Austrian veteran's ribbon bar

[HPL2008]

A recent acquisition, here is a rather attractive post-war ribbon bar as worn by an Austrian veteran.

It combines two wartime decorations (the EK II and the KVK II mS) with two post-war ones from the Austrian Veterans' League, the Österreichischer Kameradschaftsbund (ÖKB).

Unfortunately, I have no reference material on the ÖKB's decorations; from what I can find online, I would tentatively identify them as the Bundesverdienstkreuz in Silber [Legue's Merit Cross in Silver] awarded by the ÖKB's overall nationwide organisation and the Ehrenkreuz in Gold [Honor Cross in Gold] in the version as awarded by the Landesverband Vorarlberg [State Association of Vorarlberg].

Made with 15 mm-wide ribbons, the bar is rather nicely constructed. The black felt backing protruding beyond the ribbons and thus "framing" them is a characteristically Austrian feature.


Obverse and reverse view:






A close-up on the ÖKB ribbons/devices:




Two additional views:






As always, all comments (especially additional information on the ÖKB decorations) are welcome.

[harryamb2]

that's a very attractive bar HPL.

[Nick Hessens]

Really nice bar Andreas, it's the first one I see in this construction with black backing.

Regards

[HPL2008]

Just in, here is another ribbon bar for an Austrian WW2 veteran.

The first ribbon is, again, the EKII, followed by the ÖKB's Kriegserinnerungskreuz 1939-1945 [War Commerative Cross 1939-1945], which is awarded for WW2 service.

The other three ribbons are for decorations awarded by the ÖKB-Landesverband Steyermark [ÖKB State Association Styria]. The same white-and-green ribbon is used for a number of different decorations*, so they cannot be exactly identified:






*) see: Österreichischer Kameradschaftsbund

[Nick Hessens]

Another nice variant, thanks for showing Andreas. Sorry for the late reply.

Regards

[HPL2008]

Just in, here is another interesting ribbon bar from an Austrian veteran.

The Third Reich-era decorations making up the first two rows are the EK2, Ostmedaille, Sudetenland medal and two long service awards. As far as I know, the other two rows are all decorations from the ÖKB, although I cannot make positive IDs and would be grateful for any additional information. In any case, the first one of them (with the crossed swords) is for the Kriegserinnerungskreuz 1939-1945:

Obverse and reverse view:






The bar is made up of 40-millimeter-wide ribbons. The individual rows are constructed by mounting the ribbons on a metal backing plate. These are attached to a soft backing made of black felt:




The first ribbon in the bottom row is actually constructed of three ribbons:

[HPL2008]

Here's another ribbon bar from an Austrian WW2 veteran and ÖKB member.

In the top row are the Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse [Iron Cross 2nd Class] and the Kriegsverdienstkreuz mit Schwertern 2. Klasse [War Merit Cross with Swords 2nd Class] followed by nine Austrian post-war decorations in the three rows below. Unfortunately, I once again cannot identify all of those.
The first one in the second row is the Kriegserinnerungskreuz 1939-1945 [War Commemorative Cross 1939 - 1945]. In the third row are three decorations of the Österreichisches Schwarzes Kreuz (ÖSK) [lit. "Austrian Black Cross", i.e. the Austrian War Graves Commission]. Unless I am much mistaken, the first of those is the Goldenes Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um das ÖSK [Golden Decoration for Merit in the Interest of the ÖSK] and the second one the Ehrenkreuz des ÖSK [Cross of Honor of the ÖSK]. The first one in the last row is the award for 25 years of membership in the ÖKB.

The bar is constructed in the same manner as that seen in the last post.

[carpediem]

These are nice examples! You must have quite a ribbon bar display!