BACKGROUND: Military belts and their corresponding buckles date back centuries and were initially designed for attaching swords and daggers. In 1847 Prussian Hauptmann Virschow introduced a new, innovative, box buckle with a quick release catch and corresponding belt for EM/NCO’s ranks and initiated a new method of carrying personal equipment with the belt and shoulder straps supporting the majority of the weight. This system, with modifications, remains in use in most of the armies in the world to this day. During the Third Reich era, (1933-1945), there was a prescribed form of wear of the belt and buckle with the buckle being positioned on the right side and the corresponding buckle catch on the left side. On January 24^TH 1936 a new pattern EM/NCO’s belt buckle was officially introduced to replace the previously worn Weimar Reichswehr era, (National Defence Force, Circa 1919-1933), belt buckle. The basic design of the Reichswehr buckle was retained with the addition of the new Wehrmacht, (Armed Forces), style national eagle. This pattern buckle was worn through-out the Third Reich period with minor manufacturing variations and different colored finishes. The colored finish was determined by regulations depending on what form of uniform it was to be worn with, with silver for dress wear and field-grey for field wear. Of Note: Originally military buckles produced under government contract had the addition of a leather, (canvas web for tropical buckles), tabs which were designed to help support the ammunition pouches and prevent slippage but regulations in 1942 discontinued the tabs to preserve leather although the directive was not completely adhered to. Also Of Note: Orders stipulated that the belt buckle eagle was to face to the viewer’s right, but a left facing eagle style of buckle was inexplicably manufactured for a short time in early 1936, until corrected to facing to the viewer’s right in March 1936. Since the buckle wasn’t introduced until January 24^TH 1936 and the eagle’s facing was corrected sometime in March 1936, there was only a very short time span, of roughly two months, at the longest, that, that style of buckle was produced. The standard issue belt buckles were roughly, 4.5cm-4.7cm, (roughly 1 3/4"-1 7/8"), tall, while private purchase belt buckles were generally a little smaller ranging from 3.5cm-4.cm, (1 3/8"-1 5/8"), tall.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Roughly, 1 7/8", (4.7cm), tall, early, (Circa post-March 1936-1940), standard issue pattern, die stamped, silver washed, two piece, aluminum alloy construction box buckle features a pebbled base field and a separate, embossed, face plate attached by four, small, bent over, tabs which are visible on the reverse. The domed, circular, face plate features an embossed Wehrmacht style eagle with down swept wings, clutching a canted swastika in it’s talons, on a subtly pebbled field to the center, encompassed by an embossed oak-leaf cluster to the bottom and script, "Gott Mit Uns", (God With Us), to the top. The oak-leaf cluster and script are on a ribbed background and are encircled by both an inner and outer simulated twisted rope border. The buckle retains about 90% off it’s age dulled silver wash with a few small scrapes and scuffs to the base aluminum. The reverse of the buckle has a stamped, raised, semi-circular, slotted, buckle catch, a magnetic prong bar and the prongs all intact. The buckle has no visible manufacturer’s markings. The buckle is in overall very good condition.