Claudius

Nice...NICE? That is a great group! Medal bar, ribbon bar and documents as well. Thanks for showing it. I would like to hear more. What and where was he in WWI? I have a question. I can't see it very well, but in the lower right photo. What is the lead (Austrian) medal there?

... bandolier belt going right across the medal bar...what were they thinking!???

Why is it good? I think my question is why did the gent put it together with such an odd precedence order?

Outstanding. Remarkable. Your shading and highlights are exquisite.

Hello Poulton; That bar on the left is really great. The swords on ring arrangement on the Herzog Carl Edward medal is a rather uncommon and only came out in 1935! You sure do turn up the bars with rarer medals on them.

Great looking ribbons. Thank you for showing them. AND all the close ups as well.

Thank you Uwe. Ah, yes. Dilated cardiomyopathy, commonly called an Enlarged Heart. I am familiar with that term. I have read Wikipedia’s multiple causes. I didn’t see any altitude related. The gentleman described in the paragraph above was a balloon observer. If I understand the translation, it either suggests that his high altitude trips caused his heart condition or his heart condition was aggravated by his existing heart condition. He did live to be 73; therefore he did live with the condition for a very long time after the war.

Hello; I think I understand much of this paragraph; however I don't know the MEDICAL condition. -Herzwerweiterung? I was wondering if someone with a medical background, and in the context of the paragraph below better explain what his aliment? Betreut von seiner verehrten Gattin, die ihm seit 1923 als treue Gefährtin zur Seite stand und sich um seine Gesundheit sorgte, hätte man ihm einen längeren schönen Lebensabend gewünscht. Aber bei seinen zahlreichen Flügen – z.T. in mehreren tausend Metern Höhehatte er sich eine empfindliche Herzwerweiterung zugezogen, die bei zunehmendem Alter mehr und mehr entartete. Er starb am 23.2.54 in seinem 73. Lebensjahre an totaler Herzschwäche in Donaueschingen. M...... hat ein an Arbeit und Ehren reiches Leben gelebt. -er war ein Rhenane!- Thank you in advance

Yes -Schaumburg-Lippe Can we see the back of the bar and some close-ups too? Thank you for showing it.

Claudio; Great group. I really like the research/descriptions....from 1949. The HK without swords is an interesting feature. Everything else is distinctly combatant.

Congratulations George! An outstanding addition to your collection and your area of collecting. The "SAMOA 1888" is arguably the most rare of the 89 possible bars. As such, it symbolizes the very few who earned it, and the fewer in 1912 who got the medal and bar. The kriegshilfe verdienstkreuz was created in December 1916. This gent was alive and contributing to the war effort. Even if he was only a young cadet of 18 or 19 in Samoa he still would have been his late 40ies when he put this bar together. Very nice.

Hello VickyW; You have the box too -great. You can more than double that value now. (if you were looking to sell it). Without the ribbon is no problem. Replacement ribbons can be found. You have come to the right place for identifing any medals or militaria you might have. Please feel free to post anything else you might want some more information on.

Well, there could be couple of things going on here. First off, I think these gentlemen could be in different units. Notice the edelweiss pin on the hat for Mr. BMvK. Next, they could be of different rank. Again, the hats. Mr. EK2 has a standard EM Feldmutz, while Mr. BMvK has a peaked cap. They might not even have received them at exactly the same time. They just got together on leave to take this picture. (Friends from school days, back home on leave?) Now I have a strange question to offer here. How are the medals attached to the uniforms? Without looking it would be natural to presume that the ribbons are threaded through the award loops. But look closely. They are not threaded through. And they are not hanging from an unseen string from the button. The center of the loop doesn't fall directly underneath the button. IMO, these gents were on leave and have been walking around with the ribbons. For the photo they temporarily attached the medals under the ribbons with a pin.

Whoa. Take care and Godspeed your recovery. Take some more photos when you get the green light from the doctor. This stuff isn't worth losing your eyesight over. (some may think this to be blasphemy)

I said ALMOST. There is this "tell". It's not a big thing, but I haven't come across this on sown-down awards. The photo of the obverse has disappeared, but in it you can see that the ribbons overlap from left to right (as expected), but the medals overlap in a strange order, R-L, sown-down with the BKV overlapping the EK2 and the BsV sown down on top. I have seen medals flip around when hanging loose, but not usually when sown down. Can someone tell/show me another example of this happening?

I think the medals are original. The mounting almost has me convinced as period.

Hello George; I think I understand your question, but sorry, I was distracted by your group and the breakdown on his career! I really like your display. Was everything here original to the group? Thanks for the breakdown on his career. Great stuff. I think your question is, would Dr. Warnecke have EARNED the Kolonial badge and therefore should you include a badge with this group? As you know, the Kolonial badge or elephant badge was created by the Weimer Republic for Imperial Military that served in the colonies during wwi. In addition it was an award that you had to apply for and pay for separately. So, even if WWI service warranted the Kolonial badge, he would have still had to apply for it. (In theory, someone might have colonial service, but not the badge). In my opinion, I don't believe his shipboard service on the S.M.S. Karlsruhe at the start of the war, sinking tonnage and subsequent sinking would be sufficient service to earn the Kolonial badge. Navy officers, which I know of, that did earn the Kolonial badge, were stationed at colonial posts, not just in high seas fleets. But this doesn’t detract from the group. I maybe Warnecke and the crew of the Karlsruhe could have argued that they were operating far outside home waters. Certainly they could make a strong case. He had Reichsmarine service, so the record of Kolonial badge should be there. I think this is a great group to; a pre-war officer, who served in wwi in a fighting ship, far from home waters, that sunk enemy tonnage and was sunk early in the war. Survived to serve the rest of the war and had later service as well. Congrats! Please show more close-up photos of the group, including the back of the medalbar and ribbon bar.

Great medal bar. Great write-up on the background. Thanks for showing it. Not to be gauche, but considering the rarity, the ID and background, IF the medal bar would come on the market what would you estimate the "value" to be?

Ah...I had not considered that as a 2nd Class award (1st class a pin backed award) that he only supported the Colonial Society. The backing color doesn't bother me as much. It was the stitching that I thought was dodgy, but if the Hamburg was removed and then replaced it could account for the poor needle work.

Wow. That Knopflochdekoration must be 2cm thick/tall with all those ribbons and devices.

"Components" That’s the word that comes to mind with me as well. The label in the back looks right. (I have a medal bar with the same label) and all the medals look original, but there is some sloppy stitching in the back. Was the Hamburg removed at one time and then poorly replaced? It certainly has a great story to tell. The bar is from pre-1934 to a solder that served in Afrika, and didn't get an EK2. Nice.

Hello George; Late response -but I was away for the entire weekend. Thanks for the links, I will access them as soon as I can. Thank you for sharing your experiences and advice. You offer a lot to consider.

You sir, and I, I think would enjoy having a beer together. And sometime I would like to hear more about your collecting and what you have learned about area of interest. I would like to read your article once you have finished it. And I would like others to read my articles I've written, if I could get a history magazine to publish them. :banger:

Thanks George; I'm more into the Seige of Tsingtau in 1914. Or anything from the South Seas colonies....during WWI.

Hello Matthew; I don't see anything that jumps out at me suggesting that it is fake. I wish I could see some better photos with better detail, overall measurements and maybe some edgewise photos but I can understand that there isn't any time. If this is a good auction house, you can return it if false. If its ebay....that is much more problematic.