Brassard of the border guard volunteers

• cotton
• around 1985
• height: 13 cm

These brassards with the national coat of arms of the GDR were worn by civilians while they voluntarily helped the GDR border guards to secure the border. During the 1980s they were supposed to work between six and eight hours per month within the exclusion area and at the entrances. They were deployed independently, with border patrolmen or together with the national police and their volunteers.

The helpers were authorised to record personal data, check vehicles and take suspicious people to the border guards or the national police. They also performed observation tasks in workplaces, in homes or during leisure activities. Border guard commanders organised the volunteers‘ work and were responsible for their deployment. In 1987/88 there were 7,427 border guard volunteers in the GDR.