Militär Verwaltung Badge
Strathnaver Museum

This unusual military badge was issued to civilian members of Nazi military administration and was collected as a World War Two souvenir.

The obverse features the Wehramacht eagle and a swastika emblem in the centre, surrounded by an oval enamelled by the Third Reich national colours (red, white and black) with the inscription ‘Militär Verwaltung’ in gothic lettering.

Several unusual German objects were part of a collection donated in a cigarette tin, including coins, bank notes and matches. We do not know the circumstances under which it was originally obtained, but many people find items of World War Two memorabilia unnerving, though they continue to fascinate and help us to understand aspects of this history.