Item Description
Original Item. Only One Available. This is a very nice German WWII Era Cased Presentation "Table Medal", a large award usually displayed on a shelf or table, as the name implies. The award itself measures approximately 3¾” in diameter and appears to be constructed of a zinc alloy.
The obverse features a central German national eagle clutching a wreathed mobile swas, circumscribed by an inscription of “REICHSWETTKÄMPFE DER SA BERLIN” (“REICHS SPORTS COMPETITION OF THE BERLIN SA”) with a date of “1939”, the reverse with a central raised SA Sports Badge above an inscription of “VIERTER PREIS” (“FOURTH PRIZE”). The SA had yearly sports competitions and other events, and medals such as these were given out yearly during the pre-war era. Once the war began, most of these events ceased.
The case the medal is in is in very rough condition, with the walls breaking off and the top and bottom disconnecting, but it still looks fine when opened. A great table medal set in fair condition overall. Comes ready for further research and display.
The S.A.-
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 The SA continued to exist, but was effectively superseded by the SS, although it was not formally dissolved until after NSDAP Germany's final capitulation to the Allies in 1945.
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