What kind of '57 para badge is this?

[achern]

Does anybody know what this is? The person who passed this to me said it was some sort of Heer para veterans' association badge, but I have no idea.

[Peter Wiking]

How small is it? Yes it does have the army design of this fine award.

Peter

[achern]

The reverse does not look like any 57 Heer badge I've come across, and I'd like to find out what the symbol on the eagle is for.

The badge is the same size as a regular 57 Heer para badge.

[Mike Yokum]

Hi Achern,

It appears to be a cast copy of a 57er badge, possibly intended for a veteran gathering, although badges intended for vet gatherings typically have the date of the gathering, unit info, etc. This is an odd one, possibly just a souvenir.

The eagle details are extremely soft and it is soldered directly to the wreath, which also has very soft detail. Hard to say exactly what it is, but it is not an actual 57er award intended for use as a replacement for a wartime badge IMO.

[achern]

That's what I thought too, Mike. Anyway, I sold it off as I'm really pruning my collection.

The Germans have way too many iterations of their parachute badges and I don't mean variations on a theme!

[speedytop]

Hi,

"possibly intended for a veteran gathering"

No, I think, it is intended for a reservists gathering, possibly a marching event.

The different local reservist groups had many of these events in the sixties, the seventies and the eighties, with several different "decorations".

http://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?...20090209175724

Uwe

[Mike Yokum]

Thanks for that Uwe! That makes good sense.