German Paramilitary Freikorps Leader Armband

Excellent condition and unique early German Iron Cross motif armband. Attributed to a Freikorps unit in the closing days of WWI and through the battles with the Bolsheviks, Socialists, and other Nationalists of Germany and Eastern Europe. Made in a green woven fabric with a heavy cotton backing, measures 75mm wide by 360mm long. Edged along top and bottom with a gold embroidery stipe indicative of a higher ranked leader, and with a chain-stitched black Iron Cross edged in yellow chain-stitched boarder and gold bullion. Very well made and unusual period item.

After World War I, the meaning of the word Freikorps changed compared to its past iterations. After 1918, the term referred to various—yet, still, loosely affiliated—paramilitary organizations that sprang up across Germany following the country’s defeat in World War I. Of the numerous Weimar paramilitary groups active during that time, the Freikorps were, and remain, the most notable. While exact numbers are difficult to determine, historians agree that some 500,000 men were formal Freikorps members with another 1.5 million men participating informally in “Freikorps” like militias.