A magnificent collection Andreas ! You have focused on a most intriguing award
Nick
"In all my years as a soldier, I have never seen men fight so hard." - SS Obergruppenfuhrer Wilhelm Bittrich - Arnhem
Very nice collection Andreas.
Here are two recently acquired medal bars for Bavarian WWI veterans.
Their ribbons mounted in the classical Bavarian style, both feature the Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer together with the Bayerisches Militärverdienstkreuz III. Klasse [Bavarian Military Merit Cross 3rd Class].
The first one has the MVK3 mit den Schwertern [with the Swords]:
The second one has the MVK3 mit der Krone und mit Schwertern [with the Crown and with Swords]:
Interestingly, both medal bars use the ribbon for the Bavarian Long Service Award as backing material, which makes me wonder whether they originally came from the same workshop. (They were purchased from two different dealers.)
Last edited by HPL2008; 06-20-2013 at 08:48 PM.
Nice additions Freund.
I especially like the Merenti awards.
Looking for the photo albums of Leutnant Emil Freitag, 3. / G.R. 377
Time for the latest additions.
A nice Hinterbliebenen cross, mounted in the traditional "Bavarian" style:
A civilian wear miniature of the Frontkämpfer cross. Suspended from a single pin of the type normally used in pairs to suspend a medal chain between them, it is essentially a one-place medal chain:
A five-place lapel bow, combining the 1914/18 Ehrenkreuz with four of its equivalents, the Tiroler Landesdenkmünze 1914 - 1918, the Austrian Kriegserinnerungsmedaille and the Hungarian and Bulgarian WW1 Commemorative Medals:
We have encountered these foreign WWI service medals several times before in older posts of this thread. Since the combination of the 1914/18 Ehrenkreuz with one or more of these medals is very common, and seeing how they are its close "relatives", a quick excursion into their history may be appropriate at this point:
- The Tiroler Landesdenkmünze [Tyrol Province Commemorative Medal] was instituted on 7 February 1928. It was awarded to WWI veterans who were from Tyrol or who had participated in the defense of the Tyrol area between 1915 and 1918, which included German mountain troops. Awards took place up until at least 1940. Some 120,000 medals were awarded.
- The Magyar Háborús Emlékérem [Hungarian War Commemorative Medal] was instituted by the Hungarian regent Miklós Horthy on 26 May 1929. It was awarded to Hungarian WWI veterans and surviving next-of-kin of Hungarian soldiers KIA in WWI as well as to those who were in national service relevant to the war effort or active in care for the wounded or for POWs during WWI. The non-combatants' version of the medal (without swords) had a different ribbon. Large numbers of the medal were also awarded to veterans of Hungary's allies in WWI.
- The Austrian Kriegserinnerungmedaille [War Commemorative Medal ] was instituted by the Austrian government with a law of 21 December 1932. The swords were authorized with a decree of 10 November 1933. The medal was awarded to Austrian WWI veterans as well as those who were in national service or active in care for the wounded during WWI.
- The Bulgarian Медаль за участие в Европейской войне [War Commemorative Medal] was instituted by a decree of Czar Boris III of Bulgaria of 9 December 1933. It was awarded to Bulgarian veterans of WWI and to the surviving next-of-kin of Bulgarian soldiers KIA in WWI as well as to veterans of Bulgaria's allies in WWI. Service had to have taken place between 1 October 1915 and 30 November 1919. For non-combatants, the medal ribbon had an additional white center stripe, for next-of-kin, a black one. Awards took place up until 31 December 1939. Some 280,000 medals were produced, out of which some 200,000 were awarded to German veterans.
All of these medals were authorized for wear during the Third Reich period. (However, the Bulgarian medal was no longer allowed to be worn following the Bulgarian declaration of war on Germany in September 1944.)
Last edited by HPL2008; 08-21-2013 at 08:14 PM.
Ver nice Andreas. Well done.
Thanks for another constructive post.
Prost
Looking for the photo albums of Leutnant Emil Freitag, 3. / G.R. 377
More superb variants Andreas, well done of finding them and for posting them here. I have to admit liking the Bavarian way of ribbon mounting compared to the other styles.
Looking for LDO marked EK2s and items relating to U-406.....
It didn't take long since the last update, but I just had to share this little beauty which arrived today.
Another fine-quality civilian stickpin miniature, this is a combination of the 1914 EKII, the Lübecker Hanseatenkreuz and the Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer. Of the three types of Hanseatenkreuz - from, respectively, the Hanse cities of Hamburg, Bremen and Lübeck - the Lübeck type is the least common one. (The Hamburger Hanseatenkreuz was awarded ca. 50,000 times, the Bremen one ca. 20,000 times and the Lübeck one ca. 8,000 - 10,000 times.)
The stickpin is fitted with a Nadelsicherung [pin safety device] preventing the pin from slipping out. It easily slips upwards, but securely clutches to the pin when pulled downwards. To undo it, the small lower part of the device has to be pulled out just a little bit (simply grasping it between two fingers is sufficient), which opens the mechanism.
Obverse view with some scale reference to illustrate the quality in relation to its size:
Obverse detail:
Reverse detail showing quite substantial construction:
Close-up of the Nadelsicherung:
Very nice addition buddy. It's so tinyyyyy
Looking for the photo albums of Leutnant Emil Freitag, 3. / G.R. 377
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