first Freikorp related item in my collection

[Michael Fay]

Said to be " Freikorp Brigade Ehrhardt sleeve badge.
I hope it is real. I spent much time over the years in silence and used the search button on this type of badge, but as it is my 1st Freikorp related item I am not as sure of myself as in my usual collecting areas.
Any info on this will be appreciated.

[Michael Fay]

few pix

focus on top

[Michael Fay]

pix

lower area

[Michael Fay]

image

full shot.
Thanks for looking.

[Brian L.]

Looks like a genuine badge. 2nd pattern-type 2 with cut-out oakleaves from March 1920.

Could you fold the black cloth back and take a photo of the reverse of the badge?

[Michael Fay]

images of the back

Hello bolewts58,
I appreciate your reply.
Here is some shots of the back. I only pulled back the fabric as far as the stitching allowed. Also it was hard to get a decent shot of the backing itself as it is so black (stitches too).

[Michael Fay]

2nd

pulled back fabric

[Michael Fay]

3rd

and another.
Hope this helps.

[Brian L.]

Definitely a genuine badge.

[mchap]

Thats a good first badge to get, nice one!

[Michael Fay]

Definitely a genuine badge.

thank you for your estimation of this badge.
I usually get interested in items after my own private research.
I can tell you I find the history of the Freikorps to be ever more extremely interesting.

[Michael Fay]

Thats a good first badge to get, nice one!

hey mchap,
I thought if Im going to jump into Freikorps stuff-then the Ehrhardt Brigade is where to start as I see a direct physical line of continuation from them to a rather important group I already collect.

[Brian L.]

hey mchap,
I thought if Im going to jump into Freikorps stuff-then the Ehrhardt Brigade is where to start as I see a direct physical line of continuation from them to a rather important group I already collect.

Which group would that be? The SS?

[Brian L.]

In general, trying to draw links between the Freikorps and the Nazis is a bit of a slippery slope despite what works by G.L. Waite and Nigel H. Jones would have people believe.
It's true that many former Freikorps fighters drifted into the SA. But, just as many, if not more joined the Stahlhelm. Most of those that joined the SA did so for reasons of perpetuating the comraderie of the Freikorps and not for any ideological/political reasons. Most Freikorps members were right-wing and/or monarchists, with a few leaning towards republicanism. But, most were at best, indifferent to the Nazis. Only a comparatively small group of radicalized former Freikorps fighters became ardent Nazis.

The Ehrhardt Brigade Verbande der SS was at best an awkward attempt by Ehrhardt to resurrect his Freikorps under the new reality of Germany in July 1933. The Verbande lasted barely a year before disbanding as Ehrhardt hoofed it to Austria to escape the Night of the Long Knives.

So, trying to find lineage from the Ehrhardt Brigade to the SS doesn't bear up under scrutiny. Ehrhardt thought Hitler was a low-life buffoon when he first kicked him out of his office in 1920, when Hitler came to see him under his guise as an army political toady, and that opinion never really changed, which together with the fact that Ehrhardt had opposed the Beer Hall Putsch is why Hitler tried to have him killed during the SA purge. Given the threat he was under up to 1945, it's a testament to Ehrhardt's canny ability to dodge the bullet, that he lived to the age of 90, dying in 1971.

For an interesting re-evaluation of the Freikorps that supports my view of the Freikorps as largely dissociated from the Nazis, I recommend this research paper:

https://www.sussex.ac.uk/webteam/gat...ikorps&site=15

[mchap]

Nice paper Brian... Im not finished reading it, but I do like its tone.