WWII German SA Standarte Feldherrnhalle Gorget insignia

WWII German SA Standarte Feldherrnhalle Gorget insignia

The Sturmabteilung (SA) was organized into several large regional groups (Gruppen). Each Gruppe had subordinate brigades (Brigaden). From 1934 until 1945, subordinate to each brigade were 3 to 9 smaller regiment-sized units called Standarten. SA-Standarten operated in every major German city and were split into even smaller units, known as Sturmbanne (3 to 5 Sturmbanne per Standarte) and Stürme.

SA-Standarte “Feldherrnhalle”
After the death of Ernst Röhm in 1934, new SA-Stabschef Viktor Lutze reorganized the SA to include the creation of an SA-Standarte, consisting of six battalions of volunteers that were headquartered in different locations throughout Germany: it guarded sensitive SA, state and NSDAP offices in Berlin, Hannover, Hattingen, Krefeld, Munich, Ruhr, Stetten and Stuttgart.  After the annexation of Austria in 1938, a seventh battalion was established in Vienna.

In September 1936 the SA-Standarte was given the honorary title “Feldherrnhalle” to commemorate the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch. On Hermann Göring’s birthday on 12 January 1937, Lutze made Göring honorary commander of the SA-Standarte “Feldherrnhalle”, who transferred control of the unit to the Luftwaffe. Members were now required to undergo military training as well as instruction as parachutists. In 1938 the Regiment was mobilized for use in the occupation of Sudetenland.

When Germany invaded Poland in 1939, members of the SA-Standarte were transferred to the newly formed Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 2, while other members were transferred to the Infantry Battalion “Feldherrnhalle”, which was part of the German Army’s Infantry Regiment 271. A detachment of SA-Standarte “Feldherrnhalle” members continued to serve under the SA until May 1945.