Forestry of the Third Reich
Unknown organisations
​
The Third Reich is known for his many organisations, clubs, ... Not all of them are known to many people. Forestry is one of these organisations, but there are so much more! Next to collecting forestry and Deutsche Jägerschaft, i'm starting a collection of other unknown organisations of the Third Reich. Not only collecting, but also researching the way they worked, operated and was founded. Everything i collect and researched, i will post on this page. I'm hoping this way to help other collectors to find answers about these organisations.
VDAV (Verband Deutscher Amateurfotografen-Vereine) and the RDAF (Reichsbundes Deutscher Amateur -Fotografen)
These two organizations have a rather interesting history. I've collected a badge of the VDAV, made by Deschler & Sohn and a stickpin of the RDAF, also made by Deschler & Sohn.
On the last photo you will see a Bundes-nachrichten of the RDAF with the logo of the organization.
​
Development of organized private photography in the Third Reich
​
In the course of the ongoing process of harmonization in 1933, the Nazi regime also tried to convert or adopt the existing structures of German amateur photography into its own organizations that were true to the system. In the spring of 1933 there was a certain perplexity as to how the future of organized amateur photography and thus also the future of its largest association, the Association of German Amateur Photography (VDAV), should look, especially since the political reliability of the VDAV seemed by no means assured. As a result, a new, party-bound association was founded under the leadership of Heiner Kurzbein, who was also head of the photography department in the RMVP, with the name “Reichsbund Deutscher Amateurfotografen” (RDAF). With his dual function, Heiner Kurzbein ensured that professional and amateur photography were closely intertwined at the highest organizational level.
The ADAV was also subordinated to the RDAF, which was understood by the state as an umbrella organization. At an official meeting of the VDAV in October 1933, a preliminary division of tasks was established with the RDAF. While the "serious" amateurs were to continue to be accommodated in the VDAV, the RDAF tried both to reach the previously unorganized people taking photographs and to take over the "care of the home image". For this purpose, party-like structures with local, district and district observatories were introduced in the RDAF. The VDAV, on the other hand, initiated its own dismantling with this adjustment.
This was particularly clear in Joseph Goebbels' opening speech at the “Die Kamera” exhibition and trade fair at the end of 1933. He made it clear that in the new Germany it was primarily the millions of amateur photographers and their enormous economic power and not the visual art of one upper-class amateur movement, by which the VDAV was meant, arrive. In this context, amateurs who organize themselves in clubs mean nothing to him. Interestingly, even the state-funded RDAF, despite regular reorganization, had a consistently low membership level in 1938 and was therefore unable to supervise all leisure photographers as desired. Therefore, the state apparatus had to rethink the direction and control of amateur photography and break new ground. From now on the functionalization of private consumption was given the highest priority. This could be realized through specific fields of interest or activity (general, non-professional action with photographic equipment; travel as a leisure activity, etc.).
The area of ​​traveling in particular seemed to be particularly easy to combine with the area of ​​photography. In the years that followed, up to the end of the Third Reich in 1945, the professional group of journalists for photo magazines and weekend supplements seemed particularly suitable for imparting photographic techniques as such, especially to soldiers, especially since they themselves are very closely involved in the state press control network for surrender were involved.
After the war, the VDAV continues to exist until 1991, from then on the name changed to DVF (Deutscher Verband für Fotografie)
Used sources: TRISTAN SCHAEFER
RSV (Reichsbahn Sport Verein) Berlin
There isn’t much information to find about the RSV online and in archives, only bits and pieces. I’ve gathered those and wrote this article with the information found.
There were a lot of sporting clubs in the Third Reich era and the RSV was one of them. This sporting club was exclusive for employees of the Deutsche Reichsbahn and their family. A lot of city’s had their RSV, city’s like Stettin, Berlin, … The article contains information about the RSV from Berlin, this was the biggest one of all. They also had their own membership pin (see photo below). You could do all kind of sports under the RSV, like football, bowling, … The list of all sports and their locations you can see in the photo below.
​
Football:
Lok Schöneweide was founded in 1925 under the name Reichsbahn SV Berlin. The club did not play in the higher class until 1945, and any participation in the Gauliga Berlin-Brandenburg did not take place. Nationwide, the Reichsbahner only appeared in the Tschammer Cup on Sunday 1 september in 1935, in which they failed prematurely at Eintracht Braunschweig. They lost with 6 - 3.
​
Athletics:
While other Berlin clubs were significantly more successful in the prewar running and jumping competitions, the Reichsbahn SV was one of the leading German clubs in the 1930s. Herbert Dill, Karl Köppen and Paul Sievert were among the best German atlethes of the decade. In total, the athletes of RSV Berlin won four German championship titles and three runner-up championships.
​
Paul Sievert:
Paul Sievert was German champion over 50 kilometers in 1924, 1925 and 1933. In 1929 and 1932 he was runner-up over this distance, in 1933 he won the runner-up championship over 20 km, in 1934 he won the team championship over 50 km with the RSV Berlin team. At the Olympic Games in 1932, he finished sixth in a 50-kilometer walk in 5:16:41 h.
He started first for the Neukölln Sportfreunde, later for the Reichsbahn SV Berlin.
​
Herbert Dill:
Herbert Dill was a German athlete and Olympian who was successful in the 50 km walk in the 1930s. At the European Championships in 1938 he won the silver medal (4: 43: 54.0 h). At the Olympic Games in 1936, he finished 16th (4: 51: 26.0 h).
Herbert Dill was a member of the Reichsbahn SV Berlin association. During his competition time he was 1.76 m tall and weighed 62 kg.
I found and bought two items from the RSV Berlin. The first one is a membership pin, a very small piece with high detail, made by H. Aurich from Dresden. The second one is two membership cards of a woman who was participating in bowling under the RSV. One is from 1935-1936 and the other one is from 1940. She was a member from 1.4.1935 until her last payment in august 1940.
I will keep on researching on this subject and hope to find more information in the future.
DKV (Deutscher Kanu-Verband)
History:
On March 15, 1914, the constitution took place in the hotel "Zum Kronprinzen" in Hamburg on the initiative of the Canoe Club Alsterbrüder (CCAB) and Alfred Korn. On January 8, 1920, the first issue of the association magazine “KANU-SPORT” (which is still published today) was published. The number of clubs increased rapidly and in 1931 reached 462 clubs with around 50,000 members.
In 1934, when all organizations were brought into line, the DKV was converted into the specialist office for canoeing in the German Reichsbund for physical exercises and therefore dissolved in 1945 like all NS organizations. In 1938 there were around 1,128 clubs with 500 boathouses and 44,129 members. In 1937, the DKV assumed a total of 250,000 boat owners in Germany, almost exclusively with folding boats and most of them were from Klepper (the shipyard produced 90,000 units by 1935).
In 1949 the DKV was re-established. His area was initially limited to the American and British zones in West Germany, later to the entire area of ​​the then Federal Republic. Similar to the federal form of government, the DKV was designed as the umbrella organization of its regional associations. In 1952 the DKV was accepted into the International Canoe Federation. At the Olympic Games in Helsinki he took part with ten athletes and won three bronze medals. In 1955 the number of members had grown to 40,000 and the number of associations to 614.
Leisure and competition activities took on more and more diverse forms in the following years. Numerous new disciplines found recognition in the association (including the organization of German championships). In spring 1991, the DKV merged with the German Canoeing Association (DKSV) of the GDR.
In 2014 the DKV celebrated its 100th anniversary and at the same time its 120,000th member anniversary. Since 2005 there has been a steady increase in membership at the DKV, which consists of around 1,300 clubs and 18 regional associations, making it the largest canoe association in the world.
Games:
While canoe racing had a shadowy existence in England in the 1920s and could only attract a few spectators to the courses, the officials there considered how paddling could be made more interesting for the general public. Football was a big hit and was quickly chosen as a role model. The first rules were written down and the DKV also recognized the potential in 1926: With canoe polo, new target groups can be reached in Germany, both on the part of the spectators and in the form of active athletes and association members. A short folding boat was initially used as sports equipment and the playing field, like the idea, was based on the brother in spirit. The fields were between 99 and 120 meters long and there were floating gates on the shorter sides (50-90 meters). The playing time was also 2 x 45 minutes and a 10-minute break should be enough for the 11 players per team to relax.
The first official DKV game was played the year after during the German Short Distance Championships (canoe racing) in Hamburg. Already after this game, it was not only Erich Arndt from Berlin who realized that the polo game had to be made more popular by shortening the playing time to two times 20 minutes.
Now it happened in quick succession: in 1928 the first German Canoe Polo Championships took place with new rules and the participation of 25 teams. The sport grew continuously and the first women's teams took part in the fourth national championships (1931) in Berlin-Grünau. In 1934 the last championships of this kind were to be held in Nuremberg; The KGWanderfalke Essen became the German men's champions.
One year later, the official support of the DKV for tournaments ended and games were suspended throughout Germany until further notice. In addition to the high costs for material, which at the time posed additional challenges for athletes and clubs, the political development was the decisive reason.
An 'Eskimo boat', 1941
With all his might, 1941
1934, canoeing became Olympic:
The Olympic Congress in Athens passed a resolution that is extremely important for the further development of canoeing in Europe. He has granted the application of the International Representation for Canoeing and thus elevated canoeing to an Olympic sport. At the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, canoe races are now being held and the canoeists can finally receive the highest sporting award.
This success is not least a German success, because the German Canoe Association is by far a leader in international canoeing. It is also a success of Dr Max Eckert, the leader of the German Canoeing Association and the International Representation for Canoeing, who immediately became head of the D.K.V. and the I.R.K. In 1931, with his own tenacity and energy, he set out to achieve the high goal of including canoeing in the Olympic program. - The 1932 Olympic Congress in Vienna rejected the request of the I.R.K. from. The huge success of the European Championships in Prague in 1933, the expansion of the I.R.K. 17 nations gave the new application submitted for Athens the best basis for acceptance. The decision of the Olympic Congress in Athens ensured a new great rise for canoeing, both in Europe and in America, and probably also in the rest of the world, where it could not get beyond the first beginnings.
1936, Summer Olympic Games 'Canoe' in Berlin:
At the XI. The 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin saw competitions in canoeing for the first time in Olympic history. A total of nine competitions for men took place on the regatta route Berlin-Grünau. One canoe per country was allowed per competition.
Ernst Krebs from KCTG Munich won the gold medal in the 10,000 m single kayak.
The Olympic team
Kanu-Club Wansee Berlin:
I found a blog online from Anna Young posting pictures of her father who was a member of the Berlin Kanu-Club Wannsee. Below a few pictures of her blog. You can find all the pictures here.
The items I bought from the DKV. The first one is a 1932 membership card from a 16-year-old boy Max Sedlmair. He was a member of the DKV club: Kanu-Club Turngemeinde München. On the back his photo. The second one is a membership pin made by Max Kust in Berlin.
The third item is a silver (2th place) table medal for the longest run. It was issued in Gau 4, 1933. The details on this piece are amazing. The last one is a original photo from the Kanu-Verein Worms E.V., backside is stamped by the postoffice in 1941.
DHV (Deutschnationaler Handlungsgehilfen-Verband)
The DHV was a professional association to represent the social and economic interests of commercial employees in the German Empire and the Weimar Republic. It was founded in Hamburg in 1893 under the name "Deutscher Handlungsgehüfen-Verband". On January 1, 1896, the program was renamed the Deutschnationaler Handlungsgehilfen-Verband (German National Sales Aid Association).
As part of the national movement, the DHV represented anti-socialist, radical nationalist and anti-Semitic positions (Jews were not allowed to become members). Women were also denied membership. The declared aim of the DHV was to restrict women's work.
​
For a long time, the DHV (especially on the part of the free trade unions) was denied that it would be a trade union, as it excluded a large number of employees from membership for racist reasons or because of their gender, while accepting self-employed and companies as supporting members. Comprehensive and independent representation of employee interests is not possible as a result. For its regular members, however, the DHV did take on trade union tasks: it demanded reductions in working hours, minimum wages, occupational safety, extension of notice periods, statutory shop closing and Sunday rest. He brokered jobs, granted legal protection and old-age benefits, and set up health, funeral and loan funds. The DHV also offered its members practical training opportunities. As a result of the Stinnes-Legien Agreement in 1918, the DHV, as a trade union, was given the right to conclude collective agreements, and since then has led to labor disputes to assert employee interests.
​
Thanks to its achievements, the DHV grew into the largest white-collar union during the Weimar Republic and in 1930 had over 400,000 members. He was thus a determining force in the Christian German Trade Union Federation (DGB), which he had co-founded in 1919. As a large association of the anti-democratic and anti-republican ideological camp in the Weimar Republic, the DHV tried to gain political influence primarily through right-wing conservative and nationalist parties.
​
After Adolf Hitler was appointed Reich Chancellor in 1933, the DHV was integrated into the German Labor Front (DAF). On February 20, 1934, as part of the reorganization of the DAF, the DHV was dissolved.
Membership pin from the DHV, late period, made between 1931 - 1934 by Deschler & Sohn München.
Left: memberschip card from 1933, old model (not yet incorporated in the DAF).
Right: memberschip card from 1933, new model (incorperated in the DAF).
Entlässt die Doppelverdiener! - Stellt dafür Arbeitslose ein! (Dismiss the double earners! - Hire the unemployed!) Poster, 1930
Credits: LeMo
RDSF (Reichsverband Deutscher Sportfischer)
Germany is a country blessed with streams, rivers, ponds, and lakes that teem with fish.
By the start of the 19th century, the civil authorities recognized that controls were needed to prevent over fishing.
Laws, conservation programs, and protection of natural resources policies were enacted, and regulatory organizations were created to insure compliance.
​
This particular license was issued on 15 November 1941 by the district administrative office to 42-year old Josef Hessler, a factory worker in the town of Berndorf in the district of Baden near Vienna (Kreis Baden bei Wien) in the Reich Province of Lower Danube (Reichsgau Niederdonau). There was a 3 Reichsmark fee for the license.
On the reverse is the handwritten statement that Josef Hessler is permitted to fish under supervision in the Triesting [River], its tributaries and in water-filled mining pits near Grillenberg.
The first German national-level organization for recreational fishermen, the Central Association of Fishing Enthusiasts (Central-Verein der Angelfreunde) was founded in 1866. It was superseded in May 1900, by the German Anglers League (Deutscher Anglerbund — DAB).
​
In 1921, disgruntled blue-collar DAB members split off to form the Workers’ Angling Association of Germany (Arbeiter-Angler-Bund Deutschlands — AABD). Stung by this splintering, the DAB worked hard to unite all other angling groups into a new German Federation of Anglers’ Associations (Arbeitsgemeinschaft deutscher Anglerbünde — ADA).
They succeeded in November 1927. Not surprisingly, they did not invite the AABD to join the new national federation.
Deutscher Sportfischerpas from a young boy. Notice the timetables when to catch what species of fish
and the stamps to be bought as membership fee.
When the National Socialist regime came to power in January 1933, they launched a policy of “coordination” to establish control over all aspects of German society. In April, Nazi Party official, Friedrich Linsert, abolished the AABD, replacing it with the Reich Federation of German Sport Fishermen (Reichsverband Deutscher Sportangler, renamed in 1934 as the Reichsverband Deutscher Sportfischer — RDSF). A 1935 decree ordered all fishing groups to be absorbed into the RDSF. In 1939, Nazi Party member Aumert succeeded Linsert as the RDSF’s leader.
​
By 1942, the RDSF was geographically organized into Upper Districts (Oberbezirke), Districts (Bezirke) and Associations (Vereine). At that time, it had more than 120,000 members.
​
In May 1943, the RDSF was compulsorily assimilated into the Reichsnährstand’s Division IV, Department of Fisheries in order to simplify administration and ensure the RDSF was fully integrated into the total war effort. At the same time, the organization was renamed the Reich Association of German Sport Fishermen (Reichsbund Deutscher Sportfischer).
Credit: https://www.militarytrader.com/militaria-collectibles/gone-fishing
Stickpin from the RDSF
Tinnie from the Deutscher Anglertag that was held on 17-09-1933
On January 19, 1938, sports fanatic Alwin Vetter, later known as
Club chairman from the Berlin RDSF, plays a significant role as sea supervisor.
Unexcused absence from general meetings was charged 0.50 Reichsmark
fined. The collection was made at the next contribution collection.
Fishing in May 1939 took place with 15 boats and 25 anglers. The club had 39 members at that time.
Postcard of the RDSF
Magazines Der Deutsche Sportangler from 1934
