Freikorps Lichtschlag - arm badge
Freikorps Lichtschlag was established on 14 December 1918 in Hagen, Westphalia as part of the VII. Armeekorps based in Münster under General Oskar von Watter. It was commanded by Hauptmann Otto Lichtschlag and had a strength of 2530 men.
In early 1919 the unit was deployed against the Ruhr red army in the Ruhr area.
On 15 February the force acted against striking workers in the town of Dorsten with severity. Subsequently the supporters of the Communist Party (KPD) and the Independent Social Democratic Party (USPD) declared a general strike in the Ruhr area. This was suppressed quite ruthlessly, however. Subsequently, the situation remained tense and was further aggravated by the actions of the Freikorps. On 15 April 1919, soldiers of the Freikorps Lichtschlag shot into a gathering of striking workers in the district of Mettmann, resulting in several deaths and injuries.
In June 1919 it became part of Reichswehr-Brigade 31 in the preliminary Reichswehr. Reichswehr-Brigade 31 merged with Reichswehr-Brigade 7 in October 1919.
During the Kapp Putsch in March 1920, the unit did not support the Weimar Republic, but was a supporter of the putschists led by the Ehrhardt Brigade's occupation of Berlin. The unit was deployed against the workers who refused to call off their general strike after they caused the Putsch to collapse because of lack of popular support.
Afterwards, during the the Ruhr Uprising in March 1920 the unit marched into the town of Wetter, in order to enter the Ruhr area from the east and out-flank the Ruhr Red Army. On 16 March the advance of the unit was stopped near Dortmund-Aplerbeck by 10,000 men of the Ruhr Red Army which defeated the Freikorps the next day.
Because of its brutality through its various actions, Freikorps Lichtschlag was nicknamed by the left-wing, "Freikorps Totschlag" (Freikorps Homicide) - a play on its name.
A memorial in memory of the fallen of Freikorps Lichtschlag and 3. Marine-Brigade Loewenfeld was inaugurated 25 June 1934 in Dorsten. It carried the inscription:
"Den Freikorps Lichtschlag/Loewenfeld, Februar 1919 - März 1920. Unsern Befreiern aus Spartakistengewalt. Mit Adolf Hitler im zweiten Jahr des dritten Reiches 1934. Euch was verhüllt. Nun ists am Tag. Ihr schlugt den ersten Hammerschlag".
(Freikorps Lichtschlag/Loewenfeld, February 1919 - March 1920. Our liberators from Sparticist violence. With Adolf Hitler in the second year of the Third Reich 1934. What was denied you is now given you on this day. Yours was the first hammer blow).
It was thrown into the river by British soldiers after the war. It was salvaged in 1949 and used as a memorial for German prisoners of war.
Freikorps Lichtschlag was established on 14 December 1918 in Hagen, Westphalia as part of the VII. Armeekorps based in Münster under General Oskar von Watter. It was commanded by Hauptmann Otto Lichtschlag and had a strength of 2530 men.
In early 1919 the unit was deployed against the Ruhr red army in the Ruhr area.
On 15 February the force acted against striking workers in the town of Dorsten with severity. Subsequently the supporters of the Communist Party (KPD) and the Independent Social Democratic Party (USPD) declared a general strike in the Ruhr area. This was suppressed quite ruthlessly, however. Subsequently, the situation remained tense and was further aggravated by the actions of the Freikorps. On 15 April 1919, soldiers of the Freikorps Lichtschlag shot into a gathering of striking workers in the district of Mettmann, resulting in several deaths and injuries.
In June 1919 it became part of Reichswehr-Brigade 31 in the preliminary Reichswehr. Reichswehr-Brigade 31 merged with Reichswehr-Brigade 7 in October 1919.
During the Kapp Putsch in March 1920, the unit did not support the Weimar Republic, but was a supporter of the putschists led by the Ehrhardt Brigade's occupation of Berlin. The unit was deployed against the workers who refused to call off their general strike after they caused the Putsch to collapse because of lack of popular support.
Afterwards, during the the Ruhr Uprising in March 1920 the unit marched into the town of Wetter, in order to enter the Ruhr area from the east and out-flank the Ruhr Red Army. On 16 March the advance of the unit was stopped near Dortmund-Aplerbeck by 10,000 men of the Ruhr Red Army which defeated the Freikorps the next day.
Because of its brutality through its various actions, Freikorps Lichtschlag was nicknamed by the left-wing, "Freikorps Totschlag" (Freikorps Homicide) - a play on its name.
A memorial in memory of the fallen of Freikorps Lichtschlag and 3. Marine-Brigade Loewenfeld was inaugurated 25 June 1934 in Dorsten. It carried the inscription:
"Den Freikorps Lichtschlag/Loewenfeld, Februar 1919 - März 1920. Unsern Befreiern aus Spartakistengewalt. Mit Adolf Hitler im zweiten Jahr des dritten Reiches 1934. Euch was verhüllt. Nun ists am Tag. Ihr schlugt den ersten Hammerschlag".
(Freikorps Lichtschlag/Loewenfeld, February 1919 - March 1920. Our liberators from Sparticist violence. With Adolf Hitler in the second year of the Third Reich 1934. What was denied you is now given you on this day. Yours was the first hammer blow).
It was thrown into the river by British soldiers after the war. It was salvaged in 1949 and used as a memorial for German prisoners of war.
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