landsknechte

The Baden voluntary war aid ribbon doesn't fit, IMHO - either in terms of what it is, or where it is on the bar. I can't really figure out what else that ribbon could realistically be representing... --Chris

Another interesting tidbit that I managed to overlook until just now... A Prussian with a "South German" ribbon bar. Don't see that every day.

...plus the blue is a little different. It's damn near exactly the same blue as the blue of the Bavarian Long Service decoration, or the blue and white version of the Prince Alphons brooch thingy. Here are a couple additional pictures I've found on the website of a collector that specializes in Red Cross decorations: At the moment, my best guess is that it might be some sort of obscure shooting award or some hitherto unknown (unofficial?) dynastic award. There is a precedent for one of the other Prince Alphonse brooch ribbons being recycled on a shooting medal, and I can't help but wonder if that's what ultimately happened here. Thanks so much for sharing, but alas, no remedy to my madness. :speechless-smiley-004: --Chris

I've stared longingly at that exact same decoration, but unfortunately my mystery decoration is still a bit different. My tormentor doesn't have those narrow blue edge stripes...

Beyond my two non-combatant EK ribbon bars, I really don't have very much in that vein. This is about it:

Ah. Well at least we know that at least some of Weidinger's personal effects have survived to the present day, and entered onto the collector's market. As much of an insane long shot as it might be, I'm hoping that one of these days, a photo will surface. My bar had been narrowed down to seven possibles, only one of which I've been able to eliminate from the running. Of course, now I've got the "it's a small world" jingle running through my head. Ugh. --Chris

Perchance did you hang on to the photo of this earlier bar? For some inexplicable reason I've got the urge to stare at the swords on the Friedrichsorden to see if Weidinger ever shopped for ribbon bars somewhere where they stocked interesting s-hilted devices...

"...and I shall call him Mini-Me."

In the recent thread on non-combatant ribbon bars, Jason posted a medal bar with a few shooting medals on it. Does anyone have any other examples of this sort of thing that they might be able to share? I was unaware that these sorts of medals had ever made their way onto anything vaguely official. Thanks, --Chris

When viewing ribbon bars where there is a "missing" EK that really should be there, there's always the possibility that the EK was worn on the buttonhole. Can anyone point to any evidence as to whether or not the same holds true for medal bars? --Chris

I've got a 1st class, albeit one that looks like it's been run over by a Buick, but a 1st class nonetheless. :coola: An ugly rarity is still a rarity. --Chris

Yep... That's the other half of my little family there.

That's a ribbon that's managed to elude me thus far... Good find! :food-smiley-004:

It did seem like there was something of a "wave" of non-combatant EK bars floating around out there for a while, and the smaller of the two was one that I was able to scoop up during that odd period.

Dude... That wasn't mustard gas!

The softer side of Prussian militarism!

My lone WWI contribution:

...and this "M" marked EK that was at an antique shop alongside a veteran's badge from a Brunswick infantry regiment (which was unfortunately scooped up by someone else). Hard to explain really, but it has a tangible "presence" about it. Just feels like a piece of history.

I'm torn between two of mine, a high-quality Godet that's in nearly perfect condition...

I'm not much of a buckle collector either (I have a a single solitary buckle), but the one opinion that I an offer with any real certainty is that I'm looking in the wrong damn dumpsters... --Chris

Excellent find! :coola:

...and a Saxe-Ernestine medal hanging out on the ribbon bar of a very senior Bavarian NCO:

A policeman who went on to be awarded the Luftschutz decoration and the Austrian Annexation decoration a few years later. (At least I got to see a picture of the other half of the split group.)

Yikes.... Sorry about the extreme close-up there.

Major Friedrich Freiherr von Berchem, aerial observer in WWI, was awarded his HHOX in July 1918.