REVIEW and QUESTION - Adolf Scholze IAB

[zook]

Hello Guys -
I came across this AS Infantry Assault Badge. The catch looks original to the badge, but I think the catches are these A.S. badges were a bit flat in shape, vice a wire catch? The catch does seem original to this badge. On the obverse, the base of the wreath (connector) does not look like an A.S. Any opinions? Dan

[Thomas Durante]

Hi Dan,

Be very careful, this is a very well made Staegemeir fake! The first red flag is the condition and base metal, it is NOT a zink badge like originals were made from. Also the catch is big red flag, it is crimped in twice because the original casting picked up the original crimping, so Staegemeir fakes often have to be crimped a 2nd time to get the fake catch in there.

Tom

[AndyC]

As said this one is a dangerous fake if you don´t watch up



Andy

[zook]

Thanks for the Comments Tom and Andy! - I was not familiar with the Staegemeir - Good to know! I tend to purchase from reliable sources, but find these discoveries interesting. It looks very good at first glance, but when I compared to a reference A.S. badge, it certainly didn't make sense! Discovering these type of badges online gives one time for pause. If I discovered this type of badge at an antique shop, I would have been fooled! I am glad I shared it and thanks for the educating notes! Dan

[sniper11]

This is a very good post -great info from Tom.

Troy

[Bruce Simcox]

Hi zook,

These IAB's(genuine WWII ones) with this maker mark are at this time simply referred to as AS in triangle.
There is no connection to Adolf Scholze.
A pretty exhaustive search was conducted by one of our members, including contacting former workers at the factory and the company itself. It was determined tha the firm of Adlof Scholze used only the initials A.S. on their products.
So, to date, the manufacturer of AS in triangle is still unknown.

[zook]

Thank you Bruce !

[Stepdale]

Bruce,
While I will agree with you that it has not been proven definitively that AS in a triangle is Adolph Scholze, I will disagree with your statement that it is proven that there is no connection to Scholze. I believe that the member who spoke to the company contacted them only in the recent past, many years after the company had moved out of Gablonz when expelled by the Czechoslovakian government and resettled in Germany. The company reported that as far as it knew, it had only ever used the AS not in a triangle logo. This is not surprising as the owners left with only the belongings they could carry and any records showing wartime markings are so far lost, while anyone who worked at the wartime firm was already dead. Pavel, who lives in Gablonz, has done extensive metal detecting at the site of the Scholze wartime factory and found plenty of AS in a triangle badges there. As a former archaeological field hand, that lends more credence to a connection than the word of a company rep decades after the war.
Dale

[Bruce Simcox]

Dale,

Since there is no existing evidence to conclusively point to the firm of Adolf Scholze as being the manufacture of AS in triangle badges they will unfortunately have to remain in the category of unknown maker.
I would like to say otherwise, but to do so would be nothing less than speculation.
To discount the research done in the recent past as irrelevant, for whatever reasons are convenient, still doesn't change the fact that no one knows what firm made AS in triangle badges. The research conducted at the time included reaching out to other still existing concerns in the Gablonz area and sadly produced negative results.
I will respectfully disagree with your summation as compelling as it is.
I will concede that there is a possibility that Adolf Scholze may have been the firm that produced and marked AS in triangle badges, but that conjecture still remains mired in the lost sands of time and leaves us with limited speculation at this point.

Happy collecting!

[Stepdale]

Bruce,
No problem, but I will point out that there are no WW2 concerns existing in Gablonz since shortly after the war when all were expelled. While I agree that it is not 100% proven that AS in a triangle is Scholze, your statement that there is no connection to Scholze is not proven either. Again, the fact that numerous badges with this marking were found at the site of the Scholze factory speaks volumes.
Dale