History

The SS divided up their territory in a way that roughly corresponded with the German Army's Wehrkreise (army districts). These districts (SS-Oberabschnitte) were named after geographical regions in Germany or occupied territories (i.e. Alpenland, Donau, or Ukraine) or simply after cardinal directions (i.e. Ost (=east) or Südwest (=southwest)). In 1932, there were 5 Oberabschnitte. By the end of the war, the number had increased to 23. A list can be found in Angolia's "Cloth Insignia of the SS", page 73.

Oberabschnitt staff with a lower rank than SS-Standartenführer wore a blank right collar tab with piping that corresponded to their rank. Non-commissioned staff wore collar tabs piped with twisted black and aluminium cord. Commissioned staff wore collar tabs that were piped with aluminium cord.

In some cases, the name of the district was embroidered on the collar tab, initially in Sütterlin script, and beginning in 1936 in Gothic script. A known example is that of Oberabschnitt Ost (East). It is unknown which other districts, if any, would have had their own individual tabs.