German WW2 NS-RKB member's armband
1938 pattern,
Black elastic cloth with a sewn on woven NS-RKB insignia.
Insignia consists of a white bordered, red shield with white bordered, black Iron Cross with white circular centerpiece featuring a black, canted swastika to center.
Armband is in overall excellent condition.
Normally these are made of thick wool. In this case it's made of elastic black cloth which we think indicate that it was used for mourning and funerals. It could very well have been worn by the widow if the the husband was a member and passed. Similar armbands can be found on period pictures.
HISTORY:
The DRKB, Deutscher Reichskriegerbund (Kyffhäuserbund), (German National Association of Veterans, Kyffhäuser Association), was formed during WWI, and was based on the DKB, Deutscher Kriegerbund (German Veterans Association), originally formed after the war of 1870-71. The addition of "Kyffhäuser" in the associations name referred to the Kyffhäuser mountain where a large war memorial had been erected. The goal of the association was to preserve the morale and comradeship of former soldiers and to financially assist its members if required. On March 29TH 1938 the DRKB was renamed NS-RKB, Nationalsozialistische-Reichskriegerbund, (National Socialist-State Soldiers League), by the NSDAP and amalgamated with most of the earlier veterans associations into one national organization. Uniform and headgear regulations of the DRKB/NS-RKB were introduced prior to 1933 and were modified again in 1936 and 1938.
