Original Item: One of a Kind Set. This is a fantastic German WWII Red Cross grouping, consisting of various different insignia and other items related to the DRK. The centerpieces however are definitely the named DRK Personal-Ausweis (ID Card) and Arm Band. These contain details about the service of the owner, and the ID card indicates it was issued to Samariterin (Female Nurse) Countess Gerda Wrangel. It gives personal information such as her date and location of birth, where she was stationed, and has all the proper stamps and signatures.

Wrangel (sometimes transliterated as Wrangell or Vrangel, from the Russian Вра́нгель) is a Baltic German noble family, included in Swedish, Russian, Spanish and Prussian nobility. Its earliest known ancestor is the knight Eilardus (1241†). We have not been able to locate any information pertaining to her, or her husband, Count Wrangel.

The other items include:

- DRK Arm Band: The white cotton arm band with red heavily embroidered red cross and black script that reads; Deutsches Rotes Kreuz (German Red Cross). There are stains throughout, some are rust colored now with age. Shows signs of being worn, but was taken care of throughout its service life. Measures 17” x 4 ½”.

- Collar Tab: One DRK Kragenpatten (Collar Flap or Tabs) with enamel "Red Cross" badge in excellent condition. There is partial detachment to the bullion silver border.

- Cap Patch: We haven’t been able to fully identify the purpose of this DRK “Eagle” patch. It does appear to be a cap badge with a right facing eagle. GES. GESECH. Is embroidered on the back.

All items are in lovely condition and would look fantastic displayed together. Comes ready for research and display!

History of the German Red Cross (DRK)
The DRK, "Deutsches Rotes Kreuz" (German Red Cross), a voluntary civil assistance organization originally instituted in 1864, was officially acknowledged by the Geneva Convention in 1929. In December 1937 it gained status as a legally recognized organization by the NSDAP. As with other essential services in Third Reich Germany, it came under control of the NSDAP in late 1938 under the auspices of the Ministry of the Interior's Social Welfare Organization.

History of the "Red Cross" Symbol
It was important to clearly identify Medical personnel in the field. One of the early documents, such as the Amelioration of the Conditions of the Wounded in Armies in the Field signed August 22, 1864, by a number of Governments, already instructed that Flag and Arm Badges worn by Medical personnel would bear a Red Cross on a White Field. Both symbols when used on Hospitals, Ambulances, Evacuation and Aid Centers, were to be proof of their neutral status! These signs provided for neutrality of military and civilian protected personnel (it gave them non-belligerent status) exclusively engaged in removal, transportation, and treatment of wounded and sick, or the administration of sanitary formations and establishments, and entitled them to respect and protection from their enemies. The 1929 Geneva Convention which superseded the former agreement, was signed on July 27, 1929 by forty-seven countries (including the Axis countries, Germany, Italy, and Japan) and comprised numerous articles, among which Articles 9 and 21, recognizing that bearers of special identification cards and civilian protected personnel identified by armbands, and vehicles, and installations wearing Geneva Convention markings and markers, were all exclusively engaged in medical care activities, and consequently protected and respected by the Geneva Convention.