Hello All, New member here with a hopefully simple question on authenticity. What is the consensus on this badge. It is marked B & N L. All comments are welcome. Regards, DJ

Marshallj, Thank you for the information! I will use the site you provided to look into the history of the maker. I have collected other German Military Bicycle items; postcards and photos of bike units in action. It's wonderful to a collector to discover the "back" story of an item in their collection.

Thanks for the extra information.

Magnifique!

So here is the address to the history of the company that made your bike. It is in German so you will have to translate it. I took the liberty of translating a small bit.  There is a ton of information on line.     https://achilles-werke.de    After the Sudetenland was annexed to the German Reich, the Achilles factories were joined by the Agon factories in Wiesenberg in the Sudetenland, the Apollo factories in Dziedice near Kraków (Poland), and the Aßmann factories in Höflitz due to increased demand for bicycles. The four factories provided a total of 2,700 jobs.    Here is a picture from their web page you might recognize.  

I was on a trip to Normandy in the 1990's and my buddy bought this bicycle from an older French collector. The French guy said when he was a kid, his father took him to area of the Falaise Pocket after the destruction of the retreating German Forces. They brought this bicycle home among other battlefield pick-ups. When we met him, he was an older guy, probably in his late 60's. His basement was full of his collection; German equipment, uniforms and weapons. This bike is in original condition, except for replaced tubes, and a few nuts and bolts on the front fender. I like the maker's badge and the coaster brake model. I recently acquired it from my friend's estate.

No swastika was ever on the Hindenburg Cross…”1914-1918” surrounded by wreath and blank on reverse except for maker HM.

I'm not too concerned. It looks like the rivets are repaired wartime.

Here's mine

Awesome,  thanks again!

Sorry for giving you wrong info. This is a military sharpshooters badge. This was used 1861 to 1886 , then replaced by: Det militære skarpskyttermerket. its on norwegian wikipedia:   https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Det_militære_skarpskyttermerke

Civilian ? Why the bayonet?