Gendarmerie Alpinist badge, Need Help !!

[Stan]

Well MM, please educate us. Why do you say that the Weitze piece is wrong?

BTW, the badge you show is also original but missing the top of the ice hammer.

Stan

[MountainMan]

Its well made, but imo the Material is not right and when you look at the front and the edges is not perfect made. And because there was only one producer of them i would say they should all have the same quality. That one i show is a perfect original one, i get offered a long time ago to buy. It comes out from an Austrian Gendamerie Station in Tirol. There where some 40 Pieces found in the 80s.

Well MM, please educate us. Why do you say that the Weitze piece is wrong?

BTW, the badge you show is also original but missing the top of the ice hammer.

Stan

[Stan]

Some collectors believe that these badges were made by Souval and others like me think that Klein made them at his shop in Vienna. Very few were produced as the total awarded was low. As you probably know, the original ones had the Austrian shield in the centre which had the TR Polizei eagle superimposed. The early ones had the shield cut off and filed down and a cutout Polizei eagle and swas put on top. Klein soon found it easier to put a Polizei emblem with a solid white background to cover up the original Austrian shield.

If you compare sizes, all badges should have the same measurements and the makers stamp should always be the same although Klein used two stamps as he moved premises. Sometimes these badges were left unmarked.

I still believe the Weitze piece to be 100% correct.

Stan

[Alex W.]

Some collectors believe that these badges were made by Souval and others like me think that Klein made them at his shop in Vienna. Very few were produced as the total awarded was low. As you probably know, the original ones had the Austrian shield in the centre which had the TR Polizei eagle superimposed. The early ones had the shield cut off and filed down and a cutout Polizei eagle and swas put on top. Klein soon found it easier to put a Polizei emblem with a solid white background to cover up the original Austrian shield.

If you compare sizes, all badges should have the same measurements and the makers stamp should always be the same although Klein used two stamps as he moved premises. Sometimes these badges were left unmarked.

I still believe the Weitze piece to be 100% correct.

Stan

Souval indeed made the Gendarmerie Hochalpinist Badge but in the post war period. None of the ones shown here are Souval's badges. I have two of them in my collection - they look differently.

Regards,
Alex