Kriegsabzeichen fur Hilfskreuzer

[FALLSCHIRMJAGER]

Hi all (especially Martin on this one)! I just thought I would share this rare and in my opinion original variant made by Ausgef B Wilhelm. A very unusual piece although it is £650! If only I could afford it! Leon.

[martinw]

Hi Leon,

a controversial piece and one that has been discussed on various fora over the years.

It is not accepted as an original badge and in the interest of sharing information i found this old thread from WAF where this type of badge was discussed and in the opinions of many,deemed a fake.

German auxiliary cruisers (Hilfskreuzer) - Wehrmacht-Awards.com Militaria Forums

Personally,not a badge i would want in my collection and they do show up on dealer sites from time to time.

Save your money and buy an accepted original mate.

BTW,this is not the first one of these badges i have seen for sale on this dealer site.I do not understand why this particular dealer beleives these badges to be original ?

Hope this helps,

Cheers,Martin.

[Adrian]

I've never come across one of these badges before, certainly not in any of my literature or with mention to this badge being authentic. Interesting nonetheless.

Unfortunately that particular seller puts me off too.

[martinw]

They've been around for a while Adrian.

I seen no "definate" match to any known original Hilfskreuzer award in both the obverse and reverse design.

I could say there is a slight similarity in the obverse design to the Pfortzheim makers, but.......?

Who produced them and when,is still a mystery to me ?

Regards,Martin.

[FALLSCHIRMJAGER]

Very interesting Martin , I knew you would know the "low down" on this one , looked good to me but then again I had never seen one before so I continue to live and learn!! Just goes to prove yet again that just because a badge is in a book(German Combat Awards , by Alan Beadle) it does not make it a genuine piece ,only some ones opinion in print! Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Leon.

[Adrian]

It's quite an old book now Leon and many newer and better works have been published on badges. Our knowledge is evolving all the time so what may have been set in stone ten years ago can very often be out of date in that short space of time since.

[martinw]

Hi guys,

as i mentioned above,i had no idea when and where these badges were produced.

Well looky here.

This is what i beleive to be a more contemporary attempt by Staegemeir to reproduce this badge.

Now,i am not exactly sure as to how long Stagemeir has been in buisness but perhaps the badge shown in the thread starter may have been one of his earlier attempts at producing this "Wilhelm" type of badge ??

I have seen other examples of his work that have been artificially "aged".

Just theory here on my part,but looking at what i beleive is a more recent example makes one think,although i do see differences in the thickness of the lines of long. and lat. on the globe.Without more detailed images of both badges here,especially on the maker mark,it is hard to tell.

Puzzling,to say the least.




Regards,Martin.