Bidspirit auction | German WWII ”Medaille für deutsche

German WWII ”Medaille für deutsche Volkspflege” Social Welfare Medal - German WWII ”Medaille für deutsche Volkspflege” Social Welfare Medal This round, ring-suspended medal displays a Red Cross-shaped cross with a perched eagle and wreathed swastika on the obverse, and the reverse bears the raised Gothic inscription ”Medaille für deutsche Volkspflege” (”Medal for German Social Welfare”). This award was instituted to recognize individuals for services in social welfare and charitable work within the Third Reich, often tied to organizations supporting public health, family welfare, and civic aid programs of the period. The design's incorporation of the Red Cross motif reflects its association with humanitarian and welfare service rather than combat decorations. The Medaille für deutsche Volkspflege was a civil decoration of the Third Reich era, awarded to individuals for sustained voluntary or professional service in social welfare, public health, and charitable organisations rather than for military service. Recipients were typically involved with bodies such as the NS-Volkswohlfahrt (National Socialist People's Welfare organisation), the German Red Cross, or similar civic and family-support institutions active in the 1930s and early 1940s. The medal's Red Cross-derived design reflects this humanitarian and welfare-service orientation, distinguishing it from combat or Party political awards of the same period.