✚1632✚ VDA 2. WW Spendenaktion Abzeichen Wappen Neueich

Original German WW2 VDA (Verein für Deutsche Kulturbeziehungen im Ausland) "Association for German cultural relations abroad") donation / fund raiser badge - coats of arms -Neuteich , IN NICE WORN CONDITION, PAINTED / STAMPED METAL BADGE, WORKING PIN DEVICE, SIZE: cca 30 x 20 mm

HISTORY OF THE VDA:

The Verein für Deutsche Kulturbeziehungen im Ausland "Association for German cultural relations abroad"), abbreviated VDA, is a German cultural organisation. During the 30's and 40's it was engaged in spying across the whole world, using German minorities living in other countries. Its other goals included preservation of German culture among "racial Germans". On the 13 May 1880, in Vienna, the Deutscher Schulverein (DSV/German School Association) was formed. In 1881, the Allgemeine Deutsche Schulverein zur Erhaltung des Deutschtums im Auslande (General German School Association for the Conservation of Germanness Abroad), was formed in Berlin by Hamburg lawyer Julius Scharlach. It was modeled on the Viennese DSV. The associations in Vienna and Berlin initially worked closely together. There are donation cards with the imprint of DSV-Berlin and Vienna in existence. In 1908, the Berlin association was renamed Verein für das Deutschtum im Ausland (Association for Germanness Abroad), and the current abbreviation VDA, which is usually used, was adopted. The VDA had its own symbol, a woman's head with braids and Crown. During this time, the DSV in Vienna continued under its original name. During World War I, the VDA was at work in the service of the fighting soldiers. Its collections (donation cards such as folk song cards, Our Field Gray etc.) were there to benefit the wounded, displaced persons and the next of kin of fallen 1919, the Association in Austria continued under the name Deutscher Schulverein Südmark (German school association South region). In Germany, the work of VDA was long interrupted after the war. It was not until 1925 that the association could commence its work again in Berlin, later Dresden. It was renamed Volksbund für das Deutschtum im Ausland in 1933. When Klagenfurt in Austria canceled the association's planned rally in 1933, some 18,000 participants flocked to Passau instead. During the pre-war years and through World War II, the VDA distributed over 1,200 different donation badges, postcards and other items to raise funds for its charity work. This was done alongside other similar charity drives by organisations such as the Winterhilfswerk (WHW), the Deutsches Rotes Kreuz (DRK/German Red Cross) and others. In 1955, it was reestablished under its former name Verein für das Deutschtum im Ausland at the initiative of the Bavarian Prime Minister Wilhelm Hoegner, the Minister of Culture Alois Hundhammer, the chairman of the German Confederation of Trade Unions in Bavaria Max Wönner, industrialist Rolf Rodenstock and several prominent public figures. It became the Verein für Deutsche Kulturbeziehungen im Ausland in 1998.