Formed in 1935, SA-Standarte Feldherrnhalle was one of the elite units within the Sturmabteilung (SA). The unit derived its name from the Feldherrnhalle, or Field Marshall's Hall, that had been erected in Munich, Germany by King Ludwig I of Bavaria to honor the Bavarian Army. Commissioned in 1841, the Feldherrnhalle was completed in 1844 and is situated on the Odeonsplatz in Munich. It features the statues of two famous Bavarian military leaders: Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly who commanded the Catholic League's military forces during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) and Karl Philipp von Wrede who went against Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813. A third statue was added in 1892 that commemorates the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. The monument became associated with the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP; National Socialist German Workers' Party) when, on November 9, 1923, NSDAP marchers clashed with Bavarian State Police following the coup d'état attempt by NSDAP leader Adolf Hitler and some 600 SA men. Hitler and his SA troops surrounded the Bürgerbräukeller beer hall where Gustav Ritter von Kahr, the Bavarian state commissioner, was holding a speech. It was here Hitler sought to gain governmental support for the putsche (violent overthrow of a government) and while he stirred up the people in the hall with his rhetoric and tacitly had Kahr's support, the putsche was escalating within Munich with buildings being seized and sporadic firefights between Reichswehr troops and state police. It came to a head on November 9 when, the putsche petering out, the SA men marched in the streets and decided to head for the Bavarian Defense Ministry building. They were met in front of the Feldherrnhalle by 130 men under the command of State Police Senior Lieutenant Michael von Godin. Shots rang out and four policemen and sixteen SA men were dead and with them, the Beer Hall Putsche was over.
SA-Standarte Feldherrnhalle was headquartered in Berlin with, at its maximum strength, nine battalions (Wachsturmbann) spread across Germany with the tenth battalion, X. Wachsturmbann, stationed in Warsaw, Poland. The primary mission of SA-Standarte Feldherrnhalle was to provide security for SA, state, and NSDAP offices. By February 1939, much of the manpower of SA-Standarte Feldherrnhalle was absorbed into the Luftwaffe to fill out fallschirmjäger (paratrooper) units while another portion became Infanterie-Regiment 271 under the 93. Infanterie-Division. What was left of SA-Standarte Feldherrnhalle continued to operate in a lessened capacity until the close of the war. In 1942, Infanterie-Regiment 271 was renamed Infanterie-Regiment “Feldherrnhalle” in honor of the original SA-Standarte Feldherrnhalle. The unit was withdrawn from the East Front in the spring of 1943 and was used to form 60. Panzer-Division (later renamed Panzergrenadier-Division “Feldherrnhalle”) which was subsequently crushed by the Soviets during fighting along the Dnieper River in 1944. Several other units carried the “Feldherrnhalle” honorific, including Panzer-Brigade 106 and 110 “Feldherrnhalle”. Panzer-Brigade 110 was absorbed into 13. Panzer-Division which was then renamed Panzer-Division “Feldherrnhalle”. The latter division along with Panzergrenadier-Division “Feldherrnhalle” were combined to form Panzer-Korps “Feldherrnhalle” that saw combat in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and finally Austria.
The photograph shows a SA-Sturmmann of SA-Standarte Feldherrnhalle. The unit had its own unique collar tab color, being carmine (a deep red color) with silver threaded borders. On the right collar tab was the “Kampfrune” (literally, “Fighting Rune”) with the circular portion of the Kampfrune consisting of the emblem of the SA. The left collar tab denoted his rank. Not visible was the “Feldherrnhalle” cuff title which was a 27mm wide brown band with either silver threading or gray cotton borders with “Feldherrnhalle” written in Sütterlinschrift (Sütterlin Script) using silver-aluminum thread. The cuff title was worn on the lower left sleeve of the uniform. In some cases, the SA man could request the wearing of a dark green oval with the “Kampfrune” centered on it in place of the cuff title as it was worn in the same location. The shoulder boards appear to be the second style which was brown with white stitching and if so, that dates the photograph to at least 1938. Men of the SA-Standarte Feldherrnhalle had their own special decals for the stahlhelm (steel helmet) which consisted of a white shield bordered in black with a white circle bordered with red within which was a black swastika on the right side of the helmet and on the left, a red shield bordered in white with a simplified front face of the Feldherrnhalle monument in white with three black arches to highlight the statues and underneath it was a Wolfsangel rune in white.
In the German Heer (Army), the units derived from SA-Standarte Feldherrnhalle were allowed to continue to wear the SA cuff title but sometime in 1943, a machine-woven variant was produced and issued, likely as stocks of the original SA cuff title had dwindled. The Kampfrune emblem continued to be worn but in a modified form that consisted of three horizontal Wolfsangel runes superimposed over the single vertical Kampfrune with the SA emblem in the center. This was worn as a metal cipher on the shoulder boards. Also in contrast to the Heer, the SA standard bearer gorget was worn and in parades and other formal occasions, the standard was the same as that used by SA-Standarte Feldherrnhalle which consisted of the “Deutschland Erwache” vexillum standard with a rectangular plaque reading “Feldherrnhalle” above the standard and below the metal eagle and wreathed swastika.
No comments:
Post a Comment