German NSDAP Kreisleitung (District-Leader) EinsatzLeiter Collar Tab

The NSDAP, “Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei” (National-socialist German Workers’-party), was originally founded, in Munich, in January of 1919. Known then as the DAP, “Deutsche Arbeiterpartei” (German Workers’-party), when Adolf Hitler joined it, in the autumn of 1919, he set about reforming what was basically a debating society into an active political party. Appointed as its first chairman in July of 1921, Hitler restructured the party along para-military lines in four ascending levels of government, consisting of the “Ortsgruppe,” the “Kreisleitung,” the “Gauleitung,” and the “Reichsleitung,” with each group being distinguished by a specific color of piping on the collar tabs and visor cap. Uniform regulations for Nazi political leaders were addressed as early as 1920, underwent numerous modifications, and were largely finalized by May of 1939.

A “Kreisleitung” (District-leader) collar tab, as indicated by its post-1938 white piping, in the form of a brown velvet parallelogram. This fourth, and final, pattern collar tab features a gilt-washed national eagle clutching a wreathed, static swastika in its talons, as worn between 1939-45. Beneath the eagle are three zinc alloy pips each of which have small eagles surmounting static swastikas embossed to them. The three pips represent the EinsatzLeiter rank.