Original Austro-Hungarian WWI Veteran’s League Post Leader’s Armband – 15” x 6” Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. Now this is a lovely, yet unknown armband for an Austro-Hungarian veteran’s association, most likely an offshoot similar to the Imperial German Kyffhäuserbund. The Kyffhäuserbund’s origins lie in a section of the Deutscher Kriegerbund (English: German Warrior League) that established a league in 1900 that would unite the formerly scattered German war veterans’ associations. Some of these organizations had been already administrating the maintenance of the memorial together. The league was initially named Kyffhäuser League of the German Countries’ Warriors Associations (German: Kyffhäuserbund der deutschen Landeskriegerverbände), a name that became later abbreviated to Kyffhäuserbund. By 1913, this umbrella organization had already 2.8 million war veterans as its members and it had become one of the largest societies in Germany. During the time of the German Empire, the Kyffhäuserbund was instrumentalized against the growing social democratic movement in Germany.

The armband features a white/green color scheme with a gold bullion type trim. The center features a silver bullion embroidered helmet with the letters ARU in the center, though we are not sure what this represents. Surrounding the helmet on each side is a gold and orange bullion wreath joined in the bottom center with a bow. The condition is quite nice there there is some fraying present as well as oxidation to the bullion. Unlike most armbands we encounter, this one is not sewn together in the back, instead it used 4 small button snaps which still function properly.

A lovely example ready for further research and display.