Third Reich Police sleeve Eagles

[W.Unland]

Hello,

In this thread I will try to illustrate the different types of police sleeve eagles used during the TR period, beginning in 1936 through the end of the war. I will not attempt to show all of the variations of a pattern, but rather a basic list of the colors and styles of eagles one might encounter.

To the best of my knowledge, all of the eagles I will show are authentic period used examples, and are in my personal collection.

The most often encountered and most common police eagle is that of the Feuerwehr, or career and volunteer firemen. Enlisted personnel wore a carmine pink eagle on a dark navy blue/black backing material. The eagle bore the name of the city or district that the fireman was assigned to. There are hundreds, if not thousands of different names that might be encountered,

Characteristically, all Feuerwehr eagles have a swastika in the same carmine pink as the eagle and wreath.

This first photo is of a very early "coke bottle" style eagle. The wreath pattern consists of two different types of leaves, and it is presumed that this eagle was produced before the standard pattern had been determined. Note also that the city name is in a different thread than the eagle itself, suggesting that this was added after the eagle was made to the specifications of the buyer.

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Edited June 16, 2006 by W.Unland

[W.Unland]

After the "standard" pattern was established this more typical type of Feuerwehr eagle became the norm. Again many ,many different variations and patterns exist, but all basically following the same design, wreath pattern, and size.

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[W.Unland]

Late in the war it was ordered that all police branches adopt a standard police green uniform, including the Feuerwehr. Although few green uniforms were actually utilized, and most firemen continued to use their traditional blue uniforms, this green Feuerwehr eagle was produced. By this time in the war the use of names on the eagles had been discontinued so as not to assist allied intelligence once they had entered German held territories, consequently no name has been embroidered above this eagle.

Again, the eagle shown below is a very typical Feuerwehr pattern with a carmine pink swastika, only executed on a police green background rather than blue.

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[W.Unland]

A "summer weight" Feuerwehr eagle was also produced for wear on the green coveralls often seen in period photographs. The eagle is typical Feuerwehr, again with a carmine pink swastika, and the background material is the characteristic "flecked" cotton utilized only by the police.

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[W.Unland]

Officer's of the Feuerwehr wore a silver bullion eagle, with three wing feathers, initially embroidered on a dark navy blue or black background to be worn on the blue service uniform. The swastika was rendered in silver wire, like the wreath and eagle. There were NO generals in the Feuerwehr, consequently there were no gold bullion on black eagles. Officer's eagles were NEVER named.

Later in the war, after the standard green uniform was adapted, Feuerwehr officers wore the standard police officer's grade silver on green eagle utilized by the other branches.

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[W.Unland]

The next most common branch of the police was the Schutzpolizei. They constituted the large municipal police units, the riot police, and the armed "barracks" police which later became combat units. Their branch color was green, and their sleeve eagles were rendered in that color with a black swastika.

Before the war, and early into the war, city and district names were worn above the eagle as shown in this example.

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[W.Unland]

A "summer weight" SCHUPO eagle was also produced for wear on the summer cotton uniform.

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[W.Unland]

Later in the war, eagles were produced without the name to comply with regulations. These were ofter "cut out" around the eagle to conserve material.

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[W.Unland]

A green on black "panzer" eagle is also assumed to have been produced although I do not have an example, and have never seen one personally that I have been convinced is authentic.

A late war "bevo" style black eagle is known, however; and is shown below. It was worn on the black "panzer wrap" uniform by mechanized units of the Schutzpolizei

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[W.Unland]

Finally, a standardized gray "bevo" style eagle was adopted late in the war for use by all branches of the police to conserve materials and simplify production. This eagle is often referred to as a "combat" eagle. It was mostly worn by field units of the Schutzpolizei, although theoretically it could have been utilized by any other branch late in the war.

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[W.Unland]

In 1936, and for a very short period of time (6 months I believe), a white summer blouse was authorized for wear by NCO's of the Schutzpolizei. The eagle shown here is green on white cotton for use on this tunic. The eagle itself is an early pattern, poorly defined wreath, typical of eagles produced before the patterns were finalized. This is the only example of such a green on white eagle that I have encountered which I feel is genuine.

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[W.Unland]

Officers of the Schutzpolizei, as well as the other branches of the police wearing a green uniform, wore a silver bullion eagle on police green background. The swastika was rendered in black, but silver examples are known.

The regulations called for three wing feathers on all officer's eagles.

Officer's eagles were NEVER embroidered with a city or district name.

This is a typical officer's eagle on police green wool. The wings on this example are rather oxidized.

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[W.Unland]

Officer's eagles were also embroidered in "subdued" bullion on wool "gaberdine" as in this example for wear on field uniforms.

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[W.Unland]

Officers were also authorized a white cotton summer blouse, and a silver bullion on white wool eagle was utilized. These eagles were attached with snaps to allow for laundering of the tunic. The pattern follows the standard officer's format.

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[W.Unland]

A "bevo" style officer's eagle is also encountered. It is presumed that this eagle was the officer's eqivilent of the late war standardized "bevo" style enlisted ranks "combat" eagle shown above. Although I have not found a period photo showing these in use I believe them to be authentic, and it is possible that they were produced and captured after the war, but never actually put into use.

The "shiny" highlights on this eagle are very interesting, and obviously intended to differentiate it from the enlisted ranks version.

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[W.Unland]

The next largest branch of the police was the Gendarmerie, or rural police. They wore orange as their branch color, and consequently their sleeve eagles were produced in that color. As with the Schutzpolizei, pre, and early war eagles were embroidered with the district name that the wearer was assigned to.

Here a very early, 1936 pattern, "coke bottle" Gendarmerie eagle for the district of "Ansbach".

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[W.Unland]

This second example is a more common pattern Gendarmerie eagle, again with the district name embroidered above the eagle. Although "Koln" was a large city it was also a rural jurisdiction, thus the Gendarmerie eagle so named.

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[W.Unland]

Like the Schutzpolizei, a "summer weight" Gendarmerie eagle was also produced for use on the "flecked" green police summer blouses. This eagle is on cotton HBT material, for use on such a summer uniform.

Interestingly, the vast majority of summer HBT Gendarmerie eagles that I have seen have been named to the "Regensburg" district. I can only assume a large cache of these was brought back after the war.

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[W.Unland]

Mid war, the district names were ordered removed and Gendarmerie eagles were produced without the names. They were often "cut out" around the eagle, and can only be differentiated from army Feldgendarmerie" eagles by the color of the background material. Police green for the Gendarmerie, and field gray for the army.

Many examples exist of Gendarmerie eagles, on an oval background, where the district name has been removed to comply with regulations.

Officers of the Gendarmerie wore eagles identical to those shown for the Schutzpolizei.

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[W.Unland]

The next branch of the police to be considered is the Feuerschutzpolizei. These were armed firemen, often assigned to protect captured factories and such, and were authorized to perform police duties in the absence of standard police forces.

Unlike the true "firemen" of the Feuerwehr, the Feuerschutzpolizei never wore blue uniforms, but always police green. Their branch color was carmine pink like the feuerwehr, but their eagles have the swastika rendered in black rather than carmine pink as shown above for the Feuerwehr green uniform.

Here is an example of an early prewar eagle with the district name embroidered above the eagle. Note the black swastika.

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[W.Unland]

As with the other branches, a simplified, no name eagle was specified later in the war. Again, note that the swastika is rendered in black as differentiated from the Feuerwehr green eagle with carmine pink swastika.

I have never seen a "summer weight" HBT Feuerschutzpolizei eagle, but I must assume that they exist.

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[W.Unland]

Here is an example of an oval Feuerschutzpolizei eagle that has had it's district name removed to comply with late war regulations.

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[W.Unland]

The Verkehrspolizei, or traffic police wore a white tunic and utilized red as their branch color. Their sleeve eagle was consequently embroidered in red.

This eagle is an example of one for use on the white service tunic.

Regulations seem to specify that a police green tunic was to be used by the Verkrhrspolizei for parade and formal purposes. Consequently a red on police green eagle must have been produced, although I have never found one. It may be that such eagles are mistaken for Feuershutzpolizei or Schutzpolizei d. Gemeinden as the colors would be difficult to differentiate.

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[W.Unland]

The Schutzpolizei d. Gemeinden was a short lived branch responsible for the policing of small to mid-sized municipalities during the pre-war period. It was merged into the Schutzpolizei early in the war so it's insignia is rather rare. They used a dark carmine red as their branch color, and their sleeve eagles are embroidered in this color. As this branch only existed between 1936 and 1940, all of their eagles should be named to the city of assignment.

This is an example of such a named Schutzpolizei d. Gemeinden eagle.

I have never encountered a "summer weight" HBT eagle for the GEMPO, but I must assume that they exist.

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[W.Unland]

The Wasserschutzpolizei, or waterways police, wore naval type uniform reefer jackets. In keeping with "naval" tradition their insignia was in gold for officers and yellow for enlisted ranks.

WSP eagles were NEVER named.

This is an example of an enlisted ranks WSP sleeve eagle on dark blue wool for use on the service uniform. Note that the swastika is rendered in yellow, not black as with the other branches of the police, as a black swastika would not be visable on a dark blue/black background.

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