THE KROEGER SS HONOR RING PRESENTATION SET

COMMENT: If you are looking for a mint condition, as new reproduction or recreation of the SS Honor Ring this is not the ring for you. However, if you are looking for an authentic piece of SS history, then look no further, as you will not get any closer to the real deal then this. Our ring is cast directly off of the original Kroeger SS Honor Ring and as such is identical in every way to the original. The ring carries all the daily wear marks and battle scars it earned on the Eastern Front where SS-Oberführer Erhard Kroeger was stationed during the war after being awarded his SS Honor Ring.

The SS Honor Ring (SS-Ehrenring) was instituted at the personal behest of Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler and was awarded for outstanding achievement and loyalty. It remains the most highly prized and sought after of all SS awards.

It is estimated that there were about 14,500 SS Honor Rings awarded. Adhering to SS regulations it is believed that about 9,200 rings were returned to the SS spiritual centre at Wewelsberg Castle upon the death of the ring bearer or when he was discharged from service. In the spring of 1945 with the Wehrmacht in full retreat Himmler ordered that the rings at Wewelsberg be blast sealed into the side of a nearby mountain to prevent them from falling into the hands of the enemy, the location of these rings remains a mystery to this day. When the castle was finally captured only 200 SS rings were found. Also, an unknown number were lost in combat and never accounted for. Today it is estimated that only about 3,000 SS Honor Rings survived the great conflict.

The ring offered here is a museum copy cast directly from the mold taken off of the original SS Honor Ring awarded to SS-Oberführer Erhard Kroeger. The full inscription reads: "S.lb.Kroeger 21.12.43 H. Himmler". The "S.lb." means "seinen Lieben" or in English "to dear" followed by the recipient's last name, date of presentation and a facsimile of Himmler's signature. These awards were normally presented at promotion ceremonies and were worn on the ring finger of the left hand with the Totenkopf or skull facing up toward the wearer. Note that Germans customarily wore their wedding rings on the ring finger of the right hand.

Our Kroeger SS Honor Rings are identical to the original Kroeger ring and no attempt has been made to remove the "beauty marks" (some no doubt incurred during combat) or to improve the appearance of the award. Indeed, preserving all the blemishes and wear that Kroeger himself put on the ring lends much to its appeal.

Just like the originals, it is cast in solid silver in two separate pieces, sized and the Totenkopf or skull is then fitted by hand and silver soldered to the band. This is the same lost-wax manufacturing technique as used by the sole producer of the original rings, The Otto Gahr Company of Munchen.

Kroeger eventually attained the rank of SS-Oberführer. Since he was fluent in both Russian and Latvian he was an important asset to the SS on the Eastern Front and on numerous occasions he worked directly with Reichsführer-SS Himmler as well as Doctor Josef Goebbels.

To read more about Kroeger, try to get your hands on a book titled "Against Stalin & Hitler 1941-1945" by Wilfried Strik-Stikfeldt published in 1970 by MacMillan & Co. Ltd.

THE HISTORY OF THIS RING: I was fortunate enough to have discovered the Kroeger ring master mold in Belgium and the former owner had not done his SS research and was unaware as to the significance of the ring. A similar name is Krueger or Krüger (spelt with the letter "u") and is a common German name with an umlaut or double dots over the letter "u" in which case the letter "e" (which follows the "u") is not written but is assumed. This ring is named to Kroeger (spelt with a letter "o") and the umlaut is not used resulting in an "oe" configuration. Kroeger was a Doctor of Law and most university-educated people preferred to signify their higher education by not using the umlaut in the spelling of their names. Another example of this may be seen in the spelling of Doctor Josef Goebbels name, he never used the umlaut over the letter "o". So given the unusual spelling of Kroeger's name and the engraved award date of 21.12.43 it did not take long to track down and verify the original owner of this ring.

"Two Thumbs Up for Best in Show"

Awarded "Two Thumbs Up for Best in Show" by Don Boyle. Don is recognized as the world's leading authority on SS Honor Rings and has rated our Kroeger SS Honor Ring as: "The finest reproduction of an SS Totenkopf Honor Ring I have ever seen".

Don Boyle is the author of the acclaimed SS Honor Ring reference book "SS Totenkopf H. Himmler Honor Ring 1933 – 1945", his book is a "must have" for all enthusiasts and serious collectors alike. He is a recognized historian and also a life member of the prestigious MAX Show and sits on the MAX Show Board of Authenticators. To learn more about Don please refer to our section "Third Reich Authentication & Certification" which may be found on our home page.

A CUSTOM KROEGER RING CAST IN GOLD

SS LAH TOTENKOPF SILVER RING

The original private purchase, triple skull, silver ring was recently found and purchased in Germany and is now in my collection. It is engraved SS LAH and was probably worn by one of the officers of the famous SS Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler.

I have seen a number of SS rings both SS Honor Rings and private purchase and this one has got to be the most frightening of all. To the best of my knowledge, this was a one off design.

Offered for sale here is an "aged" true Museum Copy of the original, virtually indistinguishable from the original artifact. The detail is excellent and this SS LAH ring will make a fine addition to any Third Reich collection. The ring is about a size 10 and can be easily sized by any jeweler.

• Each $90 US (case not included)

THE SS LAH TOTENKOPF RING IN GOLD

• In 14K solid gold each $300 US
• In 18K solid gold each $375 US

SS OFFICER'S TOTENKOPF SKULL RING

They don’t come much more impressive then this SS Officer’s Totenkopf silver ring.  The original once belonged to a Russian collector who recovered it from the Stalingrad area many years ago.

This ring is cast in solid .925 silver from a first generation mold taken directly off of the original ring, it is then carefully hand finished by a skilled craftsman.  This ring is about a size 12 and since the back of the band is plain with no pattern any jeweler can easily size it.

• SS Officer’s Totenkopf ring is $90 US (case not included)

   
 

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