Luftwaffe Paratrooper Badge, by P. Meybauer
CATEGORY: Version
SKU: 01.GTR.0707.101.10.000
Estimated market value:
Estimated market value:
Germany, Luftwaffe. A Fallschirmjäger Badge by Paul Meybauer
(Fallschirmschützenabzeichen). Constructed of gilded and silvered feinzink, the obverse consisting of an oval laurel and oak leaf wreath, joined together at the bottom by ribbon, overlaid by a swooping Luftwaffe eagle, the reverse with two visible rivets holding the obverse eagle in place, with a barrel hinge and vertical pinback meeting a round wire catch, maker marked “P. MEYBAUER, BERLIN”, measuring 42.50 mm (w) x 53.57 mm (h), weighing 35.0 grams, the swastika formerly held by the eagle’s talons has been ground out and there is significant loss of the gilded and silvered finishing, in overall very fine condition.
The Luftwaffe Paratrooper Badge was instituted by Hermann Göring on November 5, 1936. It is a qualification badge that was awarded for those that successfully passed the tests to become a paratrooper. In order to do that, a soldier had to have six confirmed parachute jumps to his name.
Later regulations state that officially every owner of a Paratrooper Badge had to repeat this feat inside every 12 months period, otherwise they were to return their badge. However, there is no evidence that this was actually enforced. In fact, in the later years of the war the Luftwaffe Paratrooper Badge could be awarded to any soldier that was part of a paratrooper unit, even those that did not receive parachutist training, but were merely assigned to the unit as a medic or driver.
The initial regulations stated that the wreath of the badge was to be made of oxidized Neusilber. Neusilber, also known as nickel silver, is an alloy of brass and nickel, and does not in fact contain actual silver. Oxidizing nickel silver darkens it and gives it an antique look. The eagle was to be made of gilded brass.
In September of 1937, this was changed. Now, the entire badge was to be made of aluminum, with the wreath still in an antique silver look and the eagle still gilded. Some companies also experimented with cupal, which is not an alloy, but a composite material of an aluminum base with a thin copper plating.
With material shortages worsening as the war went on, by 1942 most badges were now made from a lower quality and abundant material, zinc.
Since most companies produced a plethora of different variants and variations, not necessarily all of them can and will be displayed here.
Badges by Meybauer are rare. So far, all badges found by this maker were made of zinc. However, a very small number of these feature copper-coated eagles. The company stamped their badges either “PM” or “P. Meybauer, Berlin”.
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