who would also carry the standard / flag during parade formations. Similar gorgets were used in other parts of the NSDAP organizational structure.

The NSDAP Gorgets would be hung on a bronzed and gilt aluminum chain, with alternating wreathed swas (hook cross) and art deco eagle insignias on the panels. This example is text book, and is stamped with the ((RZM)) insignia and maker marked M1/102 on the reverse of both end panels, so it was made by Frank & Reif of Stuttgart, a known maker of these chains and gorgets. It measures 24 5/8" long, and is complete, with the securing loops present on both ends.

This is a really nice example of of an NSDAP Leader's Gorget chain, nice and clean with no signs of abuse and the gold wash still very well retained. These are among the hardest to find examples of German World War Two Gorgets, and the chains are almost never available separately. Ready to fit to any NSDAP Leader's gorget that is lacking the chain!

The National Socialist German Workers' Party (German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei , abbreviated NSDAP), commonly referred to in English as the NSDAP Party, was a far-right political party in Germany that was active between 1920 and 1945, that created and supported the ideology of National Socialism. Its precursor, the German Workers' Party (Deutsche Arbeiterpartei; DAP), existed from 1919 to 1920.

The NSDAP Party emerged from the 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, NSDAP political strategy focused on anti-big business, anti-bourgeois, and anti-capitalist rhetoric, although this was later downplayed to gain the support of business leaders, and in the 1930s the party's main focus shifted to anti-Semitic and anti-Marxist themes.