Claudio

Here are the two ribbon halfs that should go with "my" medal bar... Ciao, Claudio

I found a sculputure of von Mackensen being illustrated on a Hermann Historica catalogue.

There's also his Bulgarian Military Merit Order with war decorations. I don't know yet, if it's really worth to buy such an order that could have been worn by other officers, since, like the Turkish Order, is not marked with his name.

I would also like to buy another Turkish Order, owned by von Mackensen:

This is the miniature chain I am after... the starting price isn't very cheap for the fact that it comes with a prestigeous name.

Dear forumites: I never posted it before and jealously kept for me, because I didn't want to make too much publicity about it (discretion sometimes is necessary in our field of collecting). Now that von Mackensen's mini chain surfaced on the new Thies' catalogue, I want to let you know that I am the proud owner of the von Mackensen Spange. I really want to reunite the mini chain with the medal bar, so I really would appreciate if you would NOT unnecessarily bid against me. Here is my medal bar: ? Preu?en, Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse 1914 (OEK 1909) ? S?chsische Herzogt?mer, SEHO Ritterkreuz 1. Kl. mit Schwertern, Gold (OEK 2475) ? Braunschweig, Ernst-August-Kreuz 2. Klasse 1914-18 (OEK 634) ? Deutsches Reich 1933-45, Ehrenkreuz f?r Frontk?mpfer (OEK 3803) ? Preu?en, Kronenorden 4. Klasse (OEK 1762) ? K?nigreich Sachsen, Albrechtsorden, Ritterkreuz 2. Kl. (OEK 2211) ? Oldenburg, Hausorden Herzog Peter Friedrich Ludwig, Ritterkreuz 2. Klasse (OEK 1523) ? Reuss, F?rstlich Reussisches Ehrenkreuz, 3. Klasse (OEK 2003) ? Deutsches Reich 1933-45, Treudienstehrenzeichen 2. Stufe f?r 25 Jahre (OEK 3524) ? ?sterreich-Ungarn Kaiserreich, Orden der Eisernen Krone, 3. Kl. Gold ? Bulgarien, St. Alexander Orden, Offizierskreuz mit Schwertern ? Italien, Orden der italienischen Krone, Ritterkreuz Gold ? Bulgarien, Milit?rverdienstorden, Ritterkreuz mit Schwertern ? Griechenland, Erl?ser-Orden, Ritterkreuz Biography of Botschafter Georg von Mackensen (in German, sorry!): Hans Georg Viktor von Mackensen (* 26. Januar 1883 in Berlin; ? 28. September 1947 in Konstanz) war ein deutscher Staatssekret?r und Botschafter. Von Mackensen stammte aus einer bekannten Milit?r-Familie. Sein Vater war Generalfeldmarschall August von Mackensen, sein Bruder General Eberhard von Mackensen. Hans Georg wurde als Kind zusammen mit Prinz August Wilhelm von Preu?en erzogen, und schlug ab 1902 die Offizierslaufbahn im 1. Garderegiment zu Fu? ein. Die Ausbildung dauerte bis 1907. Parallel dazu studierte er Rechtswissenschaften. Im Ersten Weltkrieg war von Mackensen pers?nlicher Adjutant von Prinz August Wilhelm, zuletzt als Hauptmann. Nach Kriegsende, war er im preu?ischen Justizministerium t?tig, bis er im Mai 1919 ins Ausw?rtige Amt berufen wurde. In dieser Funktion war er ab September 1923 Gesandtschaftsrat II. Klasse in Rom (Quirinal), und von August 1926 bis April 1929 in Br?ssel. Im Juli 1931 war von Mackensen Botschaftsrat von Madrid. Im Mai 1933 trat er in die NSDAP ein. Ab Dezember 1933 fungierte er als Gesandter I. Klasse in Budapest, bis er am 15. April 1937 als Nachfolger des 1936 verstorbenen Bernhard Wilhelm von B?low zum Staatssekret?r des Ausw?rtigen Amtes ernannt wurde. Nachdem ihn sein Schwiegervater Konstantin Freiherr von Neurath am 4. Februar 1938 in seinem Amt abl?ste, wurde von Mackensen Nachfolger von Ulrich von Hassell, des wegen seiner Kritik an der Italienpolitik Hitlers zur Disposition gestellten Botschafters von Rom. Am 30. Januar 1942 erhielt er den Rang eines SS-Gruppenf?hrers beim Stab des Reichsf?hrers SS. In seinem neuen Amt beging von Mackensen jedoch Fehler. So arbeitete er beispielsweise nicht im Sinne Hitlers auf eine baldige Absetzung Mussolinis hin. Aus diesem Grund wurde er am 2. August 1943 ins F?hrerhauptquartier beordert und nach einem Gespr?ch mit dem F?hrer seines Amtes enthoben. Von Mai 1945 bis April 1946 war von Mackensen in franz?sischer Kriegsgefangenschaft. Ein Jahr nach seiner Entlassung, 1947, verstarb er.

One more picture of a REK 3KrX taken from last Thies' catalogue for comparison. Ciao, Claudio

Rick, I meant the REK 3 Kr only (not with X)... according to Nimmergut... Ciao, Claudio

My REK 4. Kl. mit X:

My other REK 3. Kl. mit X:

A detail of the Reussisches Kreuz (see my thread about the REK http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=12749 ):

The size and shape of the crown, generally speaking, is quite similar to a mint cross sold by Hermann Historica a couple of auctions ago. The details are quite different. No doubt about the fact that the crown was added later. Furthermore I believe, although I never held in my hands another REK 3. Kl. mit Krone, that the crown must have been not stiffly fixed but movable. The ring for the band, which is not shown very clearly in my scans, is also definetely not a original but has been replaced. It really looks bad... I am going to send it back! They should also mention such "details" like repairs, soldering or replacement of pieces of the cross on the description of the catalogue, since the pictures are useless. More thoughts on that? Claudio p.s.: according to Nimmergut the REK 3. Kl. mit Krone (only) was given only 7 (!!!!) times.

I rather think that it was a nice try to bump up the price!!!

To answer to Rick's question, the crown is completely fixed to the body of the cross, althouth there is also a rivet present. Why the soldering? A repair maybe? Ciao, Claudio

Hi Andreas, That is the 3rd time that I have to send medals back to the above-mentioned auction house. In the past I asked him (Kube) if it's possible to have scans of some of his medals, but he said he isn't able to do it. Like you said, the only way it's to be present at the auction and view the items personally. There is no way to tell from the tiny pictures (mostly in black and white) on his catalogue whether the medals are good or not. This very Ehrenkreuz was depicted in colors, but the picture is so small on the catalogue that you can't see the soldering on the crown. I guess that I have to give up buying from him... Lately I had to send him also a Pickelhaube back! Ciao, Claudio Ortelli

detail of the soldering:

reverse:

Dear Forumites: I just got from Kube a reussisches Ehrenkreuz 3. Kl. mit Kr. u. Schwertern. Althouth the piece seems to be quite ok, the crown appears to be applied later. As you can see the crown has been put together later. Can you see the soldering on the edges of the crown. What do you think; was it a common practice or do you think that the crown was applied later (upgraded)? It doesn't seem that this job has been executed so well. I would really like to hear your opinion on this. Ciao, Claudio

Well, the worst part was that I asked the seller if he knew the name of that ribbon bar owner. He wrote me back and confirmed me that he knoew the officer's name but for reason of confidentiality he couldn't tell me. He just stated that it came from a family with a long military tradition and added that this family had several senior officers/generals(???). Ciao, Claudio

Hi Rick, You remember it correctly; the medal bar appeared on German Ebay with two ribbon bars. I bid on everything but unfortunately not enough. Today I would offer much more for such a group. It was really a pity that the whole lot was sold separately. Ciao, Claudio P.S.: I have also a (tiny) picture of the back of the medal bar; typical Godet construction after 1935.

Dear forumites: My brother found on the net (from an old online catalogue) a quite interesting double row bar (second from the top) with a description: Oberst von Gersdorff diente im Leibzug Seiner Majest?t des Kaisers Wilhelm II., K?nig von Preussen The first one it's mine but still without name. Since the combination looks very similar, is it possible that 1st double row bar was from an officer who served with Oberst von Gersdorff? Especially the combination of the foreign awards looks very similar. What do you think? Maybe someone has interesting info to share about Oberst von Gersdorff. Thank you in advance for looking into it. Ciao, Claudio

Dear forumites: I saw this medal bar on Ebay and was wondering if the combination of two SEHO RK 2. with and without swords is possible. What do you think? The bar itself looks good, but I am a bit skeptical about the combination. The SEHO without swords appears to be a pre-WWI piece (Gold Medallion). What do you think? Ciao, Claudio

Very nice and rare Ehrenzeichen Andreas!!! ... with swords! Highly desirable... This is my brother's Verdienstkreuz in Silber, naturally single court mounted! Ciao, Claudio

Hi Sascha! It looks very nice and you're to say that, from what I can see (see the needle system on the back), it's a Godet made ribbon bar. Usually later in the years from the 30ies until the end Godet almost only used grey backing (see below), but I have also 2 old Godet medal bars (pre WWI, military and civilian) which have a red backing. I would date your ribbon bar as early 20ies. Maybe they took off the FAK2 ribbon maybe because it had the "vor dem Feinde" clasp on it and was used for making an updated ribbon bar with Ehrenkreuz f?r Frontk?mpfer... just guessing! My compliments for the ribbon bar, btw! Ciao, Claudio

I got this veterans' cross in a group... Ciao, Claudio