Totenkopf
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- This article is about the military symbol. For the mountain in Germany, see Totenkopf (mountain)
Totenkopf (Plural: Totenköpfe) is the German word for "death head" or "death's head" and is used to describe a military insignia featuring a skull above crossed bones. It is distinguished from the similar traditions of the skull and crossbones and the Jolly Roger by the fact that the bones are positioned directly behind the skull and the lower jaw bone is absent. For a long time in widespread use in several countries, its association with the worst aspects of Nazi Germany has lead to its decline.
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[edit] History
Use of the symbol as a military insignia began with the cavalry of the Prussian army under Frederick the Great. Frederick formed Husaren-Regiment Nr.5 (von Ruesch), a Hussar regiment commanded by Colonel von Ruesch. These Hussars adopted a black uniform with a Totenkopf emblazoned on the front of their Mirletons and wore it on the field in the War of Austrian Succession and in the Seven Years' War.
In 1808, when the regiment was reformed into Leib-Husaren Regiments Nr.1 and Nr.2, the Totenkopf remained a part of the uniform.
During the Napoleonic Wars, when Frederick Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg was killed in battle, his troops changed the colour of their uniforms to black, with a Totenkopf on their Shakos in mourning their dead leader (Other sources claim that the "Black Brunswickers" were so equipped while Friedrich Wilhelm of Brunswick lived, as a sign of revenge on the French [1]).
The death's head continued to be used throughout the Prussian and Brunswick Armed forces until 1918.The Totenkopf was used in Germany throughout the inter-war period, most prominently by the Freikorps. In 1933 it was in use by the regimental staff and the 1st, 5th, and 11th squadrons of the Reichswehr's 5th Cavalry Regiment.
The WW II era Luftwaffe's 54th Bomber Wing (Kampfgeschwader 54) was known officially by the name "Totenkopf", using virtually the same graphic skull-crossbones insignia as the SS units of the same name.
[edit] SS Usage
In the early days of the NSDAP, Julius Schreck, the leader of the Stabswache (Adolf Hitler's bodyguard unit), adopted the Totenkopf for his unit. In 1935, the Stabswache was renamed as the Schutzstaffel (SS) and the SS continued to use the Totenkopf as insignia throughout their brief history. As they had done with the Swastika, the Nazis simply adopted the Totenkopf from the historical tradition and used it for their own purposes, leaving it marked with a stigma that has continued to the present.
[edit] Use outside Germany
- The Kingdom of Sweden's Hussar Regiments wore it in the Prussian Style on the front of the Mirleton.
- The Russian Kornilov regiment adopted it in 1917.
- The British Army's Queen's Royal Lancers continue to use the skull and crossbones in their emblem, inherited from its use by the 17th Light Dragoons - a unit raised in 1759 following General Wolfe's death in Quebec, with an emblem of a death's head and the words 'Or Glory' chosen in commemoration of him. [2]
