well, the regs are definitive primary sources.
I have read a few articles in the Austrian Review and am auditing a class on Austrian Nazis at the moment. The Anschluss was completed with marked efficiency....smiling, with a clenched fist behind the back.
Potential opposition was nullified at every conceivable corner swiftly by a flood of German officials of all stripes. Austrian units had German officers and men transferred into them rapidly, as did police, trains, post services, schools, etc.. Even most Austrian Nazi party officials were given 'individual ' mentors' from Germany , putting a few Austrian noses out of joint, but ensuring a very smooth 'coordination' into the Reich.
As per Hitlers' rhetoric and decrees, Austria, or Ostmark, was declared a legal entity as a Land' in 1938, just like Bavaria, Saxony, Hanover etc. , given appropriate Gauleiters etc.. Given the political tenor of the time, my guess is that this meant Austrian decorations were given the same precedential order as other ' state' medals. Obviously there was a bit of confusion, so the regs clarified in 1940.
One can imagine the conversation in Herr Ecks' medal shop.
Customer: " I see you put the Ostmark war medal as a foreign medal at the end"
medal maker: " Yes, it is appropriate"
customer: "So you disagree with the Fuehrer and believe that Ostmark is not and should not have been part of the greater Reich?"
Medal maker:"oops"....."perhaps a 50 % discount? "
Given the rarity of the Luftchutz award and when those started to be handed out to Luftschutz officials, that is a very cool bar.