W.Unland

A "summer weight" SCHUPO eagle was also produced for wear on the summer cotton uniform. [attachmentid=43380]

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. [attachmentid=43379]

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. [attachmentid=43378]

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. [attachmentid=43377]

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. [attachmentid=43376]

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. [attachmentid=43375]

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. [attachmentid=43373]

And last for now an EXTREMELY rare Schutzpolizei green on white cotton. This eagle is controversial, to say the least. These were authorized by regulations for less than a year in 1936 for senior NCO's entitled to wear the officer's style white summer tunic. These were quickly replaced with the green summer HBT after the olympics. No period photo or actual tunic showing this eagle in wear is known, and there are many reproductions extant. That said this example appears to me to be authentic, and is consistant with early 1936 police eagles. This is the only one I have ever found that I believe to be real. It is characterized by the rather "muddy" wreath details, and very realistic eagle. Regards, Bill Unland

To continue, here is an example of a Feuerwehr, fire department, eagle on summer weight green cotton. Although Feuerschutzpolizei eagles, with black swastikas are commonly encountered on green, Feuerwehr with carmine-pink swastikas are very uncommon, particularly on summer weight material. These were worn on green coveralls utilized by female auxiliaries and other fire personnel in some circumstances. This pattern of eagle is one of the most handsome, with fine details and very realistic eagle, particularly the head.

Thank you for the kind comments. Regarding the Luftschutzpolizei, there were actually three colors of police eagle utilized by that branch. The green on gray was used by the air raid wardens proper. Carmine-pink on gray was used by the Luftschutzpolizeifeuerwehr, which were firefighters I assume responsible for protecting Luftschutzpolizei facilities. And white on gray was utilized by the "maintainence" section of the branch, again I believe responsible for unit facilities. Here is a photo of the three different Luftschutzpolizei eagles. The pink one looks a bit "greenish" in this scan, but it is a dirty gray in hand. Glad to hear that another yellow on green eagle is out there. I would be most interested in seeing a scan if you can post it.

If there is any interest here, I will continue with other examples, and if there are any other police cloth collectors about I would love to see what treasures are hidden out there. Best regards., William Unland

Finally, here is a Wasserschutzpolizei yellow eagle on typical police "speckled" summer HBT backing. Although the WSP "usually" wore typical naval blue "reefer" type jackets there is photographic evidence of their wearing double breasted tunics in summer green material. This is the eagle that would have been utilized on that uniform. This is the only example of such an eagle that I have ever seen.

The next eagle is a Gemeindenpolizei eagle in red carmine worn pre-war by the municipal police of small towns. This branch of the police was obsorbed into the Schutzpolizei with the start of the war, so all GEMPO eagles of necessity date early in the TR period. Since this color of eagle was discontinued after only a few years of use they are extremely hard to find, particularly "named" examples as shown here.

Hello, As a new contributor allow me to introduce myself. My name is Bill Unland, and I am a collector of police insignia, including, but not limited to the Third Reich period. Like many police collectors I am a retired cop. My primary interest is in police, enlisted ranks sleeve eagles, and the variations thereof. To start off here I will post a few of the less comonly seen types of eagles. The first is a black TENO police eagle. The TENO fell under the jurisdiction of the police, and this insignia was authorized fairly late in the war. Consequently, relatively few were actually used, and examples are very hard to come by. This particular eagle shows signs of having been sewn down to a tunic, and is of a pattern, totally un-realistic and particularly "modern" in design, that is recognized to have been produced late in the period. Like all late war eagles this example is "cut" around the design.