This guide will address only the TOGO 1895 clasp which was worn on the Kolonialdenkmünze. The Imperial German Colonial Medal (Kolonialdenkmünze) was established by Kaiser Wilhelm II on 13 June 1912 with revisions on 17 February 1914.  The medal with clasps was awarded retroactively.  

The clasp TOGO 1895 was awarded for the campaign against Tove (a farming and pottery community of six villages now known as Mission-Tove, about 25 kilometers north of Lomé).  In early 1895, the residents of Tove quarreled with a German botonist which erupted into a skirmish and spread so that all contact with Togoland north of Tove was severed for the German colonial government.  A campaign was organized by Hauptman (Dr.) Hans Gruner (the Principle Medical Officer) and Leutnant Ernst von Carnap to punish the residents and the supporters of Tove.  On 11 March 1895, the Togo Police Troops began moving on the area and conducted summary executions of about thirty rebels, with many more killed or wounded.  Those executed were beheaded and the heads were sent to Berlin.  The Police Troops burned fiveof the six villages at Tove and destroyed all pottery works that were encountered.  The campaign ended on 3 April 1895.  German merchants and missionaries immediately established themselves in the unburned Tove village.  Two excellent references are:  Gruner, Hans Tove-Unruhen (Staatsbibliothek Berlin, 1 April 1895) and Schanz, Moritz West-Afrika (Berlin, 1903). 

This clasp was awarded only to Imperial German Colonial Police Troops (mainly Hausas and a few Fanti) although there appears to be a large number of Europeans and Africans who were attached.  Less than 500 Togo Police Troops were authorized this clasp and possibly half  received the TOGO 1895 clasp in 1912.  While the medal is somewhat rare, this bronze clasp is very difficult to locate but it is documented better than most clasps.  This is one of the four most frequently seen Togo series clasps.  A very large number of the recipients of TOGO 1895 were also authorized TOGO 1894/95.  As of 1 February 2007, this bronze clasp is only known in one officially issued type:  same width as the ribbon, wide lettering (with a very wide space between TOGO and 1895), flat back, pebbled background and with soldered prong backs.   This is not to say that another type wasn't officially issued as well but that only this one type has been verified. 

• In 1988, a Kolonialdenkmünze with TOGO 1895 was on display with a Hamburg German dealer (no price noted).
• In 1993, a single TOGO 1895 clasp was sold in Germany for €218.
• In 1995, an unconfirmed report suggest that Dr. Hans Gruner's group resides in a private German collection and Leutnant Ernst von Carnap's group was believed to be in existence within Germany.  Further details have not been located but this report is often cited by collectors.
• In early-2001, a loose Kolonialdenkmünze (no clasp) with papers for service in Togo 1895 was offered on the German market.  The starting price was over €250.

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