Christian1962

In my humble opinion it´s a "hands off" item. Regards Christian

Signum Laudis was not generally awarded with a war ribbon because of wartime. It depended on the classification of the officer's job. Officers in duty in the homeland were awarded sometimes Signum laudis on peacetime ribbons. That is sure for the years 1914 till 1916 for Franz Joseph. And as I wrote I am not sure if there were some few bestowed by Karl. And please be so kind and don´t use crazy Hitler pics here - it is all, but not gentlemanlike... Regards Christian

@tony: your are right, there were three differences between the military and the civil issue: FRANC. IOS. I. D. G. IMP. AUSTR. REX BOH. ETC. AC. AP. REX HUNG. - military FRANC. IOS. I. D. G. IMP. AUST. REX BOH. ETC. ET. REX AP. HUNG. - civil Regards Christian

Sorry, I have to correct: the upper medal is the official COVID-19-medal bestowed by the federal Austrian ministry of defense. Here you can see some more drafts for the medal: Here is the COVID-19-medal established by the Lower Austrian red cross organisation: Approx. 8.000 pieces were produced and bestowed. Regards Christian

@Tony: Please mind following, if you would construct a medal bar: 1. the "Jubiläumskreuz 1908" would have a wrong ribbon. For an officer it would be white with a red stripe on both sides. Same for the "Jubiläumsmedaille 1898" - the military version would have a full red ribbon. 2. "Tapferkeitsmedaille" would be wrong too. An officer owning a peacetime "Signum Laudis" from Franz Joseph could not earn a "Bronzene" oder "Kleine silberne Tapferkeitsmedaille" in WW1, because they were just for enlisted men, NCOs and ensigns. 3. With the "Kriegserinnerungsmedaille" (instituted in 1933) and the "Tiroler Landesdenkmünze" (instituted in 1928) it would be a interwar medal bar. 4. Referring the Karl-Signum-Laudis: I would think that there were no issued medals with a red ribbon. I have been reading through all Verlautbarungsblätter from WW1 and can´t remember any awards with a red ribbon. There were just few from Franz Joseph which are documented. But you never know... it would have been a very rare exeption. Regards Christian

I would assume he received his Verw.Abzeichen for this injury: It reads: "Am 22.11.14 verwundet, Alexandrow, But I can´t decipher the abbreviations within the brackets: (G. G. b or l. U.-Arm) - they are typical medical abbreviations I think. Regards Christian

This paper is just a discharge certificate from the Reserve-Lazarett in Burg and says that Semrau is sent back to his Ersatz-Truppenteil. He is fit for garrison service and two times vaccinated. No entry about any military service. Regards Christian

As far as I can see and read, there is no connection to the WW1 Austro-Hungarian Army. No part of the former k.(u.)k. Army had an IR 175 or 343. Therefore no entry for an Austrian decoration. Regards Christian

I had opportunity to talk with Georg Ludwigstorff yesterday. He told me that he examined hundreds of MMTO crosses for his and Christian Ortner´s book. There wasn't one piece produced by Gebrüder Resch. In his eyes it is most probably that they sold a piece of other origin and engraved their own companies name. Regards Christian

Here some pics of different Rothe collectors copies from the Fattovich collections. Some of them are shwon in Mericka´s book from 1974. Regards Christian Großkreuz mit Kriegsdekoration: Eiserne Krone 2. Kl. mit Kriegsdekoration und Schwertern zum 2. Mal verliehen: Here a 1st class set with "Kriegsdekoration niederen Grades".

Dear Glenn, I tried to contact you via the contact sheet here, but my message was denied. I hope you still have my email and would contact me there. My yahoo.de and my office account are still in use. Kindest regards Christian

Hello Stefan, I own just Fattovich-pieces of other orders (espc. Order of Leopold), no MMTO - sorry. Regards Christian

I am not an expert for MMTO. In my opinon the cross looks very nice, but the ribbon is definitly a new one. The crosses were produced by Rothe until year 2000. I don´t know which hallmarks they used after 1922. I own some collectors copies which were made for the Fattovich collection in the 1960ties. As far as I remember these are not hallmarked in spite they are gold. But I remember the words of a collector friend who always said "we have all hallmarks on stock..." when he had doubts regarding an expensive piece. That is the most reason for me never purchasing a MMTO. Regards Christian

Gentlemen, I am not a collector of british items, but I enjoyed this thread as far. I enjoyed the pics and the memories of the men, who served with the RMP. Thank you all! Christian

I would say, it is not Model. Regards Christian

I can add some more examples now. Vorarlberg: left frontside (25 years), right backside (40 years). Regards Christian Tirol: 50 years (front and backside) Salzburg: 25 years first model (heraldic shield in old curved shape) 40 years second model (heraldic shield in straight shape)

I will start displaying different examples for issues of the federal states. Burgendland Until 1971 the medal was bestowed with the 1949 - 1951 eagle. Then they changed to the state eagle. left: fontside right: backside The ribbon was changed in 2008 from single yellow to red-yellow (half and half).

In 1949 the medals for 25 and 40 years service were re-established again with a different eagle. In 1951 the Austrian constitutional court abolished this law. From there on the federal states could establish medals with their own heraldic shields. Some did immedately - others later. So there are nine different features of this medal now. Here the 1949 - 1951 issue:

He could not have received it after the war because in 1922 the medal was re-established and showing the heraldic eagle of the Austrian seal of state instead of the Kaiser. You can see two different examples here. The medal with the one-headed eagle was in use from 1922 until 1934 and the double-headed eagle from 1934 until 1938. Both medals are silver for 40-years-service. Regards Christian

HMA should mean "Hauptmünzamt". Regards Christian

Yes, it´s an award for a DANCON march in Kosovo, which is awarded to everyone who takes part. There are many variants of them since the first were awarded in 1972 in Cyprus. https://www.google.at/search?q=Dancon+march+medals&tbm=isch&source=univ&fir=LANfhagRuetjfM%2CU0gWrgvYVLQbiM%2C_%3B3PNr-SSMI9-xWM%2CVJA6Z-WayblD1M%2C_%3BXQFM4nUHrnzLmM%2CYEOcVdbTSrRhcM%2C_%3BHXRjlCY3lFTNgM%2CI8cd7IV8_TJHZM%2C_%3BAQHbs4rINGplEM%2CRmTc6NanDKZBjM%2C_%3BvCVLYn94xehM1M%2CeghuY0adn-_MGM%2C_%3B3wwv1yW8CkjeLM%2C5DvNLzR8c1VvPM%2C_%3BRG8HNLwmI8ndtM%2C4QmmMiXpTwQs1M%2C_%3BpsPeedNNSGjinM%2CWSwdEELw21jclM%2C_%3BK_KtRH0h1DsurM%2CquOlh75oKbqZtM%2C_&usg=AI4_-kQ5Tn9q3WjTFTmdRwNQtk-blVKg1g&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjzqPCPmJ__AhWghf0HHbcWCCcQjJkEegQIGBAC&biw=1920&bih=955&dpr=1 Regards Christian

Compared with the year 1900 6,10 Kronen were at about 50 € in 2023, compared with 1914 it would be 40 € in 2023. Source: https://www.eurologisch.at/docroot/waehrungsrechner/#/ Regards Christian

Oberst Julius Nimmerrichter (1880-1951): He absolved the "Militär-Aeronautikkurs" and received the "Beobachter-Abzeichen" with 02.09.1916 (while being in Russian captivity - which is strange). He also absolved the "Feldpiloten-Ausbildung" and after WW1 on 09.12.1919 he received the "Feldpilotenabzeichen" nachträglich. From 00.11.1918 until 08.10.1920 he did duty as "Truppenkommandant der deutsch-österreichischen Fliegertruppe". Source: Frech Chr., Pichler M., Steiner P., Vlachos I.: "Österreichs Generäle 1919 - 1955", Vol. 3., Vienna 2021, Verlag Militaria: https://militaria.at/Book.aspx?book=7756560&Language=de Regards Christian

In my opinion the miniature cross is a device for a ribbon bar. "Kleine Dekoration" had other measures, like here on the attached pic. Regards Christian

I would think that this kind of ribbon is quite rare. I have not seen any for years "live" or in an auction. Congratulations for owning it. Regards Christian