Christian1962

In my opinion you should note that these medals were worn by their owners over years after WW1, in the interwar period and after WW2. Sometimes the ribons had to be renewed when the became bleached or dirty. Propper owners changed the ribbons until the 1980ties or 1990ties. Replacement or tailor medals were offered anyway. The quality of the 1917 - 1919 ribbons was quite poor, so many owners changed them as soon as possible. Therefore is a lot of old original medals in circulation which have a later mounted ribbon. In my opinon they are all legit. Regards Christian

@tony: I am not sure if there could be an enemal repair on the avers 6 o´clock arm. Solid gold crosses would be hallmarked at the ring. Maybe the hallmark is not visible? The flat enemal on the backside is a nice variant and not common. Regards Christian

Maybe it´s of interest for anyone of the TKM-collectors here: https://www.willhaben.at/iad/kaufen-und-verkaufen/d/25-x-varianten-bronze-tapferkeit-medaille-monarchie-760210307 In my opinon a good deal.... Regards Christian

You can preorder already here: office@verlag-militaria.at https://www.militaria.at/programmes/Verlagsprogramm-2024.pdf There will be a version in German and in English. Regards Christian

@Overture: many thanks for your Season Greetings - I send them back and wish you all the best for the coming year! I suppose you mean the so-called "Starhemberg-Adler"? It had just one class. You could achieve it for fighting against the socialist february-riots from 12 - 14th of Febuary 1934. A clasp was awarded for the fighting against the nazi-riots from 25 - 27th of July 1934. It was bestowed to members of the "Heimwehren", which were a kind of private party military association, lead by Prince Starhemberg. They were political right, some catholic, some facistoid. Regards Christian

@Overture: Sorry, but there were no Wiederholungsspangen for "Militärverdienstmedaille in Bronze" - if an officer achieved a second award, he recieved the "Militärverdienstmedaille in Silber". This could have been awarded three times all in all. "MIlitärverdienstmedaille in Silber" was awarded just with one or two "Wiederholungsspangen" - never three what would have meant a 4th award. Here the text for the award of the "Bronzene Militärverdienstmedaille": Here the text for the award of the "Silberne Militärverdienstmedaille": Here the text for the second award of the "Silberne Militärverdienstmedaille" (= "1. Wiederholungsspange"): And here the text for the third award of the "Silberne Militärverdienstmedaille" (= "2. Wiederholungsspange"): This means that an officer could be awarded the "Militärverdienstmedaille am Bande des Militärverdienstkreuzes mit Schwertern" four times: 1. Bronzene Militärverdienstmedaille ..., then 2. Silberne Militärverdienstmedaille ..., then 3. Silberne Militärverdienstmedaille ... mit einer Wiederholungsspange, then 4. Silberne Militärverdienstmedaille ... mit zwei Wiederholungsspangen. Same regulations were valid for the issue without swords. Kindest regards Christian

@Vince: It´s no shame at all. Blass was one of the most "genius" fakers, with a colorful bouquet of fakes which are still displayed in some museums. In the 1980ties he was engaged with one of the Rothe & Neffe sisters - just to have access to the large store of embossing tools and dies. She realized his ambition short before their marriage and kicked him off. Regards Christian

Hi Tony! Johann Christlbauer was a well-known producer of high end quality medals, especially he produced a lot of silver medals for local fire brigades of towns and cities. They are known from the end of the 19th century and in the interwar period. I must confess that I don't know, how long the company existed. I will have a look if I will find a medal in my collection and post it here. Regards Christian I just own one: Dienstbotenmedaille des Landes Oberösterreich:

This appears to be a Bundesheer Generalmajor between 1933 and 1938: Nice pic at all. Is there an inscription on the backside? Regards Christian

I took a pic of the backside esp. for you... Regards Christian

I would say it´s a good one. Look here mine and compare. Regards Christian

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