The District Winner Award in the Reich Vocational Competition 1938 represents a significant historical document of National Socialist youth and labor policy. This award was bestowed within the framework of the Reichsberufswettkampf (Reich Vocational Competition), one of the largest mass events organized by the NS regime for mobilizing and ideologically shaping German youth.

The Reichsberufswettkampf was first initiated in 1934 by the German Labor Front (Deutsche Arbeitsfront, DAF) under the leadership of Robert Ley in collaboration with the Hitler Youth (Hitlerjugend, HJ). This annual event was designed to promote the professional capabilities of German youth while simultaneously serving as a propaganda instrument. The competition was aimed at young people aged 14 to 21, who competed against each other in various professional categories.

The year 1938 marked the fifth Reich Vocational Competition and occurred during a phase of intensified NS rule. In this year, participation reached a peak with over 3.5 million young people. The competition was structured in several stages: company competitions, district competitions, regional competitions, and finally the Reich competition. The award described here for a District Winner (Kreissieger) represents a middle level of achievement that already required considerable accomplishment.

The execution in non-ferrous metal, partially enameled, corresponds to the typical manufacturing method of NS awards from this period. Non-ferrous metal, a copper alloy, was frequently used due to increasing raw material shortages, as precious metals were reserved for military purposes. The partial enameling gave the award a colored design, typically incorporating the black, white, and red colors of the swastika banner as well as the blue of the DAF.

The manufacturer G. Brehmer from Markneukirchen was an established producer of badges and awards. Markneukirchen in the Vogtland region was traditionally a center of metalworking and musical instrument manufacturing. During the NS era, many local businesses partially converted their production to the manufacture of orders, decorations, and badges. The marking with the manufacturer's name on the reverse was customary and served for quality control as well as billing with state agencies.

The Reichsberufswettkampf encompassed practical and theoretical examinations in over 100 different professions, ranging from crafts to commercial to agricultural occupations. In addition to professional performance, “character” traits in the sense of NS ideology were also evaluated, including physical fitness, ideological training, and “connection to the people”. This illustrates the dual character of the event: on one hand promoting professional qualification, on the other hand ideological indoctrination.

Winners at various levels received not only awards but also material benefits such as cash prizes, study grants, or preferential employment opportunities. This made participation particularly attractive for young people from less privileged backgrounds and served social mobilization. At the same time, the system emotionally and career-wise bound participants to the regime.

From today's perspective, such awards are important historical sources for researching NS youth policy and the everyday history of the Third Reich. They document the regime's comprehensive efforts to penetrate all areas of life and ideologically shape youth. Collectors and museums preserve such objects as testimonies of a dark epoch in German history, whereby the educational and enlightenment mission must always be paramount.

The Reichsberufswettkampf continued until 1939 and then fell victim to the requirements of the war economy. Awards from this period are today memorabilia of a system that instrumentalized the enthusiasm and ambition of young people for criminal purposes.