Original Item: Only One Available. The Ordnungspolizei, abbreviated Orpo, meaning "Order Police", were the uniformed police force in NSDAP Germany from 1936 to 1945. The Orpo organization was absorbed into the NSDAP monopoly on power after regional police jurisdiction was removed in favor of the central government ("Reich-ification", Verreichlichung, of the police). The Orpo was controlled, nominally by the Interior Ministry but its executive functions rested with the leadership of the SS until the end of World War II. Owing to their green uniforms, Orpo were also referred to as Grüne Polizei (green police). The force was first established as a centralized organization uniting the municipal, city, and rural uniformed police that had been organized on a state-by-state basis. Eventually the Police were divided into eight assorted branches of service, with each branch having a distinguishing truppenfarbe, (Branch of service color) that was displayed on the uniforms including the piping on the visor caps.
The Gendarmerie (state rural police) were tasked with frontier law enforcement to include small communities, rural districts, and mountainous terrain. They were issued uniforms with Orange-gelb (Orange-yellow) truppenfarbe piping and insignia. With the development of a network of motorways or Autobahnen, motorized gendarmerie companies were set up in 1937 to secure the traffic.
The belt buckles worn by Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) and Enlisted Men (EMs) within the German rural police during the early period featured a smooth body with the Civil Police Emblem on the front: an eagle with spread wings on a swastika inside a laurel wreath. These rectangular buckles are generally composed of aluminum or white metal (Nickel). There is a gilt version, which has been speculated to have been worn with the white dress tunic only, but this has yet to be confirmed. Little is known about this buckle, as period sources of its institution and purpose have never been found.
This is a great example of an early Pre-WWII German Landpolizei (RuralPolice) EM/NCO's Gold Belt Buckle (Koppelschloß), which as best we can tell is made from Gilt Brass. It is completely non-magnetic, and we can see areas where the gilding has worn a bit, and the base metal definitely looks like oxidized brass, though it may also be Nickel Silver. It displays the correct Civic Police emblem on the front, which has a pebbled texture between the eagle and the wreath. This is die struck directly into the metal, and really in great shape, with all of the details still present.
The reverse of the buckle is marked with a "Barred A" trademark next to A&S, for of F. W. Assmann & Söhne of Lüdenscheid, a large maker of belts, buttons, and other accouterments. They are a known maker of this rare early type of buckle.
Overall condition is excellent, and it does not look to have seen a large amount of use. If these were parade use only, that would definitely make sense. The back does show some type of oxidation on the back, which we also saw on another example of a gold buckle that we saw.
A great example of a very seldom seen gold Landpolizei belt buckle, ready to research and display!
