laurentius

I have not seen it before with an BMVK3xKR, however I have seen it with wreaths and crowned swords for orders. This tradition can be seen roughly from WW1 up to 1945. I recall a picture of Oberst von Limburg who wore a ribbon with wreath through his buttonhole for his Wurttembergian MVO. This picture of General von Manstein illustrates the wearing of a HoHx-miniature through the buttonhole. Kind regards, Laurentius

James Austin Domage does not sound very Italian, are there no other decorations or miniatures? With such a name I would be inclined to think that he is English or American. All awards seem to have been bestowed during the reign of Victor Emmanuel II. Kind regards, Laurentius

Dear Wessel Gordon, I would urge you to buy genuine medals for your collection. If you were again in a tight-spot money-wise you'd just sell one or two and be on your way again, that's not something you can do with fakes, they are just a waste of money. Kind regards, Laurentius

Ccj might have a point here. It is not unlikely that some type of royal served in this regiment. This would also explain the size and the number of the loops. Breaststars with fangs are much more common than regular 'Steckkreuze'. Perhaps someone from the Hohenzollern family, or one of the other ruling houses of Germany might have owned the tunic. This thread is getting more interesting by the minute

If the owner of this tunic died during the war we could rule out some big, unofficial Freikorps-award. Consider the size it would be to me most likely to be an Franz Joseph-orden Offizierskreuz with fangs on the horizontal ar

Dear dwmosher, when looking at the loops of your splendid tunic I would think that there once was a EK1, not just any EK1, but a lovely Kurassiers-version with fangs on the horizontal arms. This would explain the four loops, I cannot think of any other decoration that could be placed here. Kind regards, Laurentius

Knight-commander, as shown in these pictures.

Dear fellow collectors, I hope pictures are good too? Here are some pictures of His Royal Highness Prince Hendrik at several points in his life. Kind regards, Laurentius

Dear JBFloyd, here is another one, the eagle is a bit different, but the elements seem to be quite the same. Kind regards, Laurentius

Dear JBFloyd, it's a theatrical production from the post-ww1 era if I'm not mistaken, although Sascha Wöschler has more knowledge about these. The swords, both regular and crossed 'am Ring' are a new one for me though. Kind regards, Laurentius

The medalbar is lovely, unlike the behaviour of some collectors here....

Splendid indeed

'S' isn't the mark for Scharffenberg, 'Scharffenberg' and 'Dresden' on the horizontal arms is. the 'S' mark stands for silver, however, since Scharffenberg was the only one to use this mark it has become known amongst collectors as a mark for Scharffenberg. My question was untill when they produced, since I only know of examples made at the latest during WW2. I agree here, I can't recall seeing any medals made during that period, however the medalbars that I've seen were not of the greatest quality. I have always held the opinion that the orders produced by Scharffenberg were of better quality than the medalbars. This contrary to the various Godet firms, who produced medals and medalbars both of great quality.

Dear fellow collectors, whilst dabbling in Saxon orders and decorations I often came across the manufacturers Scharffenberg and Glaser&Sohne who produced well into WW2. Scharffenberg did produce medalbars after 1939, and Glaser&Sohne made FEK's. Did their companies survive the firebombing of Dresden in 1945 and are the companies still producing? I did manage to find some info on Glaser still working, but the info seemed scarce and the pictures bad, unlike Hemmerle&co from München who still produce in the building they were in 100 years ago. Kind regards, and thanks in advance, Laurentius

Reminds me of the theft of Hitler's Golden party badge in Moscow. Apparently some Russian mobster has a love for medals and decorations. With Dresden being close to a highway to the Netherlands and Poland the chance these are ever seen again is dismal. I don't believe this piece will be taken apart and melted down. Luckily (relatively) this will hopefully be the centre-piece of a collection.