Description
Incredibly rare, and very sought after personal SS-Ehrenring “SS Honor Ring” for SS-Standartenführer Karl Blumberg, born October 30th, 1899 in Lennep, Germany. During his WWI service he earned the 1914 EK1, and the 1914 Black Wound badge while serving with Pioneer Regiment 23. His NSDAP Service Number was 952 019, and his SS Service Number was 263 644. This ring was presented to him from Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler on April 20th, 1936 upon his promotion.
SS-Standartenführer Blumberg was the commander of SS-VT Pioneer Battalion Dresden (later changed to Das Reich) for the Annexation of Austria, the Sudetenland, and the invasion of Poland.
On September 10th 1940, SS-Standartenführer Blumberg explored on behalf of the German Earth and Stone Works Ltd. (DESt) inspecting a site as well as the nearby quarry at Mont-Louise after geologists there found red granite deposits, an unusual find. However, Albert Speer wanted to use this rare rock type for his construction projects in Berlin and Nuremberg. Blumberg, who had worked in the 1920’s in various stone and building material companies took over on September 18th 1940 as head of the newly established plant of the DESt in Alsace, based in Rothau. This would be the location of what is later known as Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp….
Natzweiler-Struthof was the only Nazi concentration camp located in the French annexed area during the Third Reich period. This residence, transit and extermination camp, built in 1940 and operational from May 21, 1941 to September 1944 housed approximately 52,000 prisoners, most of them resistance fighters. A total of 22,000 people died a sad death here, either from hardship or from the gas chamber.
After his promotion he would be part of the SS Main Economic and Administrative Office (SS-Wirtschafts- und Verwaltungshauptamt; SS-WVHA) this was the SS organization responsible for managing the finances, supply systems and business projects of the Allgemeine-SS, it also ran the concentration camps and was instrumental in the implementation of the Final Solution. Of note, during this period, SS-Standartenführer Blumberg was also the appointed mayor of the near by town of Schirmeck which was near the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp.
The war would end and he would became the key witness for the prosecution during the Nuremberg Trial of defendant SS-Obergruppenführer Oswald Pohl, Pohl was later sentenced to death on November 3, 1947 by an American military tribunal after the Nuremberg trial for crimes against humanity, war crimes, membership in a criminal organization, as well as for mass murders and crimes committed in the concentration camps administered by the SS-WVHA which he was in charge of….
After the trials SS-Standartenführer Karl Blumberg would move to Stutgartt where he would die shortly after October 9th, 1948.
This ring has the 3 main things one would want to see when investing in an SS Honor ring… 1) Condition, the details are about as sharp and clean as they can be with no cleaning or modifications. 2) Early date, these early period rings were without a doubt ceremonially given to the men from Heinrich Himmler, when the early date rings are found they are almost so worn down that you cant see any symbols or detailed shapes, this one is truly amazing! 3) The rings history, this example is one of the few I have ever seen that was issued to an ‘Old Fighter’ who was not only a Colonel in the SS, but someone who had his part in a Concentration Camp and rock solid history of rubbing shoulders with top Third Reich figures. This is one of the only examples that has had a connection to the Nuremberg Trials that I have ever seen. The file for SS-Standartenführer Karl Blumberg is in the U.S. archives and over 200 pages long. I am in the process of getting this information together, it will be provided to the buyer therefore making this a fully researched piece with all the paperwork.
Truly an amazing piece of not only SS, but German and even French history here. This ring is textbook in every way possible and you would be hard pressed to ever encounter something like this again, investment grade item that would be a centerpiece in any collection!
Note – If an SS member was dismissed or retired from the service, his ring had to be returned. In 1938, Himmler ordered the return of all rings of dead SS men and officers to be stored in a chest at Wewelsburg Castle. This was to be a memorial to symbolize the ongoing membership of the deceased in the SS order. In October 1944, Himmler ordered that further manufacture and awards of the ring were to be halted. Himmler then ordered that all the remaining rings, approximately 11,500, be blast-sealed inside a hill near Wewelsburg. By January 1945, 64% of the 14,500 rings made had been returned to Himmler after the deaths of the “holders”. In addition, 10% had been lost on the battlefield and 26% were either kept by the holder or their whereabouts were unknown.
