 thumb|skull ring for ss-members - replica. the ss-ehrenring ("ss honour ring"), unofficially called totenkopfring ("death's head ring"), was an award of heinrich himmler's schutzstaffel (ss). it was not a state decoration, but rather a personal gift bestowed by himmler. the ss honor sword was a similar award. ==award== the ring was initially presented to senior officers of the old guard (of which there were fewer than 5,000) who had displayed extraordinary valor and leadership skill in battle. an additional requirement was a clean disciplinary record, and a subsequent blemish on it would require the wearer to return the ring. by 1939, disciplinary issues aside, it was available to any officer with 3 years service in the ss, and in world war ii virtually the entire ss leadership, including the waffen-ss and gestapo, had the ring. on 17 october 1944 production of the rings by gahr & co. of munich was cancelled due to the increasing economic stresses of the final stages of the war. the rings were made by a die press then run through a design matrix. the skull was cast and soldered on later, with the recipient's name, the award date, and himmler's signature engraved on the interior of each ring. in addition every recipient got a standard letter of himmler which described the meaning of the ring. the name of the recipient and the conferment date was added on the letter. in the letter, himmler wrote that the ring was a "reminder at all times to be willing to risk the life of our selves for the life of the whole".in german: "der totenkopf ist die mahnung, jederzeit bereit zu sein, das leben unseres ichs einzusetzen fÃ¼r das leben der gesamtheit." citation from: peter longerich, heinrich himmler. biographie, mÃ¼nchen 2010, p. 298. in 1938 himmler ordered the return of all rings of dead ss-men and officers to be stored in a chest in wewelsburg castle. this was to symbolize the ongoing membership of the deceased in the ss-order. the whereabouts of the approximately 11,500 rings after the second world war is unclear, but it has been suggested that they were entombed in a local mountain by blasting closed the entrance to a cave.nicholas goodrick clarke: die okkulten wurzeln des nationalsozialismus (the occult roots of national socialism), page 163 ==design== the design of the ring reflects himmler's interest in germanic mysticism. karl maria wiligut has been credited with the design. the ring shows skull and crossed bones, crossing behind the skull - the ss symbol - on its top. the skull (or totenkopf) was the traditional symbol of the ss, taken from other german and prussian military units of the past. the meaning of the skull described in himmler's accompanying letter, literally: "the skull is the monition to be prepared anytime to ris
Nazi_SS Nazi_symbolism Rings