Proud Memento of Resistance to Tyranny

Membership Pin, Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold, before 1933

The lapel pin pictured above was worn by those who supported democracy and representative government in Germany before 1933.

With the defeat of Kaiser Wilhelm’s forces at the end of World War I in 1918, Germany became a parliamentary democracy for the first time.  Not everyone supported the Weimar Republic, however, which was subject to continuous attacks from both the left and the right.  In 1923, there were two failed coups, one  on the left by the Communists in Hamburg and another by the Nazis on the right in the attempted Beer Hall Putsch in Munich.  In response to these attacks, the Social Democrats and centrist parties formed  a non-partisan organization devoted to protecting the Republic.  They called the organization Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold , or Black, Red and Gold National Flag, the colors of the flag of the democratic Republic.  There was a civilian political wing of the Reichsbanner as well as a paramilitary wing.  The latter was able to provide resistance to the Stahlhelm (Steel Helmet) of the aristocrats and military, the Sturmabteilung (SA or Stormtroopers) of the National Socialists and the Rotfrontkämpferbund (Red Front Fighters Brigade) of the Communist Party.  

Both my grandfather Rudolf Höber , a Liberal, and my father Johannes, a Social Democrat, became members of the Reichsbanner.   They undoubtedly wore the pin of the organization, publicly declaring their support for democracy and against dictatorship.  My father later became a member of the paramilitary wing and was more than once involved in violent conflicts with Nazis in the months before they took over the government.

After the Nazis were given control of Germany in January 1933, the Reichsbanner was quickly suppressed and past membership became a basis for persecution.  My grandfather’s membership in the Reichsbanner was one reason cited by the Nazis in expelling him from his position as Professor of Physiology at the University of Kiel.  My father was dismissed from his job in the government of the city of Mannheim and arrested.  With experiences like these, all evidence of the Reichsbanner quickly vanished.  Although there had been hundreds of thousands of members in 1931 and 1932, anyone associated with the organization quickly divested themselves of any evidence of their membership, including their membership pins.  As a result, the pins, these symbols of freedom and democracy, nearly disappeared.

But I have one.  My Dresden friend Achim, who has appeared in these posts several times, is a researcher and archivist of exceptional skill.  He recently found one of the few surviving Reichsbanner pins, 80 years after the organization was crushed by the Nazis.  Knowing that I would value this memento more than almost anyone, Achim sent it to me for Christmas.  It is a rare gift in every sense.