Medal to Commemorate the 13 March 1938
Medal to Commemorate the 13 March 1938 (German: Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 13. März 1938), often referred to as the Anschluss Medal or Ostmark Medal in English-speaking countries, was instituted on 1 May 1938 by Adolf Hitler. It was awarded to people who had actively supported Austria's accession to the Reich. The decoration was the first of the three "Flower War medals".
History
After the resignation of the Austrian Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg on 11 March 1938, the still acting Austrian Interior Minister Arthur Seyß-Inquart called for the intervention of German troops in order to prevent a civil war. On 12 March 1938, the 8th Army began moving to the Ostmark. On 13 March 1938, the Austrian federal government passed a federal constitutional law on “reunification with the German Reich”. This was then adopted as Reich law.
This medal was donated by the Führer and Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler in recognition of services to the “reunification of Austria with the German Reich” on 13 March 1938. The proposals for the award of the medal were made by the Reich Minister of the Interior (Wilhelm Frick), for members of the Wehrmacht by the Chief of the High Command of the Wehrmacht (Wilhelm Keitel) and presented to Hitler for approval by the Minister of State and Head of the Presidential Chancellery (Otto Meissner). When the medal was handed out, the recipient received a certificate of ownership issued by the Minister of State and Head of the Presidential Chancellery Meissner. After the death of the owner, the medal itself remained with his surviving relatives as a souvenir.
The medal was awarded to those, both military and civilian, who contributed to or participated in the reunification of Austria with the German Reich. This included German State officials and members of the German Wehrmacht and SS who entered Austria. Local National Socialists and SA members who had worked for union with Germany (Kampfzeit) also qualified, including the widows of those who had been killed for their cause, but also and people who had lost their Austrian citizenship or had to leave Austria because of their National Socialist views. Last awarded on 31 December 1940, a total of 318,689 medals were bestowed.
Design
The medal was based on the 1938 Party Day Badge (Reichsparteitag). On the obverse it featured a tall standing figure holding a swastika banner (German Reich) helping another figure who had broken shackles (the freed Austrians) onto a podium stand which had the Wehrmacht Eagle and represented the Greater German Reich (all three Flower War Medals had the same obverse).
The reverse contains the inscription
- One Folk 卐 One Reich 卐 One Führer 卐
based on the identical National Socialist motto and the date 13 March 1938.
Forms
What was unusual about the creation of this “commemorative medal” was that the medal was originally created in a different design and only later, through an addendum, was the appearance of the well-known “standard shape” adapted. The background was a public competition to design the medal. However, before it's winner – the artist Richard Klein – could be determined, the first medals with the original version were minted. Both forms will therefore be discussed below.
1. Form
The medal of the 1st form was bronzed and showed on its obverse the head relief of Hitler, looking to the left of the viewer. The head was framed by the inscription EIN VOLK 卐 EIN REICH 卐 EIN FÜHRER 卐. The back of the medal showed the embossed national emblem of the Reich in the middle with the date: 13 March 1938. The original form was to be worn on a dark red and black striped band on the left side of the chest.[1] It is considered unlikely that the first form was awarded.
2. Form
The medal of the 2nd form, with a diameter of 33 mm, was tinted matt silver. On its front it shows two male figures who symbolize Austria's return to the German Empire. The person at the back on the pedestal represents the Greater German Reich, which, taken by the hand, pulls the second person (Austria) up onto the pedestal. The back shows the embossed three-line lettering in the middle: 13. / März / 1938. This lettering is surrounded by the inscription: EIN VOLK 卐 EIN REICH 卐 EIN FÜHRER 卐. The medal was worn on a 31 mm wide red ribbon bordered in white-black-white (1 mm each) on the left side of the chest.[2] It remains unclear whether the color scheme was based on the Austrian national colors or was influenced by the black-white-red color scheme of the German Reich at the time.
