laurentius

If I'm not mistaken Claudio's brother Mario did a gouache painting of Von Roedern

Thank you Andreas, a fine biography, sadly it doesn't specify whether he produced for Austria too (if my German translation is correct he made civil and military orders for Bulgaria). Kind regards, Laurentius

Dear fellow collectors, I had a question regarding Juweler Joh. Schwerdtner from the Mariahilferstraße in Vienna. I was unsure where to ask this question since this viennesse juweler primarily produced for the Bulgarian Tsardom. I was wondering how long the company existed (it stopped producing somewhere in the 1920's) and whether they also produced for the Austro-Hungarian empire and other countries? Kind regards and thanks in advance, Laurentius

Astounding the difference a uniform can make. One looks like an officer from the past, and the other one looks like my grandpa. It is sometimes hard to believe that these grandees and generals were mere mortals like us.

A peculiar bird, there are many things I find questionable on this RAO, especially the design of the eagle. My cross 4th class has a better one than this 2nd class piece. I'm not the most knowledgeable on these so I'll wait for the more experienced collectors to give their opinion. Kind regards, Laurentius

I don't believe the cross in this picture to be the MMJO. It is too big and it doesn't have the maltese cross-shape of the MMJO. Maybe a RAO3 given the white enamel? Could be some kind of commander-grade decoration. Kind regards, Laurentius

Nice bar, though the MVO4x looks a bit weird, regilded perhaps?

Perfectly possible. Many NCO's got promoted to junior officers due to the sheer lack of young men who reached the standard of the officers corps. Combinations with NCO/junior officer level awards can be found quite frequently on the market. This is especially demonstrated with Bavarian bars containing both MVK's and MVO's. Given the fact he wears the MMC before the EK (a weird combo often observed at the beginning of the 1920's, same goes for HoHx-EK combinations) I would suggest that this man is a Prussian rather than a Saxon Kind regards, Laurentius

Given the Württembergian Order of the Crown I would suspect we have atleast a major here. That would mean two twings: 1. There is probably a DA left off the ribbonbar, together with one or two Württembergian commemorative medals. 2. The abscence of 'lower' Württembergian orders like the Friedrichsorden and perhaps the WMVO suggests to me that those are worn around the neck. All in all a nice ribbonbar

Maybe he was working there after the war. If you're in the capitol you might as well go to the best shop around. It's a beauty and a special one for sure. Kind regards, Laurentius

Dear Iew, The painting of Alfred Gölitz does show a greenish ribbon next to the EK-ribbon which could be the Albrechtsorden. Given his rank and the fact he wears a three-piece ribbonbar in the 1939 photo makes me reluctant to believe the medalbar is his. Maybe he had an older brother, a father or a nephew? Families usually don't keep very good track of things like this, which results in these kind of problems. All identification problems apart, a lovely bar and a lovely photo, I am jealous. Kind regards, Laurentius

His dad died (if wikipedia is correct) at the age of thirty. Our Freiherr von Vietnghoff was born in 1829 which would make him a rather young father at age 22. Cousins perhaps? Kind regards, Laurentius

I don't think so, the Olympia-ehrenzeichen has stripes going down the middle and black edges. Both are absent in the picture of Karl Löwrick. Kind regards, Laurentius

I don't want to hijack the subject, but what did Von Mirbach do to get that lifesaving-medal?

Bit rich coming from someone who speaks Canadian eh? 😉 VInce is right though, it is important we all speak English to understand eachother. Welcome on the forum Chechaco Kind regards, Laurentius