Wikipedia

Totenkopf

This article is about the military symbol. For other uses, see Totenkopf (disambiguation) and Death's head.

Totenkopf (German: [ˈtoːtn̩ˌkɔpf], i.e. skull, literally "dead person's head") is the German word for skull. The word is often used to denote a figurative, graphic or sculptural symbol, common in Western culture, consisting of the representation of a human skull – usually frontal, more rarely in profile with or without the mandible. In some cases, other human skeletal parts may be added, often including two crossed long bones (femurs) depicted below or behind the skull (when it may be referred to in English as a "skull and crossbones"). The human skull is an internationally used symbol for death, the defiance of death, danger, or the dead, as well as piracy or toxicity.

August von Mackensen, German field marshal in hussar full dress prior to 1914, with the Totenkopf on his fur busby

In English, the term Totenkopf is commonly associated with 19th- and 20th-century German military use, particularly in Nazi Germany.

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In early modern sea warfare to early modern sea piracy, buccaneers and pirates used the Totenkopf as a pirate flag: a skull or other skeletal parts as a death threat and as a demand to hand over a ship. The symbol continues to be used by modern navies.

German military

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Prussia

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Hussar from Husaren-Regiment Nr. 5 (von Ruesch) in 1744 with the Totenkopf on the mirliton (Ger. Flügelmütze)

Use of the Totenkopf as a military emblem began under Frederick the Great, who formed a regiment of Hussar cavalry in the Prussian army commanded by Colonel von Ruesch, the Husaren-Regiment Nr. 5 (von Ruesch). It adopted a black uniform with a Totenkopf emblazoned on the front of its mirlitons and wore it on the field in the War of Austrian Succession and in the Seven Years' War.[4] The Totenkopf remained a part of the uniform when the regiment was reformed into Leib-Husaren Regiments Nr.1 and Nr.2 in 1808.[5]

Brunswick

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Totenkopf badge worn by the Brunswick Leibbataillon ("Life-Guard Battalion") at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815

In 1809, during the War of the Fifth Coalition, Frederick William, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel raised a force of volunteers to fight Napoleon Bonaparte, who had conquered the Duke's lands. The Brunswick corps was provided with black uniforms, giving rise to their nickname, the Black Brunswickers. Both hussar cavalry and infantry in the force wore a Totenkopf badge, either in mourning for the duke's father, Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, who had been killed at the Battle of Jena–Auerstedt in 1806, or according to some sources, as a sign of revenge against the French. After fighting their way through Germany, the Black Brunswickers entered British service and fought with them in the Peninsular War and at the Battle of Waterloo. The Brunswick corps was eventually incorporated into the Prussian Army in 1866.[6]

German Empire

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German Empire era Totenkopf

The skull continued to be used by the Prussian and Brunswick armed forces until 1918, and some of the stormtroopers that led the last German offensives on the Western Front in 1918 used skull badges.[7] Luftstreitkräfte fighter pilots Georg von Hantelmann[8] and Kurt Adolf Monnington[9] are just two of a number of Central Powers military pilots who used the Totenkopf as their personal aircraft insignia.

Weimar Republic

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A Garford-Putilov Armoured Car used by the Freikorps in 1919, with a Totenkopf painted on the side

The Totenkopf was used in Germany throughout the interwar 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 as a continuation of a tradition from the Kaiserreich.[citation needed]

Nazi Germany

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In the early days of the Nazi Party, Julius Schreck, the leader of the Stabswache (Adolf Hitler's bodyguard unit), resurrected the use of the Totenkopf as the unit's insignia. This unit grew into the Schutzstaffel (SS), which continued to use the Totenkopf as insignia throughout its history. According to a writing by Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, the Totenkopf had the following meaning:

The Skull is the reminder that you shall always be willing to put your self at stake for the life of the whole community.[10]

SS-Totenkopfverbände ('Death's Head Units') was the Schutzstaffel (SS) organization responsible for administering the Nazi concentration camps and extermination camps for Nazi Germany, among similar duties. While the Totenkopf was the universal cap badge of the SS, the SS-TV also wore this insignia on the right collar tab to distinguish itself from other SS formations.

The Totenkopf was also used as the unit insignia of the Panzer forces of the German Heer (Army), and also by the Panzer units of the Luftwaffe, including those of the elite Fallschirm-Panzer Division 1 Hermann Göring.[11]

Both the 3rd SS Panzer Division of the Waffen-SS, and the World War II era Luftwaffe's 54th Bomber Wing Kampfgeschwader 54 were given the unit name "Totenkopf", and used a strikingly similar-looking graphic skull-crossbones insignia as the SS units of the same name. The 3rd SS Panzer Division also had skull patches on their uniform collars instead of the SS sieg rune.[citation needed]

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    The first version of the SS-Totenkopf; used from 1923 to 1934
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    The second version of the SS-Totenkopf; used from 1934 to 1945
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    Junkers Ju 88 of Kampfgeschwader 54 (KG 54) in France, November 1940
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    The "standalone" version of the WW II Luftwaffe KG 54 wing's dead's head unit insignia
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    German Panzer totenkopf
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    German SS uniform. Peaked visor cap with skull emblem (Totenkopf)
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    Members of SS Handschar; the SS-Totenkopf was printed on their fez cap.

Non-German military

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Infante Fernando wearing the uniform of Spain's 8th Light Armoured Cavalry Regiment "Lusitania", 1915
 
Australian commandos in New Guinea, 1945

Police use

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Commercial use

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Other uses

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The skull and crossbones symbol is used internationally to indicate poisonous substances (see also Hazard symbol).

Etymology

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Toten-Kopf translates literally to "Dead's Head", meaning exactly "dead person's head". Semantically, it refers to a skull, literally a Schädel. As a term, Totenkopf connotes the human skull as a symbol, typically one with crossed thigh bones as part of a grouping.

The common translation of "Totenkopf" as death's head is incorrect; it would be Todeskopf, but no such word is in use -- the English term death squad is called Todesschwadron,[26] not Totenschwadron. It would be a logical fallacy to conclude that usage varies only because of the German naming of the death's-head hawkmoth, which is called skull hawkmoth (Totenkopfschwärmer)[27] in German, in the same way that it would be a fallacy to conclude that the German word for night candle (i.e. Nachtkerze) would mean willowherb, just because the willowherb hawkmoth (Proserpinus proserpina) is called night candle hawkmoth (Nachtkerzenschwärmer, Proserpinus proserpina [28][29]) in German.

Contemporary German language meaning of the word Totenkopf has not changed for at least two centuries. For example, the German poet Clemens Brentano (1778–1842) wrote in the story "Baron Hüpfenstich":
"Lauter Totenbeine und Totenköpfe, die standen oben herum ..."[30] (i.e. "A lot of bones and skulls, they were placed above ...").

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Hoist the Colors: History of the Pirate Flag". youtube.com. Gold and Gunpowder. Retrieved 2024-05-03.
  2. ^ "The Pirate That Had WAY Too Many Flags..." youtube.com. Gold and Gunpowder. Retrieved 2024-05-03.
  3. ^ Ed Foxe (2005-01-17). "Pirate Flags". Archived from the original on 2008-01-15. Retrieved 2007-07-12.
  4. ^ Reid, Stuart (2010). Frederick the Great's Allies 1756–63. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1849081771.
  5. ^ Nash, David (1972). The Prussian Army, 1808-1815. Almark Publishing. p. 54. ISBN 978-0855240752.
  6. ^ Osprey Publishing – The Black Brunswickers Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ First World War - Willmott, H. P.; Dorling Kindersley, 2003, Page 252
  8. ^ "Georg von Hantelmann & Kurt Wüsthoff's Fokker D.VII, Jasta 15".
  9. ^ van Wyngarden, Greg (2011). Osprey Elite Aviation Units #40: Jasta 18 - The Red Noses. Oxford UK: Osprey Publishing. pp. 85–86, 97. ISBN 978-1-84908-335-5.
  10. ^ Heinrich Himmler: "Der Totenkopf ist die Mahnung, jederzeit bereit zu sein, das Leben unseres Ichs einzusetzen für das Leben der Gesamtheit."
  11. ^ Angolia, John R., and Adolf Schlicht, Uniforms and Traditions of the Luftwaffe Volume 2, R. James Bender Publishing, San Jose, CA, 1997. ISBN 0-912138-71-8.
  12. ^ María de Sotto, Serafín (1856). Historia orgánica de las armas de Infantería y Caballería españolas (in Spanish). Vol. 16. p. 10.
  13. ^ Colección legislativa del Ejército (in Spanish). 1902. pp. 390–391.
  14. ^ QRL Regimental Association Archived 2008-12-26 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ Historique du 14e Chasseurs. Service Historique de la Défense.
  16. ^ La Cavalerie pendant la Révolution. Desbrières et Sautai. 1907.
  17. ^ Les Hussards français, Tome 1, De l'Ancien régime à l'Empire édition Histoire et collection.
  18. ^ "New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center – Welcome".
  19. ^ Draner. "1870–1871. Guerre et Commune. Gardes nationaux volontaires, gardes mobiles..." BNF Gallica (in French). p. 20. Archived from the original on 2017-10-05.
  20. ^ a b c Mark Felton Productions (10 March 2021). History of Nazi Symbols – Death's Head. youtube. Event occurs at 2:12.
  21. ^ "Nationalists not extremists: Pravy Sektor deny radicalism claims and say they want to 'serve' Ukraine". The Independent.
  22. ^ Hannigan, Charley (13 April 2017). "Solvay police: Punisher decals stay; they show 'we will stand between good and evil'". syracuse.com.
  23. ^ "'Unbelievably inappropriate': Calgary police prohibit distribution of 'offensive' coin".
  24. ^ "BOPE - Batalhão de Operações Policiais Especiais". Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  25. ^ "'Unbelievably inappropriate': Calgary police prohibit distribution of 'offensive' coin".
  26. ^ Sonia Brough: Langenscheidts Großes Schulwörterbuch Deutsch-Englisch, revised by the Langenscheidt editorial staff, Langenscheidt KG, Berlin & Munich. ISBN 3-468-07129-9. P. 1047.
  27. ^ Prof. Dr. Axel Karenberg: Amor, Äskulap & Co: klassische Mythologie in der Sprache der modernen Medizin. Schattauer, 2005. P. 21 (named for the skull-like spot)
  28. ^ Brockhaus' Konversations-Lexikon. 14th completely revised edition. 12th Vol., Brockhaus, Leipzig, Berlin, Vienna, 1895. P. 142.
  29. ^ Burkhard Bohne: Nachhaltig gärtnern: Biologisch, ressourcenschonend und klimafreundlich, Gräfe und Unzer Publishing House, 2 ed., 2019, ISBN 978-3833871283. P. 133.
  30. ^ Clemens Brentano: Baron Hüpfenstich - Chapter 2 (Projekt Gutenberg-DE)

Bibliography

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