Claudio

Hi Stogie, I am sorry to say that but such ribbons (9mm) ARE on the market. My brother has about 5 or 6 of them, of course original, but these are still to be found on the market. Many of these ribbons were used as laces for larger neck ribbons for orders to be worn on the collar. Nevertheless I like the material being used for this Feldspange; swords, metal pieces, type of fabric used on the backing. On the other hand we should closely to the combination of the medals and ask ourselves is such combination is possible. I saw some pictures of Generals or even Generalfeldmarschalls (like von Blomberg for example) wearing such narrow type of ribbons. Heiko; I can only hope and cross my fingers for you that this Feldspange is a good one! Nowadays I don't really want only to trust my instinct anymore... I was fooled a couple of times, unfortunately also with ribbon bars... Ciao, Claudio

Here is R?der's ribbon bar and Epauletten as an example which were sold by Hermann Historica Auction House a couple of years ago. Ciao, Claudio

Hi Chris, I don't think there were limitations but usually it was common that the German officers with lots of decorations could wore their ribbon on two rows. I have never seen Senior officers wearing more than two rows, though. There were quite a few exeptions of Senior officers who would wear their ribbon bars on two rows. I could name soldiers like Sepp Dietrich, Ritter von Epp, Erich R?der, etc. Usually officers who had many ribbons they used the narrower type of ribbons (10 mm instead of 15mm)... I have these type of ribbon bars being worn by Ritter von Epp, GFM Keitel, GFM von Blomberg, etc. My biggest ribbon bar ever does show 17 (!!!) different decorations. Mostly in these cases officers wanted to show all their decorations even the Foreign ones... Ciao, Claudio

My brother's first medal bar: this purchase of his dates back in the mid 80ies. It's quite nice to see to have such medal bars with its ribbon bar.

Here's a 1st class Silesian eagle (!!!!) mounted on a medal bar of a Schwarzburg's police officer... very odd, but quite nice! Ciao, Claudio

...and here's my 1st class with Swords. The construction of the pin on the back is typical of the 30ies. Ciao, Claudio

Here's my enameled Silesian Eagle first class... notice how clean the rivets are. Usually the constructions of the medals during the late 20ies and early 30ies wasn't so good, since the LDO's didn't exist and also because of the economical crisis. Ciao, Claudio

Hi Don, Here's my brother's court mounted Silesian Eagle 2n Class. Interesting to notice the taylor's label on the back. Claudio

Hi everybody, I just would like to add a nice picture (a bit too small, sorry!) of Sch?rner I found on the net, showing him at a pre-war official event as Senior officer of the Gebirgsj?ger with all his medals (PlM and medal bar). Maybe that medal bar is somewhere out there... it's not even something special, on the contrary, it's quite a "common" array of decorations for a senior Bavarian career officer. Here's a interesting link with his curriculum vitae and awarded medals (in German): http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Sch%C3%B6rner Ciao, Claudio

... and here's a medal bar coming from your collection that I bought from you (thanks again for the sweet deal ). Medals' description: ? Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse (OEK 1909) ? Silberne Medaille Verdienst im Kriege 1914 (OEK 2833) ? Ehrenkreuz f?r Frontk?mpfer (OEK 3803) ? Schlesisches Bew?hrungsabzeichen ?Schlesicher Adler?, 1. Stufe, bruniert (OEK 3299) ? Preussen, DA 2. Modell, 1913-1920, 1. Klasse f?r den Soldatenstand nach 15 Dienstjahren (OEK 1974) ? Polizei-DA, 2. Stufe f?r 18 Jahre (OEK 3527) The very odd thing about this bar is that the Silesian Eagle is a nice 1st class piece mounted as it was 2nd class. Medal bar, obverse and reverse for your enjoyment. ciao, Claudio

Here's the Reverse:

Hi Stogie, Here's my Schwarzburg-Sonderhausen Kreuz der 3. Klasse mit Eichenbruch (OEK 2786). Obverse:

Hi Christian! Wow!!!! What a Feldspange... a real beauty! My congrats... The campaign clasps on the ribbon are really spectacular, especially the "Feuervergoldung" so finely polished... Einfach super! Ciao, Claudio

Have you noticed the breast decoration of the officer next to Sch?rner? Is it the very rare Tamara order given to German soldiers who served in the Caucasus area (Georgia)? For more info on this decoration, please consult this very intesting link: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=1032&hl=Tamara Claudio

... and here its "Urkunde":

Dear all, I'd like to contribute with a close picture of the clasps of Ramsauer's China Denkm?nze. The "spange" in the middle is an unofficial one.

Hi Wildcard, Just for your comment; this is my Commander grade cross. ciao, Claudio

The more I look at it and the more I think Andrea's right. A propos Oldenburg orders; I found a very interesting link of a very promising museum with quite a rich and interesting collection of rare orders and medal bars (that's something for me as medal bar fetish! ). http://www.schlossmuseum.de/sammlung/ Ciao, Claudio

Hi Andreas, I didn't think of that! Yes, but why he didn't get the class with swords?? From the picture I can't see the swords. Furthermore in Thierry's list there is no mention of an Oldenburg decoration, but it could have forgotten... Ciao, Claudio

Hi David, Look at this link: http://axis101.bizland.com/HungarianAwards3.htm It really looks like the Hungarian Order of Merit... There are no Finnish crosses / orders worn as pin-back type of orders (Offizierskreuz) on the pocket like this. Ciao, Claudio

Hi David, The elongated blue (dark) cross is the Bayerische Offizierkreuz MVO mit Krone u. mit Schwertern (Bavarian Officers' cross of the Military Merit Order with crown and swords), pretty a rare bird among this very desirable Bavarian order. If you meant the white cross, it looks like the Hungarian Merit order, but it's difficult to tell from the picture. Ciao, Claudio

Hi Mike, It was sold for Eur 14'500.- (startin bid was Eur 12'500.-) + 27% commission fee and taxes... Ciao, Claudio

Hi Marshall, Here's a pic of the cover. What do you want to see from the catalogue? Ciao, Claudio

Niemeyer's bar. I think the RAO should have been a 3 Kl. mit Schleife, but it was corrected afterwards...

Here's the back: