Here is a recent addition to my growing family of Luftwaffe flight badges, a 1957er Beobachterabzeichen [Observer Badge].

Instituted on 26 March 1936, the Beobachterabzeichen was awarded to qualified Luftwaffe observers and bombardiers on active flight status.

To qualify for the badge, an airman had to have held the respective certificate for at least two months or have completed a minimum of five combat missions after attaining his certificate (the number was waived for personnel who where wounded in action prior to completing their fifth mission).

Here’s the badge now; it’s a later piece in worn condition.

Obverse and reverse views:

Additional reverse view showing the hardware with the open hingeblock:

As always, all comments are welcome.

Click to enlarge the picture