TK Helm

[Robin Lumsden]

I used to think this shot was some sort of theatrical fantasy...........

[Robin Lumsden]

.......until I found this period publication being advertised the other day.........

[Robin Lumsden]

It's the same picture.....with the face taken out.

[Sauce]

Would this of been made simply for a recruiting poster, or do you believe they were actually worn?

[Guest Rick Research]

I'd say from the highly theatrical "Hollywood" lighting that this was, indeed, a MOVIE prop, being worn by an actor, not a real Freikorps soldier.

[Daniel Murphy]

I agree. Why they didn't just paint the TK on the helmet the way some real freikorps units did, I will never know.

Dan Murphy

Edited May 1, 2006 by Daniel Murphy

[Robin Lumsden]

Well, I'm not so sure. The magazine is an 'official' history of the Silesian Freikorps campaigns, so why would they use a film prop?

Theatrical - most definitely.

Unofficial - who knows?

Hitler & Co. were well known for their theatrical gear, but it didn't make it unofficial.

[Robin Lumsden]

Now, THIS is what I call a film prop.......

[Robin Lumsden]

I agree. Why they didn't just paint the TK on the helmet the way some real freikorps units did, I will never know.

Dan Murphy

Dan.

Apart from the one well-known 'Freikorpskaempfer' picture, it's actually VERY difficult to find original photos of the TK being worn by Freikorps troops on the helmet.

Here's one, although you'd need a magnifying glass to see it. The guy on the left.......

[Robin Lumsden]

These men also wear it. The Kokampf wore the helmet TK likewise, but on a black disc.

[Robin Lumsden]

Mystery solved! Rick was right (as usual).

The photo shows the actor Willi Fritsch as he appeared in the 1937 film 'Menschen Ohne Vaterland', which was about the Freikorps.

He played Oberleutnant Maltzach, of the Baltic FK.

Here he is on a publicity cigarette card............