East German - but what is it?

[John F.]

Other then being East German what are these? Are they some sort of achievement or longevity awards for the Kampgruppen? I am assuming they came in three classes (gold, silver and bronze) because I have both a silver and a bronze.

Thanks,
John

[Mike G.]

Yes, Kampfgruppen Bestenabzeichen, Circa 1975. There appear to be four in all. The fourth one actually has a Roman Numeral IV appended to the bottom part of the badge.

[John F.]

Hi Michael:

So was this the factory militia version of a Bester Badge? Did the Kampgruppen have dress uniform to wear such awards or were they worn on their field unifoms or civilian attire?

Best,
John

[Mike G.]

Hi John,

To the best of my knowledge, they didn't have a military dress uniform such as that worn by the NVA. How, where and when these type awards/decorations were worn is not clear to me. Perhaps another board member more knowledgeable about this aspect of the Kampfgruppen will respond.

[John F.]

...Perhaps another board member more knowledgeable about this aspect of the Kampfgruppen will respond.

I wonder who that could be .

John

[Garulfo]

KG didn't have a real dress uniform, they used the field uniform with a white shirt and a red tie.

These 3 men wore the bestabzeichen during a ceremony

[Garulfo]

award ceremony

[Garulfo]

another bestabzeichen, apparently it's the highest level, but I'm not sure...

The pictures are from "Die Kampfgruppen der Arbeitklasse der DDR", 1978

[John F.]

Hi Garulfo:

I guess that answers the question about the Kampfgruppen "dress" uniforms...complete with pictures to back it up .

Best,
John

[Mike G.]

John,

Thank you for posting photos of your two Kampfgruppen Bestenabzeichen, and for initiating this thread. These types of threads are always very informative and are in and of themselves, classroom training. We all learn something from them.

Garulfo, thank you for the information about how, when and where they were worn, and confirmation that the Kampfgruppen had no Military Dress Uniform. The badge you posted is very nice. I think as you stated, it was the highest badge, and replaced the earlier version that was used through 1975, which had the Roman Numeral IV.

[Roy Queen]

My thanks goes out to Market Garden for posting the bronze and silver Kampfgruppe Bester badges. Until I saw the pictures, the only ones that I thought the KG had were those with the red enamel. Now I know that there were others.

One would think that the KG would have had better uniforms. For the KG to be the SED's militia, they look more like mechanics than soldiers.

[Mike G.]

Since we're on the topic of the Kampfgruppen, lets see if we can keep this thread going for awhile. If you have additional medals, awards, pins etc. unique to the Kampfgruppen, please post them.

Here is one I have. Unfortunately, I can't find a reference to it in either of the two very good and informative medals books I have. So I don't know its true purpose, production date or anything else. Sellers on ebay always tend to misrepresent their wares, so I won't comment further about it, as I don't have access to factual information.

The head-bust appears to be that of Ernst Thalmann - who is more commonly associated with the FDJ.

Any help out there would be welcomed - Garulfo

[J Howland]

It is Thalman on the badge and it appears in various period DDR publications described as a "commander's badge."

In spite of seeing various official line drawings of it, I've never seen a photo of a KG man wearing one. In light of the lack of specific explanatory references to what it was "for," I've wondered if it might actually have been some sort of graduation badge - since KG rank was always indicated by a series of embriodered red bars sewn on to the upper jacket sleeve...

Jim

[Dag]

The head-bust appears to be that of Ernst Thalmann - who is more commonly associated with the FDJ.

Any help out there would be welcomed - Garulfo [/QUOTE]

I wouldn't say that Thaelmann was more associated with the FDJ; at least from my memory/experience.
The main reason for Thaelmann being on a Kampfgruppen medal is taht teh KG where based on the idea/followed the tradition of the Rot Front-Kaempferbund. This organisation was founded in the mid 20ies (all this is from memory) to protect meetings, demonstrations etc of the KPD. Thaelmann was a memeber and at some time the leader (I seem to remember from my history lessons 25 years ago). It was founded in response to attacks from the SA but I think that streetfighting happened quite often as well.

Dag

[Garulfo]

sharpshooter insignia - 1974 (bronze - silver - gold)