bolewts58

This is true. But, there are lots of cases where the regulations were ignored and active service personnel continued to wear banned semi-official and Freikorps awards well after 1935. I also believe the last medal is the Hungarian War Commemorative Medal.

Banned for wear from 1935 on.

I don't believe these groups are actually sold most of the time. These auctions often have a bidding history marked by the phrase "Angebot mit nicht öffentlicher Bieter-/Käuferliste" (Offer with non-public bidder / buyer list) which I think indicates that the seller has a shill bidder acting on his behalf in an attempt to get some interest. This is why the same groups often show up again and again for sale hoping that eventually some sucker will enter a genuine bid and buy them.

Fake group. The Silesian Eagle, the Iron Division Medal and the SSVK medal are all fake. The Lippe Merit Cross is likely fake as well.

Based on the fact that he's wearing the 3. Marine-Brigade Loewenfeld Commemorative Cross I class, he must have been in this Freikorps after the war.

These are some pages from a forthcoming book on Freikorps aviation to which I have made some contributions and which should come out sometime next year.

Freikorps Air Forces I have been assembling images of known Freikorps Volunteer Fighter Squadron insignia. FFA418 was commanded by Oberleutnant Oskar von Boenigk and was part of Grenzschutz Ost serving in upper Silesia until October 1919. FFA424, FFA426, Eiserne FA427 and Art.-Flieger-Staffel 101 were part of Kampfgeschwader Sachsenberg and fought until December 1919 in the Baltic campaign, first with the Iron Division and Deutsche Legion and finally with Bermondt-Avalov's Russian West Army. Here is the insignia I have identified so far. With the exception of FFA418, all of these were sleeve badges worn on the upper left sleeve. Eiserne-Flieger-Abteilung 427 and Artillerie-Flieger-Staffel 101 (from my collection) were co-designations of the same unit in the Iron Division. It was the main flying unit used in the attack on Riga in May 1919. The photo shows a member of Kampfgeschwader Sachsenberg wearing the unit badge above the MGSS badge.

A WWI/Freikorps medal bar with the Baden zinc "Verdienst" medal and the scarce Merit Cross II class of the III Marine-Brigade von Löwenfeld.

Here's one from eMedals. https://www.emedals.com/spain-an-order-of-the-knights-hospitaller-of-st-john-breast-star-c-1870-by-godet-99882

Spanish Order of the Knights Hospitaller of St.John, Breast Star, late 19th century. These were almost always German-made and usually by Godet.

very nice piece.

This awards has been discussed before on several forums including this one. Russian Westarmee headquarters standard showing the design of the award. Here is the service cross for the Russian Westarmee from my collection on which the order was later based. Das Abzeichen für Dienstgrade der russische Westarmee (Badge for All Ranks of the Russian Western Army)

I agree with VtwinVince. Originals of these are extremely rare. Chances of finding an original are very slim. eBay and some dealer sites are flooded with fakes in different class of this decoration. I only know of a couple of advanced collectors who have originals. Here is one of the few known originals.

A nice G.A. Scharffenberg, Dresden Albrechtssorden 2X.

While it may be on eBay, it's being sold by Kai Winkler. That should be all you need to know to run in the opposite direction.

It's not Sütterlin, but Kurrentschrift. Although introduced in Prussia in 1915, Sütterlin didn't come into general usage until the 1930s, being made the official style of handwriting taught in schools from 1935 onwards.

Schutztruppen-Regiment von Lettow of Freiwilligen-Division von Lettow-Vorbeck Arm-badge Freiwilligen-Division von Lettow-Vorbeck took part in the putting down of the Spartacist uprising in Berlin and later against the Sozialistischen Republik Bremen proclaimed January 1919 and in June 1919 against the workers strike in Hamburg. This is a purported later strike after the die was believed damaged or worn in the top part. The badge design of a large lion head superimposed on two crossed Zulu Iklwa on a Zulu shield is complex and so deep, heavily embossed and vaulted, that the die was either damaged or just worn at the top over time. Thus in earlier strikes the vertical and horizontal lines decorating the bottom of the shield repeated at the top. Details seem to have been partially worn down on the die through repeated striking of the badges. The left hand side has a die flaw at the edge on the curvy line inside the rim and the left hand spear head is missing some of the details of that on the right. While not scarce, it is very hard to find as it's one of the most sought after Freikorps badges. So far, reproductions/fakes of this badge have not been produced probably because it would be somewhat difficult to do so convincingly.

IMO it's a genuine late WWII production. It has the tell-tale die flaw on the front of the bow across the top. When new, these had a bright, matte silver (Mattweiß) finish. This one seems to retain a good portion of it, albeit toned. Typically, the zinc 'eats' the silver finish.

I read the entries and he left the service on April 7 1919 two days before the regiment formed Freikorps Würzburg and left for Munich to fight the communists. He had been wounded. So, maybe he wasn't up to it or had had enough. He was marked with good conduct and he received his 50 Marks discharge pay.

Are there any entries past page 11? I'm curious if he served in Freikorps Würzburg which was formed from Bavarian Reserve Jäger Regiment 15 when it returned to Germany from Georgia in 1919.

I thought I'd bring this thread back after a year with a recent and very rare acquisition. Einwohnerwehr München Leader's Armband with MGSS "Prinzen" size badge by K. Schorp, Stuttgart. According to the identification of the only other one of these I've ever seen, it was supposedly worn by the Sturmbataillon leader of the Einwohnerwehr. But, I tend to think it's not quite that glamorous. Given the Einwohnerwehr was mostly made up of older men, the idea of a Sturmbataillon seems a bit far fetched. But, given there were also students involved in the Einwohnerwehr maybe that identification is possible. Still, I tend to think it was more likely worn by a machine gun detachment leader. Either way, it's quite rare.

Actually, I'm not prone to arguments at all. I actually can't remember ever having an argument on here with anyone until now. But, you're being obtuse, playing with semantics and splitting hairs about 'East, Far East' to make yourself look clever. You were originally talking about Western Russian, which I addressed. Of course I know that the Baltic is East of Germany. This conversation has turned into you doubling down on irrelevant minutiae. AND, you are STILL talking down to me, which I don't appreciate. The bottom line is, you entered into this exchange about this ribbon bar contributing nothing to the conversation because you know nothing about what is being discussed. I've read your other posts. You rarely contribute any useful information. At best you jump in with speculation that adds nothing. At the moment, I'm the one who has concrete knowledge about the Iron Division Medal and why it might be on this bar. That's all the OP is looking for - the possible reason why he has that Freikorps medal combined with the EK and China medal. For one thing, as a China veteran, he would have been at least in his 30s during WWI and middle-aged by the time of the Freikorps period - so older than normal for this type of service. If you read my posts on GMIC, you'll see what I've contributed. Can you say the same? I'm not looking for a fight or to compete with you. But, your tone is condescending and offensive and this isn't the first time I've noticed it. I'll steer clear of you from now on. I don't need to waste my time with know-it-alls and smart asses. But, I would suggest that if you are as clever and knowledgeable as you think you are, then post something from your collection that contributes to the knowledge of the forum community.

Don't talk down to me like I'm an idiot. I have collected Freikorps for over 50 years. I don't need a lesson from you on the Iron division or the medal. I own one and an award document to it and happen to specialize in the "Eiserne Division". I'm also the moderator of the Freikorps Forum on WAF. I was responding to the unclear way you wrote your comment which implied that he remained in China ("prolonged his stay in the East") as you were discussing China just before you made this comment. I don't need a geography lesson from you. As I stated, if he received this medal he would have been operating in some capacity in the Eiserne Division / Russian Westarmee in Latvia and Lithuania. If you actually knew anything about this you'd know that the Russian Westarmee took over the Iron Division after it rebelled against orders from the German Government in 1919. It was then commanded by both General Rüdiger Graf von der Goltz and General Pavel Bermondt-Avalov, a White Russian warlord. They did not operate in Western Russia, except in some air battles that took place over Russia. The theater of operation was the two Baltic states I mention: hence why it was called the Baltic Campaign.

Your comment about "prolonging his stay in the East with a Freikorps unit" makes no sense with regards to the Freikorps or the Iron Division Medal, if by "East" you mean China. The Freikorps areas of operation were Germany, Silesia, Latvia and Lithuania. The Iron Division operated in Latvia and Lithuania. So, that's where he would have had to have been to get this medal.