Gendarmerie Abzeichen

[Thierry]

Bonjour,

A Gendarmerie Alpinist Abzeichen.

Thierry

[Thierry]

Reverse

[JoeW]

attachment=112446:GendAlp_...hAlpObv1.jpg] Sorry, I believe your Alpinist Abzeichen is a modern repro. It bears no resemblance to the construction of original Austrian Alpinist and HochAlpinist badges on which the German police insignia was added. It appears brand new with no wear whatever for a badge made almost 70 years ago.

Here is a view of the front of the two badges converted for wear by German police. The original small Austrian Wappen was incorporated into the ice pick shaft, not in the massive manner of yours. The simple police insignia was simply attached to the Austrian Wappen, not riveted to the entire badge. The method of attachment was a thin clip arrangement that the Germans often replaced with a military style pin. The eagle insignia itself is a poor reprodcution. These badges were first shown in the Littlejohn/Dodkins book from the 1970s.

Edited January 15, 2008 by JoeW

[Thierry]

Bonjour,

Thanks for pics and infos.

How was it carried (left or right) ?