landsknechte

...and here is another example from an auction that's currently up on eBay:

Drat! Foiled again! My evil plans to buy up the world's supply of MVK1XmKr ribbon bars one by one have been set back.

With the "upgrade", I was thinking more in terms of how someone in general might have been so awarded. Repeat awards being one possibility, of course. That sort of thing. Frankly, after the letter that I got back when I inquired to them about Friedrich Freiherr von Berchem (basically - We have a whole bunch of cool stuff, including some of his photo albums. However we're really busy so kiss off.), I'm not going to hold my breath. I'll probably go ahead and give it a shot on the off chance that I catch someone on a less anti-social day, but unfortunately, a trip to Europe is nowhere nearby on the horizon. (Dammit.) Thanks, --Chris

It's certianly one heck of a start! :food-smiley-004: The sheer rarity of the MVK1XmKr would seem to go a long way towards narrowing it down. I can't imagine that there couldn't be all that many of them with the AFK. (As it's the first one I've seen in a Bavarian group, a second one among the +/- 175 would be a surprise.) Any thoughts as to how he might have pulled off the MVK "above his station"? Thanks, --Chris

I found the thread on the Aerodrome forum where you asked about this bar, and I must admit to still being a tad confused... Just to make sure that I'm following this correctly, it's definately narrowed down to a Bavarian named Bauer - but the question is which Bauer? Thanks, --Chris

Nothing especially fancy, but certainly possessing of that proverbial "been there" look. --Chris

Heaven knows it might be a wee bit late at this point anyhow. Seriously though, it was a brilliant period of artistic development, but complete and utter chaos wracked with violence and hyperinflation. --Chris

Heck of a good start you've got there. I think that's the only ribbon bar that I've seen with a spange on the Treue dem Regiment ribbon! --Chris

Actually, the red and black ribbon on this bar is the correct ribbon for that decoration: --Chris

I have a ribbon bar with that decoration, but the swords threw me. I never knew it came with them. Thanks, --Chris

Granted, not anywhere near as impressive as Rick's bars, but I thought I'd share my one example that falls within the topic: --Chris

...and the not so small ones...

First the smal ones...

Courtesy of Stogieman, this beauty will be joining my collection in the relatively near future... I may be opening my mouth here and inserting my foot full force, so please be gentle with me... My analysis: Someone with 12-17 years in, as counted by the Luftwaffe in 1939. Rose to the exalted rank that it would take to warrant a MVKX1mKr [typically Feldwebeleutnant] or a MVO3XmKr [typically Oberstleutnant] in relatively short time. I'm guessing that he was not a Bavarian, since there's no 1911 Luitpold Jubilee ribbon present, and 1912-1918 seems like an impossibly short time to have climbed that high in the ranks. Unless maybe he served 8-13 years before 1911, left the service, and then was called back for WWI. With nothing that's officer specific, but with this many different states represented, I'm inclined to read it as an enlisted fighter pilot somewhere around the rank of feldwebel that was given the MVK1 late in the war, perhaps as a second or subsequent award of the MVK. The only other viable option that I can think of would be that of a non-Bavarian senior officer who just happened to miss out on anything officer specific. (One big question would be whether or not the Luftwaffe counted time served as a reservist for their Long Service calculations.) ...anybody have any thoughts or observations on this bar, or even any thoughts or observations on my thoughts and observations? Thanks, Chris

Does anyone recognize the ribbon squished between the Austrian ribbon on the far right, and the blue and white one? I've got a couple of ribbon bars that sport a ribbon quite similar to that one (although te blue is closer to the blue of a Bavarian Long Service decoration), and I'm wondering if it might be any help in putting some sort of a context to my mystery ribbon. --Chris

...and last but not least, a photo of one of the grades of the Austrian decoration from which the ribbon is "borrowed":

Other than mine and the bar that Rick posted, these are the only two examples that I have ever seen in ribbon bar form: ...one that was up on Manion's a while back... ...and one that's currently up on eBay being sold by a seller that I've been burnt by...

I happened across this a little while back: --Chris

I haven't seen a lot of these, but all that I have seen are color-coordinated. Looking at it up close and personal, does it look like it might have faded? --Chris

Reincarnation is a wonderful thing... --Chris

What's the ribbon second from the right? Maybe I'm just a little overtired, but it's just not quite "clicking" at the moment. --Chris