Original Item: Only One Available. The Kyffhäuserbund (English: Kyffhäuser League) is an umbrella organization for war veterans' and reservists' associations in Germany, founded in 1900 to unify the various veteran's groups in Germany. It owes its name to the Kyffhäuser Monument (German: Kyffhäuserdenkmal), a memorial built on the summit of the 473 m high Kyffhäuser mountain near Bad Frankenhausen, in the state of Thuringia in central Germany. It was not a political affiliated organization, and was open to all German war veterans.

When the National Socialist party came into party however, as with all national organizations, the group was absorbed under the NSDAP umbrella. In the name of Gleichschaltung (Co-Ordination or NSDAPfication), the Kyffhäuserbund was  after the NSDAP takeover of power in 1933. Five years later, its name was altered to NS-Reichskriegerbund ‘Kyffhäuser’ e.V. (National Socialist Reich Warriors Association ‘Kyffhäuser‘), becoming the sole and exclusive organization representing the Veterans´ interests in the Third Reich. The organization would then be disbanded in March of 1943 and its members would be drafted into Volksturm service in 1945, as the fall of WWII Germany approached.

What we have here is an extremely rare Funeral Flag Pillow, which is used to display awards during the member's funeral. it is constructed entirely of what looks to be black cotton and wool, with lots of silver bullion embroidered. It measures about 26 inches by 16, and the top 17 inches is a large sleeve, where stuffing or a small pillow would be inserted. This portion of the flag has a large Eisernes Kreuz (Iron Cross), with a border around the edge. There is a black string looped just above the cross, where awards, medals, and the like are displayed during the funeral.

The lower 9 inches of the flag would hang off the edge of the display table, and shows a very well-executed NSRKB "Kyffhäuser’ Eagle, which is standard to the regular party eagle, but features another Iron Cross in the center, over crossed swords. The end of the flag has a lovely silver bullion fringe on it, which is about 1 1/2 inches long. Overall the flag is in excellent condition, with just a few small holes, probably from storage or moth.

These are extremely rare, and this is the only example that we have handled. This would be a perfect item to use to display your German WWII medal collection with.