Fallschirmjäger (literally Paratrooper) is a German word applied to German Airborne Paratroops (more notably during World War II), first appearing in 1935 at the outset of the Wehrmacht. The Germans and Russians were becoming the first to toy with the idea of dropping soldiers from aircraft, and ran many test runs and experiments.
While the German Luftwaffe was small, and outlawed under the Treaty of Versailles, training went ahead with the secret Fallschrim units. January 29th 1936, police transferred to the brand new Regiment Hermann Göring and became the first Fallschirmjäger unit to begin training. By March 1936, the Luftwaffe had a regular jump school at Stendal-Borstel. These special troops were highly valuable as they could be dropped into a combat situation, fresh and ready to fight. They were used in all theaters of the war.
In 1936, the German Wehrmacht (the Armed Forces) also institued a badge for those who performed jump training. The Fallschirmjäger badge basically was a diving golden eagle clutching the swastika in its claws, and attached to a silverish wreath of laurel and oak leaves.