Luftwaffe Flak Badges

[Jody]

Hello,
Who in your opinion made the nicest Luftwaffe Flak badges? My vote goes to the early silver examples with the ball hinge.
Regards,
Jody

[Rich G]

I second that.

Rich

[skip]

Yep these are the nicest but does anyone know who the maker was?.Maybe AS with the ball hinge!

[Tim Calvert]

I had one with the ball hinge but I didn't like the eagle's beak.
When it came time to generate $$ it was the first to go.
Here is an example.

[Tim Calvert]

And here is a shot of my Brehmer. Very nice quality, BUT!.......

[Tim Calvert]

...when I got 'em all out at once and took a close look...
...I've got to go with the Juncker just because the expression
on the eagle's face is the coolest!

[Tim Calvert]

Juncker...

[Jody]

Luftwaffe Flak Badges

Hi Tim,
I have owned them all, and the Juncker is very crude in my opinion. Look at the blurred detail.
Regards,
Jody

[Tim Calvert]

You are right Jody, but IMO it still has more character than the other badges. By this I mean that the eagle has personality.
How can you give a small piece of metal personality? Would you call it art?

[Jody]

Luftwaffe Flak Badges

Hi Tim,
The Juncker does have personality, but I think the ball hinge is just all around prettier. I like the bulkiness of this ball hinge badge.

By the way, you can identify the ball hinge badge in some photos. The salamander like head of the eagle and huge swastika give it away.

That is what I like about it. It is very hard to identify a flak badge by Assmann, Juncker, Brehmer, etc, in pictures. The ball hinge flak badge you can easily spot.

For example, look on page 43 of the book Uniforms and Insignia of the Luftwaffe Volume 2: 1940-1945 by Brian L. Davis. Is that not a ball hinge flak badge?

What other pics can you folks spot the ball hinge badge in? The ball hinge flak badge rules!
Regards,
Jody

[Tim C]

Hi All,

as a relative newcomer to the forum, I don't want to be too pushy... but Junker... wow, love their stuff....

[Jos L C]

Also one of my favorites.

Jos.

[Ralph A]

I like my early Brehmer.

Nice highlights and a good deep patina. Has a personalization on the back.

[Tony]

All,

I currently have two Flak badges. One is an unmarked ball hinged badge and the other is an Assman. I like both, but from a detail and quality perspective, the ball hinged badge is far superior. The ball hinged badge is a nice solid early piece. This badge (with it's unique eagle's head) is pictured quite often in reference material.

Brehmer also has good detail, but the one I had was a fake. I've seen a number of fakes with this maker, so I have steered away from Brehmer. I'm not saying there aren't good Brehmer pieces out here, just have a bad experience with this maker.


If I had to rate them for detail and quality:

unmarked ball hinge badge

Brehmer

Juncker or Assman

Of course, this is just my opinion...

Thanks
Tony

[Mark S.]

I like the crusty gray colored zinc ones issed late war...

ha ha ha just kidding...


I am a Brehmer fan myself, for the same reason why Tony doesnt like them. I too had a fake I returned, but when I managed to snag a real one, well..no turning back.