Adlerschild des Deutschen Reiches

The Adlerschild des Deutschen Reiches (English: Eagle Shield of the German Reich) was an honorary award (German: Ehrengabe) granted by the German president for scholarly or artistic achievements. It was introduced during the Weimar Republic, under President Friedrich Ebert and continued under Nazi Germany. It was a metal disc with a German imperial eagle on a pedestal. It was a high and infrequently awarded honor, received by around 70 people in total.

Article 109, section 3 of the Weimar Constitution entitled "Orders and honours may not be given by the state" enacted a ban on honorific orders. Nevertheless, there was a desire for the state to be able to confer symbolic honours and the honorific award of the Adlerschild des Deutschen Reiches was created to meet this desire. It consisted of a 108 mm wide medal of cast bronze, mounted on a bronze pedestal and inscribed on the reverse with an individualised honorific inscription. The designer of the Adlerschild des Deutschen Reiches was Josef Wackerle. The award was to be given to outstanding individuals in the realms of art, culture, scholarship, science and the economy.

The award was made by hand written decree of the President. The Ministry of the Interior made decisions about the honour at the direction of the Reichskunstwart Edwin Redslob, who was also responsible for the design. According to Redslob, the form of the eagle expressed the "idea of the Reich." In total, the Adlerschild des Deutschen Reiches was awarded to twenty one people during the period of the Weimar Republic. They were:

The Adlerschild des Deutschen Reiches continued to be awarded during the Nazi period. From 1934, the eagle designed by Josef Wackerle was replaced by the Imperial Eagle with a swastika, symbols closely connected with Nazi ideology. The reverse continued to feature an individualised inscription, but was also inscribed Der Führer und Reichskanzler (From 1940, simply Der Führer). Otherwise it was unchanged.

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