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 an excellent example of a German mid-WWII style Sturmabteilung (SA) Political Leader's Gorget. These would be worn at meetings and even in the field, to make it clear who was of a higher rank. Similar gorgets were used in other parts of the NSDAP organizational structure.

The gorget is constructed of bronze and bronzed aluminum, with a large NSDAP Reichsadler (Party Eagle) in the center, and bordered on the outside with an overlapping oak leaf motif. It is marked with the ((RZM)) (Reichszeugmeisterei) insignia and maker marked M1/102 for Frank & Reif of Stuttgart on the right chain clip. It is complete with the green felt protective liner on the back, which is unstained and shows just a bit of wear and moth nips. The edges of the gorget show only minor wear, and overall it is very clean, definitely one of the best that we have seen.

The Gorget is hung on a bronzed and gilt aluminum chain, with alternating wreathed swas (hook cross) and art deco eagle insignias on the panels, stamped with the ((RZM)) insignia and maker marked M1/128 on the reverse of both end panels, for Eugen Schmidhäussler of Pforzheim. Both this company and Frank & Reif are known makers of SA gorgets and chaings.

This is really a great example of of an SA Leader's Gorget, 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. Ready to display!

The Sturmabteilung, literally Storm Detachment, was the NSDAP Party's original paramilitary. It played a significant role in Adolf AH's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s. Its primary purposes were providing protection for NSDAP rallies and assemblies, disrupting the meetings of opposing parties, fighting against the paramilitary units of the opposing parties, especially the Red Front Fighters League (Rotfrontkämpferbund) of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), and intimidating Romani, trade unionists, and, especially, Jews – for instance, during the NSDAP boycott of Jewish businesses.

The SA were also called the "Brownshirts" (Braunhemden) from the color of their uniform shirts, similar to Benito Mussolini's blackshirts. The SA developed pseudo-military titles for its members, with ranks that were later adopted by several other NSDAP Party groups, chief amongst them the Schutzstaffel (SS), which originated as a branch of the SA before being separated. Brown-colored shirts were chosen as the SA uniform because a large number of them were cheaply available after World War I, having originally been ordered during the war for colonial troops posted to Germany's former African colonies.

The SA became disempowered after Adolf AH ordered the "blood purge" of 1934. This event became known as the Night of the Long Knives (die Nacht der langen Messer). The SA continued to exist, but was effectively superseded by the SS, although it was not formally dissolved until after NSDAP Germany's final capitulation to the Allies in 1945.