Badge, Wound, Black

Genuine WWI German black wound badge, worn on the left breast pocket of the tunic.

The Wound Badge was originally established on March 3, 1918 by King Wilhelm II to recognise the sacrifice of those wounded during WWI. The badge was instituted in three classes of black, silver and gold with the class bestowed reflecting the number or severity of the wounds received. On May 22, 1939 Adolf Hitler re-instituted a slightly modified version of the wound badge with the addition of a swastika to the WWI pattern badge for award to German volunteers who had been wounded supporting the Spanish Nationalist Falangist Generalissimo Francisco Franco against the communist allied Republican Loyalist party in the Spanish Civil War. (July 1936-March 1939). With the outbreak of WWII, on September 1, 1939, Hitler once again re-instituted another slightly modified version of the wound badge by altering the WWI pattern helmet on the badge to the newly designed M35 style helmet. Of Note: On the 1939 re-institution date there were still quantities of the WWI pattern badges available which were re-stamped to include the swastika and it is alleged that these early pattern wound badges were awarded as late as 1942. The badge was awarded to both military and uniformed non-military personnel and later, (March 1943), to civilian personnel who received wounds as a result of enemy actions. The black wound badge was the lowest of the three classes and was awarded for one or two wounds. Of Note: Only one hundred eighty-two black and one silver wound badge were awarded to German veterans of the Spanish Civil war.