(Deutsches Schutzwall-Ehrenzeichen)

Date Instituted

2 August 1939

Requirements

Participation in building the fortifications along Germany's border or being stationed on the border before May 1940.

It was reissued 10 October 1944 when the defences along Germany's border were being strengthened.

Number Awarded

622.064

Award Documents

Gefreiter Mathias Schorn

Estimated price (2009)

Medal in tombac - €30
Medal in zink - €15

RAD men working at the Westwall in October 1938

(Courtesy of Bundesarchiv/Wikimedia, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3 0 Germany)

Soldiers stationed at a Regelbau 105b bunker at the Westwall in 1939

(Courtesy of Bundesarchiv/Wikimedia, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3 0 Germany)

Comments

The text on the reverse of the medal reads "Für arbeit zum schutze Deutsch-lands".
Also known as West Wall Medal or Defense Wall Medal

Photo courtesy of Rusfront & Andrew Turley

Sources used

Christopher Ailsby - World War 2 German medals and political awards
John R. Angolia - For Führer and Fatherland: Military awards of the Third Reich
David Littlejohn - Orders, decorations, medals and badges of the Third Reich
Detlev Niemann - Price Guide Germany 1871-1945 (2009)