BACKGROUND: Shortly after Adolf Hitler and the NSDAP, Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, (National Socialist German Worker’s Party), ascended to the leadership of Germany, the police, as with almost all civic organizations, incorporated the new style national eagle and swastika on their insignia. The first pattern police insignia to utilize the new style national eagle and swastika was introduced on April 23RD 1934. On June 17TH 1936, Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler was appointed to the newly created position of Chef der Deutschen Polizei im Reichsministerium des Innern, (Chief of the German Police in the National Ministry of the Interior), effectively giving him full control of all police agencies within Germany. As a result of this appointment and the restructuring of all the separate German state police into a single national police force new regulations were instituted to bring about uniformity in dress for all police through-out the country. One of the new uniform regulations of June 25TH 1936 was the introduction of a slightly modified second pattern police eagle and swastika to replace the first pattern. The police pattern national eagle was worn on all types of headgear including the visor caps, overseas cap and the M43 field cap. The insignia utilized on the visor caps was of stamped metal construction while the insignia on the soft caps was machined or handstitched.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Second pattern, police cap eagle as introduced on June 25TH 1936 to replace the earlier, (Circa April 1934-June 1936), first pattern cap eagle. The roughly, 4.5 cm tall, 5.5 cm wide, single piece, silver washed, die stamped, aluminum alloy construction, right facing eagle features out-stretched wings and is clutching a canted swastika in its talons. The eagle is superimposed on an embossed, vertically oval, oak-leaf wreath with the eagles wings extending beyond the outer edges of the wreath with a roughly, 5.5 cm wingspan. The eagle and the wreath both have nice high relief detailing and the insignia is slightly convexed to fit the contours of a cap. The hollow backed reverse is a mirror image of the obverse and has both inset, soldered, attachment prongs, 1 missing. The badge is unmarked.
