Description
Police Long Service Medal
The Police Long Service Award (Polizei-Dienstauszeichnung) was a long service medal given as a political honour to active German Police officers. The awards, which were created by Professor Richard Klein, had somewhat different designs based on the recipient’s term of service.
Adolf Hitler commanded the establishment of an award on January 30, 1938, for police officers who completed requirements based on years of service. Men who had served for eight, eighteen, and twenty-five years respectively received the honour in one of three grades. The police symbol, which was a national eagle emblem encircled by a wreath, was included on the obverse side of all three medals. Für treue Dienste in der Polizei (“For faithful service in the Police”) was inscribed on the reverse of each of the three awards. For 40 years of service, a higher grade was authorised on August 12th, 1944. It was to take the shape of a golden metal bar bearing the numeral 40 and oak leaves.
The three grades included
- Eight Year Medal
- Eighteen Year Medal
- Twenty-Five Year Medal