new world

Couple of Princess Nadezhda wedding photos, she's wearing the same St Alexander cross with swords. Duke Albrecht Eugen of Württemberg, son of Duke Philipp of Württemberg and Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria, married Princess Nadezhda of Bulgaria, the youngest daughter of Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria and Princess Marie Louise of Parma, in Bad Mergentheim on this day January 24, in 1924, 100 years ago. Royal Guests and Relatives included Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria, Princess Eudoxia, and Kyrill, Prince of Preslav, Duke Albrecht of Württemberg, Archduchess Marie Therese of Austria-Teschen, Duchess of Württemberg, Duke Robert of Württemberg and Archduchess Maria Immaculata of Austria-Tuscany. Princess Nadezhda wore a Diamond Bandeau and a Köchert Diamond Necklace along with the spectacular French Crown Pearl Brooch

This is also her award, from Kuenker:

It's the bar he's wearing in this photo:

It's definitely Bulgarian award. It's made in Austria though.

No one fakes these, these are inexpensive medals, faking them would cost more than buying original ones.

also, I see that sample in the book has Bulgarian crest on top as perforated type, while on your badge it's filled solid.

I am concerned that badge has white enamel on the rays and shield instead of blue. It looks odd.

This was likely done right after the war as part of denazification campaign I never saw a box for Bravery order in blue. These must be super rare! " I have only 2 and was told they were manufactured by "ROSEN' of Sofia sometime in 1992 by a major Bulgarian collector/researcher" The blue box looks just like most of WW2 green boxes and has proper signs of aging. Not sure if these were made in 1990s. My guess would be that blue ones were made for aviators, however there's no evidence in support of such theory.

This one looks like a post mortem award to a Luftwaffe officer (pilot?). Notice how it's addressed to his father, not to the officer himself. The recipient was likely dead by the time this medal was awarded. Nice find!!!

of course, we try our best to preserve the knowledge, however I doubt that in 50 and especially 100 years this and other forums will be around. Books likely will be extinct as well, with select few humans having access to printed materials. The part that worries me the most is how many people will be interested enough in history to care about awards.

Sad part is that as time passes by and collector/specialists leave this word, there will be less and less expertise and some day no one will be able to tell fakes from real awards. Imagine 50-100 years from - all awards will be old and will look the same. For what we know they will probably call fakes jeweler versions and treasure them the same as real medals.

I bet he has few in stock. If fakers bother with tools, equipment and matrices it makes sense to re-use them and make multiple copies vs just one.

Good and rare items from ComBlock countries were never cheap. Take DDR Hero titles, Yugoslavian high classes of awards, Bulgarian Hero / Prizes and Dimitrov awards, Romanian early and precious metals awards. These always commanded super high prices and were also faked. However, I've noticed that fakes of more common awards started to appear on the market. These items can be made for little money in China and are often sold as souvenirs to tourists visiting former Com countries. Sadly some sellers try to pass them for real awards.

General der Gebirgstruppe (mountain troops) Julius "Papa" Ringel with original wartime signature. Ritterkreuz: 13.06.1941 as General Major and commander of the 5. Gebirgs-Division Oak Leaves: 25.10.1943 as General Leutenant and commander of the 5. Gebirgs-Division Bulgarian Saint Alexander Order 2nd class cross on his neck. size: 9 cm x 14 cm

This is very famous Bulgarian General and Politician Dobri Terpeshev. During WW2 he was organizer and Chief Commander of Bulgarian Partisan Resistance, for which he was awarded one of the highest Soviet military distinction - Order of Kutuzov 1st class (only 2 Bulgarians were given this award). You can see him wearing Kutuzov Order on his right side. Lieutenant General. Minister in Bulgarian Government. https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/Добри_Терпешев He was extremely popular amongst common people. Later in 1950s he had conflict with Bulgarian Communist Party Chief Todor Zhivkov, was prosecuted, removed from all posts and awards, his pension was taken away and he was exiled from Sofia. Died in poverty in 1967.