Germany, Heer. A Wehrpaß to August Hambek, Carinthia Cross Recipient

(Heer Wehrpaß). Constructed of a field-grey card stock binding with 52 paginated interior pages, lightly filled with stamped and handwritten entries to “AUGUST HAMBEK”, retaining a certified studio portrait of the bearer, issued on 28 February 1940, measuring 10.5 cm (w) x 14.5 cm (h), in extremely fine condition.

Footnote: August Hambek was born on 1 August 1890 in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and trained as a pharmacist before entering military service as a volunteer during the First World War, seeing regular promotions through recorded service into 1915. He was the recipient of a number of awards, including a Bravery Medal, Honour Decoration of the World War II Class with War Decoration, and Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 for Combatants. Notably, Hambek’s Wehrpaß also includes an entry for service with Kärntner Freiheitskämpfe (Carinthian Freedom Fighters), a Freikorps-adjacent organization which defended Carinthia from Slovene forces loyal to the fledgling Kingdom of Yugoslavia prior to a 1920 referendum settling the region’s status as part of the Republic of Austria. For his service, Hambek was also the recipient of the Kärntner Kreuz (Carinthia Cross) of unspecific grade, with an entry alongside those for First World War service, making this a rare example of Austrian Freikorps documentation.