Medaille fur treue Dienste in dem bewaffneten Organen der Ministerium des Innern

[Watchdog]

Just added this one today as I am finding it difficult to confine my collection to just the NVA when the lines drawn in the DDR seem so blurred with the "bewaffneten Organen" or Armed Organisations being so closely linked to the military infrastructure.

This 10 year loyal service medal to a Volkspolizei Hauptwachtmeister is one of the series of six from 5 years to 30 years service medals instituted in 1959.

I don't know if I will add the other five but I liked this one as it is from the first year of issue and the medal itself is of the earlier "neusilber" or German Silver alloy (that's not real silver but is like Alpaca or Cupro-Nickel) rather than the later very shiny chrome like finishes of the later types.

The signature on the Urkunde is that of Karl Maron who succeeded Willi Stoph as Interior Minister and who argued that "The Volkspolizei can never be neutral or un-political", just to think that these days would get you locked up in most countries!

I would have expected a facsimilie / stamped signature but this actually looks very real and the recipient name / date entries are exremely neat in execution.

All comments and opinion are most welcome.

Regards

Mark

[HARRY THE MOLE]

Hi Mark, I only picked up on the thread this morning, and this has been my first opportunity to reply. Please see attached scans of Urkunde... I do have the medals to go with them too, but these were posted some time ago and there is no point in doing it again. I also have the 20 year gold award, but this is not signed by Maron.





All are signed by Karl Maron, and all look absolutely genuine hand signed signatures... but they are most certainly not. They were either done with a stamp - or by machine. I also have other Urkunde awarded to high ranking officials where you would absolutely swear that they are genuine signatures, but again they are only facsimile. I've not checked through all my documents thoroughly, but I do believe that I have a genuine Willi Stoph signature on a VVO document, it is signed differently than the usual Urkunde that you find bearing his signature. But back to the Karl Maron signature, have a look at the blown up image below. Click on all images to enlarge.





I measured each signature with a draughtsman's rule, and the gap between the two arrows below the signature is 41mm on all three Urkunde. Now I don't know of anyone who can do their signature with such precision. So I think that it is safe to assume that the signatures are either done by machine or stamp.

Cheers,
Steve

[Watchdog]

Very nice Steve.

There is such a difference inaesthetics between the early and late DDR stuff and I'm sure you know what I mean when I say it is not entirely due to quality of material.

I didn't mean that I thought the signature on mine was signed just that as you say it really looks like it! All the same to see these names of the authorising ministers gives a sense of the period I think.

How does the metal of your medals appear? As I said mine seems like Neusilber or German Silver which has many of the characteristics of real silver and looks very different from the later medals and whether patinated or not it is very tactile and pleasing to the eye. I was also struck by the handwriting of the rank and name entered on mine. I wish I could write in that script.

I am trying to come up with a way to display Urkunden and madals together but it is always likely to be risky for the preservation of the paper so I think it has to be good photographs for first perusal before bringing out the actual piece.

I am trying not to get too far away from NVA items but it is a bit of a trial!!

Regards

Mark

[Danmark]

VERY Russian, aren't they?

[HARRY THE MOLE]

VERY Russian, aren't they?

Maybe the ribbon... but the rest is VERY East German!

[HARRY THE MOLE]

Here's the medals Mark. The first bronze award is to Ronald Grolle for his service in the DGP. He left the force a year or so after the award was made, and then in 1961 he volunteered to go back on duty while the Berlin wall was being constructed. He went on to eventually command Kampfgruppe 'Walter Kassner', and I have quite an extensive collection of documents and awards named to him. The second bronze award is from 1960, and then there is a 'Stufe 111 award from 1955. All three bronze awards have similar patination, although Grolle's award seems to have survived better than the other two. The silver award is from 1961, and to be honest, when I first received it I assumed it to be unmarked silver... it certainly isn't chrome plated like the later silver medals!







I have also attached Grolle's Urkunde - as well as the one for the Stufe 111 medal, but to date I have not been able to decipher the recipients name. I also have several Volkspolizei 'Grim Reaper' awards which I will post later.

Cheers,
Steve

[Watchdog]

Maybe the ribbon... but the rest is VERY East German!

Indeed, the very earliest pentagon suspensions were almost identical to the soviet style, I think they were most likely Soviet manufacture before the DDR got their industrial act together and began making their own. A similar situation occurred with the early belt buckles.

However as Steve says, the symbology is very definately DDR.

Here is a comparison of the two suspender types note the later DDR type on the right is shorter and wider, more squat looking;

Regards

Mark

[Watchdog]

[QUOTE=HARRY THE MOLE;2130921]Here's the medals Mark. The first bronze award is to Ronald Grolle for his service in the DGP. He left the force a year or so after the award was made, and then in 1961 he volunteered to go back on duty while the Berlin wall was being constructed. He went on to eventually command Kampfgruppe 'Walter Kassner', and I have quite an extensive collection of documents and awards named to him. The second bronze award is from 1960, and then there is a 'Stufe 111 award from 1955. All three bronze awards have similar patination, although Grolle's award seems to have survived better than the other two. The silver award is from 1961, and to be honest, when I first received it I assumed it to be unmarked silver... it certainly isn't chrome plated like the later silver medals!Cheers, Steve[QUOTE]

Thanks Steve, yes that's the thing with good Neusilber. Itt akes on a patina that is very difficult to distinguish from real silver without testing.

Regards

Mark