saschaw

I love these 1870 EM/NCO bars with EK2... Nicely done!

Bad cross on a bad bar... same thing as here: http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350304726533

Though not banned, many would not wear it anymore. Poor bar! :unsure:

Must be about 100,000 to 200,000... there do exist rolls. No idea if complete. No idea wheather of use. Enough use to do those... 100,000 or 200,000 is pretty much. Ah, haven't noticed yet Reichswehr used other abreviations for that. By the way, the ones I cited are used in all(?) Imperial rank lists, not only navy. Took them from the usual 1914 rank list.

Rick, not BsV but BVM3M... ;)

No other idea; you seem to be perfectly right. 2nd or 3rd class Württemberg long service award, dating this picture to 1913+.

The blue ribbon with black, white and yellow stripes was actually the correct ribbon for active military EM/NCO long service awards up to 1913. The Reserve/Landwehr service award only used a plain blue ribbon for both classes at any time. That's why they folded it so you cannot see the yello stripes. Here's a NCO who wore all threee active long service awards, with old pre-1913 ribbons. Actually, he should have worn only one, with a plain blue post-1913 ribbon... in ~1934! :speechless:

If the museum ever wanted to get rid of this nice bar... Born here, he was a Native. Extract from who got one in 1902, regarding the military: "3.den aktiven Offizieren, Sanitätsoffizieren, Militärbeamten und älteren Unteroffizieren (nach mindestens 8-jähriger Dienstzeit) der badischen Truppentheile des 14. Armeekorps, ferner denjenigen aktiven Offizieren anderer deutscher Truppenkontinqente, die badische Staatsangehörigkeit besitzen und seiner Zeit in einem badischen Truppentheil des 14.Armeekorps zum Offizier ernannt worden sind; ferner den Offizieren der Kaiserlichen Marine und der Kolonialtruppen, soweit solche Badener sind, sowie auch denjenigen ehemals Großherzoglich Badischen Offizieren, die sich nicht mehr in Aktivität befinden;"

Nimmergut shows a ribbon with reversed colors in his Bänderkatalog (old one from 90s). I guess this was Heiko's problem, as it was mine here. And well, the page there says it were from Sachsen-Meinungen... Saxony-Opinions, for those who cannot read German... :whistle:

Possibly, but very unlikely. If he had such things, he had them for a civil job, not as a Landwehr-Major or what he might have been. I like those bars with LD1... actually not to common at all!

Great bar! Is the Baden merit medal made of silver or iron, bronze, zink... ?

The document is for this medal, given to his, not a ruler's jubilee! The medal is quite common, cased ones are rarer and I have hardly ever seen the document.

That is the group, right. It's the nicest and best Freikorps group I have ever seen. Is it for sale right now? That second bar I have not seen before. I'm not sure but think it looks good either. But, one important thing to notice: All Imperial Russian awards here are no pre-1917 awards and most likely not even Russian made ones but Germans. Still very interresting, but I assume especially the St. George knights are much less worth than older ones.

I'm sorry but I have to disagree with SPM in some very points. From a 1914 decree on, the "Dienstauszeichnungskreuz" could be awarded to old NCOs either and was no more an "officers' only" award. In combination with an "Allgemeines Ehrenzeichen" on post-1914 bars, we see most likely the medal bar of an old (or ex) NCO. Furthermore, the Allgemeines Ehrenzeichen was still awarded after the creation of the medal in bronze. That was just another class, likely created to decorate other persons (who may have e.g. been to junior for the silver medal, or to low in their social status). With the ribbon damaged I'm not sure if there might have been a change. If there was and the bar used to carry a Red Eagle order 4th class, it was an officer's. If there wasn't and it is as it always has been, this is an old NCO's.

Found here, by the way: http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370297971640

Thread up with this great bar. Sold some weeks ago and so not "this week's", but still... "almost certainly a General or Field Marshall!" I wonder which Wehrmachts-General had a RAO3SX on statutory ribbon... and with silver swords! One more that came from Ohio, I'd guess.

I think those awarded on black ribbon with white stripes (without swords) would qualify as "war" awards as well. However, the question is answered. :beer:

I'm totally with Claudio here, the replacing is absolutely okay - though, a KVK2 without swords would have been as possible. However, I would not replace a backing.

This way, or 1. Prussian combat awards 2. Prussian non-combat awards 3. Non-Prussian, Non-foreign combat awards 4. Non-Prussian, Non-foreign, non-combat awards 3. Foreign awards Additionaly, the Foreign awards could be split into war time and pre war awards either.

As can be seen on OTL aD Bauernschmidt's medal bar. Still, I'm almost convinced two classes of Bavarian military merit order with swords are not worn together, unless we're talking about the officer's cross grade or awards from different wars. Anyone?

I don't know if he's frequently looking here, so if I were you, I'd ask Uwe Bretzendorfer from Ludwigsburg. ;)

Now that's odd.

Rick, are you sure? I'm talking about rules, not about what someone did. I know many did, but still it was against the rules - against the rules I think to remember.

I don't think this is Leipold. The man on the photo is wearing a pre-1905 one class MVKX. After the class division in 1905, those were handeled as if they were 1st classes. Another possibility is, his entry is not correct...

Phil, you're only asking regarding Bavarian Military Merit Crosses, right? That's the EM and NCO grade while the Military Merit order was awarded to officers. Rules for both are similar. In WW1, it was common for Bavarian soldiers to be awarded two different grades of MVK/MMC. One was only allowed to wear one class, though. The same rule for officers and their MVOs/MMOs. If a NCO made it to officer and got a merit cross as well as an order, he was allowed to wear both, actually one of each. Also, pre-war awards without swords may be worn together with war time sword classes. One more interresting point: crosses (and orders) with swords that had been awarded in different wars(!) are worn together. Ritter von Epp must have had the most, decorated for Boxer rebellion in China, colonial wars in German South West Africa and WW1. Don't remember if he as well had a peace time order...