bolewts58

I think this is postwar. The pin assembly is a type commonly used by Heinrich Timm, Berlin.

This whole medal bar is from the well-known Belgian fakers and no good. All these unofficial awards have been faked for many years. The thread starter is fake. This medal bar is genuine.

That's a nice Third Reich period, clamshell screwback, Mecklenburg-Schwerin 1914 Military Merit Cross 1st Class, probably made in the 40s. It's an uncommon variation. So, I think the asking prices was pretty reasonable, which is probably why it sold quickly.

I would say so. But it would be better to have sharper pictures.

The cross is a Teutonic Cross (flairs out slightly at the ends), not a Baltic Cross with straight arms as seen in Grenzschutz Ost shields. There were different versions of the Weickhmann sleeve shield. The early ones were larger and handmade as in this photo. The later ones worn in the vorläufige Reichswehr as in your photo were machine stitched and smaller. Here are a couple of Grenzschutz Ost shields for comparison (one early handmade version and a later BeVo weave version).

That Bavarian MVO4 looks pretty convincing complete with a proper Weiss & Co. logo, 950 silver mark and generally Weiss details. But Weiss crosses are noted for having a thicker frame on the lower arm (6 o'clock) than on the other three arms which is absent here and all arms on Weiss MVO4 usually have a pronounced beveled edge, also missing in this cross.. These are consistent details on all Weiss & Co. crosses as far as I know and the absence here is a red flag.

Yes. You're correct. I was making a big assumption that he might have been in the Einwohnerwehr Passau later as Freikorps Passau became Einwohnerwehr Passau just as, for example Freikorps Chiemgau became Einwohnerwehr Chiemgau. But then again, he may have quit the Freikorps after the fighting in Munich. As for an insignia for Freikorps Passau; they may have worn a simple black diamond like the Epp diamond but without any badge. There are contemporary images of Bavarian Freikorps wearing a black diamond only. Freikorps Werdenfels, for example wore a simple black diamond on a blue and white armband.

Some early Freikorps insignia was off the shelf from existing stocks. A good example of this is the oakleaf collar badge worn by Freiwilliges Landjägerkorps, a readily available insignia worn by many hunt clubs in Germany. I don't think there is any currently available information about who manufactured most of the specialized Freikorps insignia. I assume that information originally existed in the Freikorps archives which were destroyed in a bombing raid in 1944. I would guess that manufacturers that supplied Imperial uniform insignia made some of it. Some well-known manufacturers like Deschler, Godet, Wagner, Fleck, AWS, Timm, St&L and Beco made Freikorps insignia. Deschler, for example made most of the Bavarian Freikorps insignia. Heinrich Timm was a major manufacturer of both Freikorps insignia and awards. But generally it's hard to know who made a lot of it. Here is a generic insignia catalogue from the period showing hunting and gun club insignia adopted by Freikorps units.

Very interesting group. I suspect when he was in the Freikorps, he wore this armband.

Here's mine. An example of the collar badge (sorry for the quality).

I agree that they are crossed swords. I've sharpened the image and increased the contrast and you can better see the hilts and blades of the swords.

Thanks for your kind words. Here's a photo postcard of an officer in Freikorps Weickhmann that I used to own. Here's an award document for the Baltic Cross to Gefreiter Fritz Reichwald of Freikorps Weickhmann.

The date "18. february 1919" is likely when he joined Freikorps Weickhmann as this photo was taken sometime between the June and September 30, 1919. He is wearing the Reichswehr cap wreath which wasn't authorized until June 1919. The central cockade inside the wreath was replaced by the Reichswehr eagle badge on October 1, 1919. Hence the date of the photo is within the period I've stated. The CDV photo was actually taken during the same period as he still has the first type wreath and cockade on his hat. But it's probably later than in your photo as indicated by the award of the Baltic Cross. My guess would be in September 1919 as a lot of Baltic Crosses were awarded then before many in Freikorps Weickhmann transferred to the Russian West Army in October.

I'm not saying you're wrong. Maybe it depended on the maker. I've had 10 different wrappers with crosses and never had tissue in any of them.

No. It's actually 'Y'. 'Y' was an unknown maker. 'KO' wrappers look like this. BTW. These never came with internal tissue. I've had several of them and there was never tissue. The cross, ribbon and black safety pin were wrapped as is inside the wrapper.

An example of the cloth sword sleeve shield as seen in the photo above.

It's Italian

I tried to send you an email. Your email doesn't work. I am interested in the cross. You can message me here if it's still available and I'll give you my email address. thank you. Brian Lewis

My guess is this might be an early Ernst Blass concoction from the 1970s. Back then, knowledge about the French maker would have been rudimentary at best and I think it would have just added a bit of exotica to the piece that would have fooled most collectors.

How stupid are these people? It's quite easy to find out what an original wartime piece sells for (probably north of 15,000 € in good condition).

For one thing, "VON UNRUHE"??? LOL... Whoever engraved this is having a joke. Unruhe means restlessness or agitation. There's no place in Germany called "Unruhe". Also, the "J" should be an "I" and isn't the "8" in 1870 called an "over under" and a clear indicator of a fake? I think the hinge block is wrong and too high off the back. Genuine barrel hinges are soldered flat to the back. The beading is wrong. The frame is likely from a reworked 1914. Anything else?

I was kind of hoping for a comp copy...LOL? 😁 I bought one from Amazon and it should be here tomorrow. I'm looking forward to reading it.

Same cross but with a ribbon for a Bavarian regiment. http://www.medal-medaille.com/sold/product_info.php?products_id=13030

That is a generic regimental cross. There's no way of knowing unless you have the full size cross with the regimental bar.