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    Weimar time medal bars


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    Hello Lambert,

    What an interesting "Ordensspange".

    Although I am always slightly taken aback when it comes to deal with Hindenburgkreuz mixed with other unofficial Weimar medals mounted together on the same bar, this particular group looks original, i.e. mounted before WW2, just like the group in the following picture (taken from the thread "Mistakes in wear"): against all regulations, we can see,  from left to right / Hindenburgkreuz for non-combattant / Legion of Honour without the wreath and sword on the ribbon / Flandernkreuz / what looks like a Prussian long service medal / Prussian Red Cross 3rd class medal / Hungarian 1914-1918 non-combattant medal.

    It is therefore not impossible to find genuine pre-WW2 "Ordensspangen" mixing the Hindenburgkreuz with officially banned Weimar medals !!!

    In your case, I guess that the original owner replaced himself, on his Weimar 4-medal group, the last unofficial medal (possibly the Kyffhäuserbund medal???) by the newly acquired Hindenburgkreuz and kept the Legion of Honour in its original place in order to "fill the gap" a 3 medal group would have left on a 4 medal bar...   

     

    Jean-Sam.

     

     , post-171-1225981558.jpg

     

    Please note: according to Ulsterman (see his posting under thread: Mistakes in wear), this photo was taken on November 15th 1938... i.e. years after the "unofficial" medals were "officially" banned...!  

     

    Cheers,

     

    Jean-Samuel Karlen

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    I don't think veterans have ever been punished for wearing unofficial medals.

    After all, they wore them only as a proud "souvenir" of their sacrifice for the "Vaterland", not as an element to be worn officially in a state job.

    I suppose these rules were mainly applicable to military personnel or police forces "in uniform".

     

    Jean-Sam.

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    I have about a dozen photos of post 1935 veterans wearing unofficial or proscribed awards. I know of about a dozen more. Most are NSKOV guys wearing a Prussian Veterans Association honour medal (which we know from award docs was awarded until at least 1940) or Freikorps awards. Germans, being Germans, tended to follow the rules. Pictures of proscribed awards being worn by Wehrmacht men in uniform are almost unheard of- I can think of fewer than 20 pictures I have seen in over 25 years of photo collecting- and I actively look for these. Most of the proscribed awards pictures I can recall are either being worn by prominent individuals (Prince Von so-and-so) who obviously thought themselves above the rules (or were oblivious) or Freikorps awards- which obviously were worn as a 'I was there' statement.

    Medals mattered in the Third Reich. Wearing certain awards could be viewed as a political statement and after the Rohm Putsch, many people were highly aware of that fact and the young men in black uniforms who were willing to 'interrogate ' you about such things.

    Most of the medal bars I have seen with WW1 awards, the HKx and the veterans' badges I presume to be NSKOV men and made in 1934-35. These guys got away with it because to remount their bar after the proscription in late 1935 cost money. Most people didnt have a lot of extra cash. Also, wearing an "illegal" bar three times a year in a parade hardly was earth shattering. Bars with these proscribed awards that also have Wehrmacht awards (esp. LS awards) on them are almost certainly fakes.

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    • 1 month later...
    • 4 weeks later...

    A couple of bars, newly purchased...

    :P;)

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    • 3 weeks later...

    Good evening Gentlemen,

    Some of my favorite Weimar medal bars in the following posts.

    I start with a two-medal bar. Nothing much, really, and rather easy to get, but I like it anyway. 

    Cheers

    Jean-Samuel Karlen

    WeimarGroup2ÖsterreichFront (2).jpg

    WeimarGroup2ÖsterreichBack (2).jpg

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    Here is a Frackspange I have purchased recently.

    Note: the EK2 and WW1 commemorative Hungarian medal were lacking.

    They were  probably removed from the bar after 1934.

    I thought it best to refurbish the all thing.

    WeimarGroup5InfRgt59Front (3).jpg

    WeimarGroup5InfRgt59Back (3).jpg

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    • 2 weeks later...

    Very nice medal bars. Something to be proud of.

    It is interesting to see the Hindenburg cross mixed with the unofficial and eventually banned Weimar medals and crosses! German were obviouly more "relax" about regulations as it is usually expected...

    I particularly like the "Treu dem 18. Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment" group with the photo and the WW1 veteran diploma. Just SPLENDID ! 

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    • 2 months later...

    I have always loved Weimar bars,unfortunately I never really got into them until very recent. I am slowly narrowing my field down to Freikorp/Weimar goodness and this thread alone is a treasure trove of information. keep them coming!

     

     

     

    Eric 

     

     

     


     

    Edited by Eric K.
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    • 10 months later...

    Hi all,

     

    I was directed to this forum from another WWI forum and hope you can help. I have no Austro Hungarian medals in my collection and was delighted to pick this up recently. It's amazing how accurate a picture of the original recipient you can get from the different awards. As best I can fathom out, this is the man's story reading the medals left to right:

     

    Decorated for Bravery: Franz Josef Medal in Silver

    Was in a combatant unit for at least 12 weeks: Karl Truppenkreuz

    Was wounded five times : Austro-Hungarian Wound Medal with five stripes on ribbon

    War Commemorative Medal (Pro Deo et Patria)

    Tirol Defence Medal: Possibly member of a mountain troop?

    Commemorative medal of the World War

    Bulgarian European War Commemorative Medal: Served in Bulgarian forces(?)

     

     

    ah2.jpg

     

    If any experts out there could confirm that my assumptions above are correct, and also someone might have an idea about the unusual ribbon arrangement. Being Austrian shouldn't they be triangular?

     

    Any help much appreciated.

     

    Dave

    Edited by depaor01
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