Kyffhäuser Medal Question

[John F.]

Can anyone translate the backside of the Kyffhäuser Medal for me please? Also, what was the Kyffhäuser Associations function, were they similar to the modern day U.S. VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars)?

Thanks,

John

[Rick Research]

For loyalty in the World War

Upright and proud, we went from the battles/struggles in which we endured for more than four years against a world of enemies.

[Dave Danner]

Regarding their function, "was" isn't the right word. The Kyffhäuserbund still exists. They are a bit of the VFW, American Legion, GAR and NRA (they sponsor shooting events) combined.

http://www.kyffhaeuserbund.de/

An organization of veterans of the friderizianische Füsilierregiment von Brünning formed the "Militärischen Schützenbruderschaft" in 1786. Other veterans groups followed, and in 1872, 40 of them came together to form the Deutscher Kriegerbund. They led the effort to build a memorial to German veterans, which was funded by contributions from veterans and was to be built next to the site of Friedrich Barbarossa's castle in the Kyffhäusergebirge in Thuringia. The cornerstone was laid on 10 May 1892. The memorial was dedicated on 18 June 1896.

The building of the memorial brought together many veterans groups which had not joined the Deutscher Kriegerbund, and an effort was then made to form a broader Reichskriegerverband for all veterans. On 1 January 1900, the Kyffhäuserbund der deutschen Landeskriegerverbände was established, encompassing all veterans, and soon it had two million members.

In 1919, Hindenburg assumed the honorary presidency of the Kyffhäuserbund. The Kyffhäuserbund threw its support behind him in the 1932 presidential elections, earning Hitler's enmity. The Bund also earned the NSDAP's wrath by including Jewish veterans in its ranks. It was brought under party control in 1936 and renamed the NS-Reichskriegerbund (Kyffhäuserbund) e.V. In 1938, it was again renamed the Nationalsozialistischer Reichskriegerbund (Kyffhäuser) e.V. The Kyffhäuserbund was abolished as a separate organization in 1943. At the time it had 4.5 million members. The remnant NS-Kriegerbund was on the list of Nazi Party organizations proscribed by the Allied occupation authorities.

The organization was reestablished in September 1952 as the Kyffhäuserbund (Bund ehemaliger Wehrmachtsangehöriger und Kriegsteilnehmer, ihrer Angehörigen und Hinterbliebenen) e.V. under the leadership of Generalmajor a.D. Wilhelm Reinhard, who had headed the organization prior to 1943. It was again renamed in 1961 as the Deutscher Soldatenbund Kyffhäuser e.V. In 1977, the name was shortened simply to the Kyffhäuserbund and its membership opened up to anyone who shared the organization's goals, rather than just to veterans and their families.

I have a bunch of pictures that I took last year of the Kyffhäuser-Denkmal, but I haven't gotten around to scanning them yet. Here is one from their website, though: