My hat's off to you all for locating a maker of WW-I hats. Also for coming up with the best DOR repro hat badge I've ever seen. Your efforts, I should hope, will serve as an inspiration to me.
My hat's off to you all for locating a maker of WW-I hats. Also for coming up with the best DOR repro hat badge I've ever seen. Your efforts, I should hope, will serve as an inspiration to me.
Last edited by STBaltimore; 03-15-2017 at 10:21 PM. Reason: Adding Photo of Koenig in Hat
I'n new to the forum and am looking for a high-resolution photo of the carded Deutschland pin that was labeled " 'John Bull' Victory Souvenir." Can anyone help?
Hello Ameringer and welcome to the forum. It might take me some time but I'll try to get you a better photo of it.
Luke
Ameringer: Claas Stöckmeyer can probably provide you with a good photo of the pin on its card. You can reach him on his web site at [url=http://www.handels-u-boote.de/index.html] Dwight
Hello Dwight,
the man next to König looks like a German officer. Maybe a Hauptmann.
Are you sure that the picture was taken in New London?
Claas
Claas: Nice to have you back. Yes, it is new London. The fellow whose face is framed between the unknown officer and Paul König in the second photo is the same man shown in the first photo, standing on Pickert's right. The civilian whose face is framed to Pickert's right in the first photo is also seen on the far right of the second photo The US sailor is from the nearby submarine base. What is particularly interesting to me is that security in New London was even tighter than it had been in Baltimore. Given the absence of overcoats in the first photo, I think the two photos were made of different days. If you are correct that the two officers are German, than that would explain their presence on the Deutschland's fore deck. But who are the civilians in both pictures? Claas, in your mind, could those two officers be Austro-Hungarian? The uniform of the officer on the left does not look German to me, especially the Kepi-type hat and the boots --if that is a kepi. That's the problem with poor quality photos, you cannot make out the details. Dwight
I posted this same question, (posted above), on another part of the Forum, and two members confirmed Claas's call that both officers are German. Thank you Claas for providing the correct answer. Now, If I could identify the civilians who are with the two German officers, I would be able to put together another piece of the jigsaw about who got aboard the U-Deutschland while she was in New London. My guess is that all of these people are associated with the German Embassy in Washington, DC, but I would like to know what part of the German Embassy staff they represent.
Five or six years ago, I bought this cast iron Deutschland Cross, in its green leather case, from a Baltimore dealer. It is the only one I have ever seen. Since these crosses were sold to raise money for wartime charity (relief for the POWs in Siberia), I think that this is a special boxed version that sold for a slightly higher price. In 1916 the price, just for the cross, was $1.25, so a cased version might have sold for $3 or more, ergo, more money for the charity. A cased cross would also appeal to someone who was buying it as a gift.
I have also considered that it could be one of the many Deutschland Crosses that Paul König took back to Germany in 1928 and donated to the Bremen chapter of the Verein für Deutschtum im Ausland (VDA), which in turn used the crosses for member awards from 1928 into WWII. But there are two points that cause me to doubt the VDA award possibility. The first is that the one shown here somehow ended up back in Baltimore, though it is possible that someone brought it back to the USA. (Scenarios that would fit that possibility are a returning GI brought it back after WWII, or an American tourist returning to the US at any time after 1928, or, maybe a VDA member immigrated to the US and brought it with him or her). But the absence of any markings on or inside the box causes me to doubt that possibility. If this one had been a VDA member award, the case would probably bear the VDA logo, and some sort of title or statement, such as “Für treuen Dienst.”
My gut feeling is that it never left the US, which raises a remote possibility that the Baltimore chapter of the VDA used these cased versions as goodwill gifts, given to people who made reasonably large donations to the VDA. But again, would there not be some sort of embellishment on the case indicating that it was a gift of gratitude? Any thoughts? Dwight
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