Figure 1.--Many of the children are wearing a badge of some kind--some of them have two badges. Hard to make out just what the badge is. The designs vary. We do not recognize the symbols involved. They do not appear to be political. Image courtesy of the MD collection. |
Many of the children are wearing a badge of some kind--some of them have two badges. Hard to make out just what the badge is. The designs vary. We do not recognize the symbols involved. They do not appear to be political. We assume they are some kind of awards given by the school for academic achievement. We do not know how common such badges were in German schools. Hopefully our German readers will know something about them. Most of the badges are worn by boys, understasndble as most of the class was boys. One of the girls, however, also wears a badge.
A German reader writes, "I'm puzzling over these batches, too. They vary in design. But I could recognize the following: three towers and a circle (HBC thought this looked more like some kind of triumfal arch like the Brandenburg Gate), one four parted showing the same signs in each quarter, and
another one has a cross on it, with two circles in its corners. I'm not sure what they exactly mean. If they would be a sign of arms of a town, it would be usually ONE badget and not so many. Your thought as an reward for good learning is a good one. I'm not sure, how they were classified."
Another reader writes, "The three towers badge vauely recall a city coat of arms I've seen somewere on my last trip to Germany. May be one of the larger Northern cities like Bremen or Lubeck or a 'Land' like Brandenburg. Worth looking into."
A British reader writes, "I'll be waiting with interest to see if any of your German correspondents can explain the meaning of the boys badges, I'm wondereing if they are awarded for merit in certain subjects, as some boys wear two and there are so many different patterns. I was a Prefect when I was at junior school in the early 1960's and had to wear a badge - blue enamelled & shaped like a shield if I recall correctly, I may even still have it at home somewhere. At the Grammar school I attended in the 1960's, prefects were identified by having gold piping around their school blazers - and Neanderthal appearance."
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