laurentius

Dear 1812 ouverture,

perhaps the prices in China are higher, but this comes (in my opinion) from the love chinese people have for monarchies. Austria-Hungary, the German monarchies and the English monarchy are vastly popular there. I have seen lots of photos (sadly) of Chinese 'collectors' who wear decorations from their collections (They act like Americans). The prices are a bit higher because they love the stuff. The monarchies are gone, but if you have a medal in your hand you still have some sort of relic of it.

Kind regards, Laurentius

Well, it's Weitze, so over-the-top prices should not surprise us. They are the European Emedals, or is Emedals the Canadian Weitze?

Kind regards, Laurentius

Dear VtwinVince,

yes indeed, truly beautiful, one of the reasons I visit every year. It is a shame that not all decorations belonging to Alexis are displayed. The picture of him in the glass showcase, just like his uniform, show that he had more decorations than are shown in the castle. Perhaps some orders are still in Burg Steinfurt, the other castle of the Zu Bentheim und Steinfurt family, or lost during the war. I wonder what happened to Alexis' EK2 from the Franco-Prussian war.

Kind regards, Laurentius

This is the version I believe that the Konteradmiral is wearing, although in your picture without swords. It's only a tiny bit bigger than a regular EK1

Dear Kriegsmarine Admiral,

looking at the award in the picture I believe this award to be the Croatian Order of the Crown of King Zvonimir.

Kind regards, Laurentius

Dear David M,

9 hours ago, David M said:

we all know the kurhessian orders in pic 3 and 4 were to his father who was awarded the CHGL1 23.12.1848. Christmasgift I guess

I said most, not all, the medalbar next to the multiple Kurhessian House-Orders of the Golden Lion also did not belong to him. The last award on this medalbar, on the blue ribbon has been removed and someone put a KVK on there, backwards. I think there might have been a Treudienst-ehrenzeichen there, removed after the war perhaps?

Kind regards, Laurentius

Dear fellow collectors,

I have recently visited Schloss Bentheim in Bad Bentheim, one of the oldest castles in northern Germany. I go there every year with my family and every year I look forward to visiting the castle. It has a lovely collection of awards from the imperial era, together with some uniforms, helmets, caps and equipment. Most of the awards are centered around Alexis Fürst zu Bentheim und Steinfurt. His RAO 1. klasse, his Lippe verdienstkreuz 2. klasse and several other high european orders. There are also a number of awards on bow-ribbon, which I suppose were given to his wife. Among these awards on bow-ribbon there is a Luisen-orden, several marriage-medals and a silver (?) China-denkmünze on bow-rbbon. My question is, was this award given to women during the time of the Boxer-rebellion. I've added some pictures, please excuse the quality, my camera has the power of a potato. I have also added a picture of a painting in the castle, depicting Georg Viktor von Waldeck-Pyrmont, the father of his Alexis' wife Pauline.

Kind regards, and thanks in advance, Laurentius

Dear fellow collectors,

often when we see medalbars where the Iron Cross is not the first decoration, we brand their owners 'naughty'. But they weren't naughty at all, for they followed the rules and regulations of their own state (Saxony, Württemberg or Bavaria). I know the late Rick Lundstrom wrote some interesting pieces on this topic over on the WAF, but I wondered if any of you know a book in which this precedence for the non-Prussian states in the German Empire is described. 

Kind regards, and thanks in advance, Laurentius

I concur with the other members, precedence, but also combination on this medalbar is quite troubling. Although it features lovely, original medals the bar itself in my opinion is a modern composition.

Kind regards, Laurentius

Dear Claudio,

very nice pieces you have there, if they ever needed a place to sleep....

Kind regards, Laurentius

Dear ixhs

10 hours ago, ixhs said:

In the late 1930s only awards with gold had to be returned

Does this mean that this routine didn't take place during WW2? I think that during the war the dire need for precious metals was quite high.

Kind regards, Laurentius

Dear Komtur

I have 2 questions, what happened to the medals after they had been handed back to the authorities and why didn't they take the RAO 4th class? It's also made of silver, so there is value in it.

Kind regards, Laurentius

Dear Chris

That; s why I asked, I recall reading about it here, but a search on the web, both here and on other forums yielded no results. Hopefully someone remembers the topic, or is knowledgeable to these affairs. It wouldn't be surprising if you ask me, if you were to take all imperial decorations made of precious metals from all the German states you'd get quite a mountain of silver and gold.

Kind regards, Laurentius

Dear fellow collectors,

I recall a topic (by Rick Lundstrom I think) about how the Gestapo had cards filled with information about local recipients of high-end awards (made of precious metals). These awards had to be returned, but after the fall of the monarchies this largely came to a halt. It was said in this topic that the Gestapo would scan local newspapers for obituaries of deceased soldiers, go to the home of the next of kin and they would demand the decorations. They could be bought off however, for a price several times higher the worth of the award. Can anyone confirm this, or perhaps post a link to this topic which I can't seem to find?

Kind regards, and thanks in Advance, Laurentius

Dear GMU

The decorations on the bar are: EK2, HOHx, LS ( I think, prussian first, but there are 2 little lines at the end of the ribbon so I could be wrong), HE3xKR, China-medal, ÖMVK, HT, WV3. KVK II refers to the War Merit Cross, of which he received the 2nd class during WW2, I wonder for what sort of capacity, due to his age I wonder? Regarding your last question, you are correct, it shows a Centenary Medal, a Japanese Order of the sacred Treasure and a Romanian Crown Order. Perhaps he chose not to wear the Centenary medal, and the Romanians and the Japanese fought against Germany in WW1 so it isn't surprising he's not wearing those orders anymore.

Kind regards, Laurentius

Dear Martin2

It's a terrible fake of the Deutsches-Feld-Ehrenzeichen. It was a non-official award, which had to be purchased by the veteran himself at one of the  several veteran's associations.

Kind regards, Laurentius

Dear fellow collectors

I recently came across this Order of the Black Eagle with Garter, with an inscription on the back. Could this be the handiwork of Ernst Blass? The details, especially around the Garter are of better quality than what I've seen so far, but I'm still doubtful, especially the inscription on the back, saying that this award was given to his Royal Highness George, the Prince of Wales, by Prince Henry (Heinrich) of Prussia. I look forward to your opinions.

Kind regards, Laurentius

Dear Chris

That is a beauty, Truly beautiful.

Kind regards, Laurentius

Dear P.F.

Although this medalbar comes much closer, I'm still suspicious. Just look at the campaignspanges on the picture in the first post and the campaignspanges in the picture you supplied, there is clearly a difference. In the photograph they are layered like bricks, and in the picture they are just atop eachother. The bar might nonetheless still be original, since I don't think it's a unique combination.

Kind regards, Laurentius

Dear P.F.

Yes, it looks like a device for 50 years, which he didn' t have, nor do I think the medalbar belonged to him. Although the combination is the same as the one on the picture, there is a clear difference in ribbonfolds and space between the medals. I highly doubt it's his bar.

Kind regards, Laurentius

Dear fellow collectors

I was visiting some dealer's websites today, hoping I could find a nice bargain when I came accross this. It says it was made after 1918 but looking at the way the RAO-ribbon is attached on the back makes me think this might also be the handiwork of EB. What do you guys think?

Kind regards, Laurentius

Dear fellow collectors

I was reading the topic on the unknown badge of Char. Vizeadmiral Max Looff and I was quite intrigued by his picture so I starting doing some research on him. I found a picture of him from just after the war and I noticed he had the crownorder and the lebensrettungsmedaille, both on the ribbon of the lebensrettungsmedaille (indicating he got the decorations atleast twice). When I see pictures of an officer/soldier wearing a KO on the ribbon of the life-savingmedal it always seems to be someone attached to the German navy. I have two questions, when did Max Looff get his KO on the life-saving ribbon, and did the navy in fact have a higher percentage of people with the KO on life-saving ribbon than the army? For those who might be interested, the second picture is Felix, Graf von Luckner, who's service during the war seems more alike to that of a pirate than that of a naval officer.

Kind regards, and thanks in advance, Laurentius

Dear 1812 overture

Despite the fact that this hobby sometimes might be dangerous, I highly doubt the will send a killer to your house.

Kind regards, Laurentius

Dear Elmar lang

Would I be correct in saying that most of the fakes made by EB were created using malls from Rothe?

Kind regards, Laurentius

Dear fellow collectors,

here I have the Prussian pre-ww1 regulations from 1913 when it comes to medals. I noticed that the Prussian Red Cross medal 2nd class ranks quite a bit higher than the Red Cross medal 3rd class, can anyone give an explanation for this? I will attach the regulations.

Kind regards, Laurentius

• Prussian iron cross (1813/1870, the 1914 iron cross had not yet been instated)

• House order of Hohenzollern with swords

• Prussian Red Eagle order with swords

• Prussian Crown order with swords

• Prussian Military Merit Cross in gold

• Prussian Military Decoration 1st and 2nd class

• Russian Order of Saint George

• Austrian Maria-Theresia-Orden

• Prussian life-saving medal

• House order of Hohenzollern on peacetime ribbon (statute ribbon)

• Prussian Order of the Red Eagle on peacetime ribbon (statute ribbon)

• Prussian Crown Order on peacetime ribbon (statute ribbon)

• Prussian Red Cross medal 2nd class

• Prussian general decoration awards

• Prussian long service awards (Both the version for officers and enlisted men)

• Medals to the Prussian orders, and the Kriegerverdienst medal

• House order of Hohenzollern honour cross

• Prussian Red Cross medal 3rd class

• 1864 Düppel and Alsen Cross for the Danish war

• 1870/71 war medal (only one could be worn)

• 1866 war cross (only one could be worn)

• 1864 war medal

• Colonial medal with retrospective campaign clasps

• South-west Africa medal and China medal

• Hohenzollern campaign medal for the uprising of 1848/49

• Jerusalem cross

• Wilhelm I and Wilhelm II coronation medals

• Hessen jubilee awards

• Hanoverian jubilee awards

• Orders from other German states

• Orders from other European states (except for the Order of Saint George and the Maria-Theresia-Orden)