Freikorps Garde Kavallerie Schützen Division

[Milihfra]

Hello all,

 

Today I would like to share my pair of Garde Kavallerie Schützen Division (GKSD) collar insignia. Most notably, this unit saw action in Berlin during the Spartacist uprising of 1919 and were the ones who captured and killed Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, the leaders of the uprising. The insignia I have in my collection is the 1st version. Other variations of this style do exist as do other styles. 

 

I will be showing some other Freikorps insignia I have in my collection in the coming days. I am happy to answer questions anyone might have.

 

Frank

[Dune Panther]

Amazing to me that things like this still exist at all, I suspect never being mass produced in large numbers (that I know of) and given all of the conflict and upheaval of those times. And then of the war that followed, when so much was destroyed. 

 

Thanks for sharing these! Interesting topic & time period. 

[Milihfra]

On 6/11/2022 at 8:11 PM, Dune Panther said:

Amazing to me that things like this still exist at all, I suspect never being mass produced in large numbers (that I know of) and given all of the conflict and upheaval of those times. And then of the war that followed, when so much was destroyed. 

 

Thanks for sharing these! Interesting topic & time period. 

I could not agree more! One certainly would think that way, especially the unauthorized nature of many Freikorps units. I have even read about other groups having reunion events many years later.

[Preppy Picker]

Hi Frank,

 

Very rare insignia and something I never knew about. Any tips you can give if any of us should run into one of these. I love the history but I also love to learn about an items physical attributes. Thanks 

 

Prep

[Milihfra]

On 6/13/2022 at 3:48 PM, Preppy Picker said:

Hi Frank,

 

Very rare insignia and something I never knew about. Any tips you can give if any of us should run into one of these. I love the history but I also love to learn about an items physical attributes. Thanks 

 

Prep

Hey prep,

 

Thank you for the kind words. While I am far from any expert in Freikorps insignia, something that I learned a-lot right away is that there is surprisingly a lot of fakes being made. One would think that given the rather obscure nature that fakes would be few or very poor if they existed, which is true in some cases. Conversely there are some really good ones. I wont show any more pictures for now to protect the design but originals, such as this have a crimp like clasp on the back that is perpendicular to the badge itself. Other forums more focused on German militaria also have pictures of other versions. Ultimately if anyone is serious about collecting these please PM me and I will be able to provide more, otherwise pay close attention to the quality of the die, clasp and other details like that. Usually those are were the clues will be found.

 

Frank