Dave Danner

Officials in the Kriegsministerium normally received the MVK mit Schwertern am Bande für Kriegsverdienst. These awards on the ribbon for war merit, also commonly called the Beamtenband, are another set of categories I did not cover above. The categories are more complicated, because of all the different job titles, but these are among the most typical: • 3rd Class with Swords on the Ribbon for War Merit: Magazinarbeiter, Bahnarbeiter, Gehilfe im Maschinenhausdienste/Stationsdienste/Werkstättedienste • 3rd Class with Crown and Swords on the Ribbon for War Merit: Feld-Postillon, Magazinleiter • 2nd Class with Swords on the Ribbon for War Merit: Waffenmeister, Feldbackmeister, Feldpostschaffner, Lokomotivführer, etc. • 2nd Class with Crown and Swords on the Ribbon for War Merit: Zahlmeister-Stellvertreter, Inspektor-Stellverteter, other Vetreters of higher officials • 1st Class with and Swords on the Ribbon for War Merit: Zahlmeister, Inspektor, Sekretär, Topographer, Trigonometer, etc. • 1st Class with Crown and and Swords on the Ribbon for War Merit: Obersekretär I have not seen a Feldwebelleutnant who received the 1st Class with Crown and Swords on the regular ribbon as a first award. The 1st Class without the Crown was the basic award for Feldwebelleutnants. Maybe a second award later in the war? Best regards

Bavarians normally did not receive the Centenary Medal. Among serving soldiers who were not veterans of 1870/71, it was mainly only awarded to members of regiments stationed in Alsace-Lorraine in 1897. These were: Stab 10.Inf.Brig. (Metz) Stab 5.Kav.Brig. (Dieuze) 4.IR (Metz) 8.IR (Metz) 3.ChevR (Dieuze) 5.ChevR (Saargemünd, except for 2./5.ChevR in Zweibrücken) II./23.IR (Saargemünd) I./2.FußAR (Metz) IIII./2.FußAR (Metz) There were also a number of random awards for which I am unsure of the specific reason. Some are because they were commanded to Prussian units at the time of the award. Among these, for example, was Anton Ritter von Löhr. Then Second-Lieutenant Löhr was at the Prussian Militär-Turnanstalt from 1.10.1896 to 1.8.1897. But if you look at the Militär-Handbuch des Königreichs Bayern nach dem Stande vom 1. Dezember 1897, you can see that most Bavarians did not have the medal. Regards

Basically, 3rd Class with Swords: Mannschaften, Matrosen 3rd Class with Crown and Swords: Unteroffiziere ohne Portepee, Maate 2nd Class with Swords: Unteroffiziere mit Portepee, Vizedeckoffiziere 2nd Class with Crown and Swords: Offizier-Stellvertreter, Deckoffiziere/Oberdeckoffiziere 1st Class with and Swords: Feldwebelleutnants There are lots of quirks, however, especially with the various technical ranks.

It was awarded for bravery and military merit. The class of the award was based on rank, as you suspected. Originally, it was not progressive. In order to get a higher class, you had to be promoted to the appropriate rank. However, as World War I went on, and soldiers were repeatedly cited for bravery but turned down because they already had their proper class, the rule was changed and awards of the next higher class were allowed. So a private or Gefreiter might get a 3rd Class with Swords, and later for repeated acts of bravery a 3rd Class with Crown and Swords, which was normally awarded to Unteroffiziere ohne Portepee (for example Unteroffizier, Sergeant or Oberjäger). Although for a really big act of bravery he might receive the Bavarian Bravery Medal instead. As a rule, you would not wear more than one class. But there were exceptions. A pre-WW1 award could be worn with a WW1 award, for example. And if you were promoted to officer's rank, and received the Military Merit Order 4th Class with Swords, you could wear both that and an earlier Military Merit Cross. Hope this helps!

The Jubilee Medal for the Bavarian Army means he was alive after 1905, but the lack of any World War I decorations means he may have died before the war (so no WW1 medals) or during the war (so no remounting of the medal bar). At least a major, possibly up to colonel. The Bavarian regiment most closely associated with Braunschweig was the 1. schweres Reiter-Regiment, in which Duke Ernst August was a lieutenant and later a la suite.

Yes, Egon Freiherr von Gayl had the 1870 EK1. He was commander of a stellv. Armeekorps, so he simply may not have been put in for the 1914 EK2 until after the clasp was created.

Here are some examples from the Bavarian Kriegsranglisten of officers who received the 1870 EK2 and 1914 EK1, with no entry for a Spange. Otto Freiherr Kress v. Kressenstein GO, Kgl. bay. Kriegsminister EK2 26.4.71 EK1 1914 Adolf Ott OTLaD, Kdr. 1.Ldst.Inf.Btl. Mindelheim I.B/14 EK2 31.7.71 EK1 23.12.14 (4.2.15) Luitpold Freiherr von und zu der Tann-Rathsamhausen GdIzD, Kdr. stellv. I.bay.AK EK2 19.1.71 EK1 10.4.15 Otto Fedor v. Gynz-Rekowski GLzD, Kdr. 39.RD EK2 70/71 EK1 1914 There were several other officers with the Spange to the 1870 EK2 and the 1914 EK1, but in all these cases they were not in the field before mid-1915 and did not receive their EKs until then or later. An example is GLzD Rudolf Rösch, who commanded the 10. bay. Inf.-Div. from March 1915 to April 1916.

I published a list of awards from Reuß jüngere Linie several years ago. There were three awards of this version - the Fürstlich Reußisches Ehrenkreuz 3. Klasse mit der Krone am Bande der Kriegsdekoration. I don't know how complete the list is - the list only included awards gazetted in the Amts- und Verordnungsblatt des Fürstentums Reuß jüngere Linie. One of these three had the LD1, Gustav Weißflog. He was a Kommerzienrat and factory owner in Gera, and a Rittm.d.L.a.D. I have no idea if he had the Ernestine House Order - he didn't have it in the 1909 Deutsche Ordens-Almanach. Landwehr officers weren't included in the Ehrenrangliste, so I don't know if he was recalled in World War I. He was born in 1865, so it seems possible that he was called up, but not sent to the front. His factory was the Ernst Friedrich Weißflog Kammwollwarenfabrik. Kammwoll is Worsted wool, so he was likely involved in making uniforms, blankets, or the like for the Army, which would justify the Ehrenkreuz without swords but on the war ribbon. I have rolls for Reuß jüngere Linie, but haven't compiled them yet. The rolls are apparently only for awards made directly by the Fürstlich Ministerium Gera, so they don't have most war awards with swords. After a quick look through them, I see about a dozen awards of this class. The rolls for Reuß älterer Linie apparently no longer exist. So Gustav Weißflog might be a good possibility, especially if the Ernestine award can be found, but I can't say with certainty since we will never have complete rolls.

Thanks Glenn. I guess Mainz fits with prior service in IR 87. Perhaps he was a native of the Duchy of Nassau and was part of the local cadre when IR 87 was formed. As a Prussian Army NCO-turned-official, maybe he didn't feel like drawing attention to having fought against Prussia. I wonder how many Prussian soldiers wore the Nassau Ehrenzeichen für 1866.

Thanks, Andy. If he was a sergeant in 1871, what are the chances he was an 1866 veteran as well? I have no idea what the typical ages and career paths of these inpectors was, though it seems a fair number of them were 1870/71 veterans even into the early years of the 20th century.

There was a Garnisons-Verwaltungsinpektor Schimmelmann in Altenburg, who died around 1905/06. He had the EK1. Anybody have anything further? I assume he was enlisted when he received the EK1, which must have been uncommon in 1870-71, since his other awards in the 1905 rank list are the Prussian General Honor Decoration and the Dienstauszeichnung 1.Klasse. Thanks, Dave

And another. From the 6. November 1918 issue of the Apotheker-Zeitung, Dr. phil. Philipp Palm was born in Schorndorf, Württemberg, and was a Lt.d.R. in FAR 13. He received the WF3bX and Hessen Bravery Medal in 1915, and the Württemberg Military Merit Order in May 1918 in place of his WF3bX. He was wounded at least three times. The Palms have been a rather prominent family of apothecaries/pharmacists in Schorndorf for several hundred years. There is a bit of history here: http://www.palm-apotheke.de/Wir%20%C3%BCber%20uns/Geschichte-frame.html

Can't remember if I posted this before. An example in wear.

Here is apparently another late-war recipient who is not in the MWB or Geile. From the 2. November 1918 issue of the Apotheker-Zeitung, Franz Klockenbring, born 30.11.1894 in Osterfeld, Kreis Recklinghausen. He was a pharmacist in Mülheim an der Ruhr when the war began. He was promoted to Lt.d.R. (Recklinghausen) in IR 190 on 8. April 1916 and war wounded in 1917. Based on this website, he apparently moved to Strasbourg in Alsace after the war and his descendants still live there. There was another Lt.d.R. Klockenbring in IR 190 - Fritz, born 2. March 1893 in Berlin-Steglitz, killed in action 5. July 1916. He and Franz were brothers. No idea if they were related to Lt. Karl Georg Klockenbring from IR 97, the later Generalmajor and DKiG recipient. Maybe cousins. Regards, Dave

Two that I know of with the HOH3X: • Hans Hückel • Joachim-Friedrich Huth Two with the Württemberg Military Merit Order: • Hans Boelsen • Hans Speidel (WM3 am 10.4.17 an Stelle der ihm früher verliehenen goldenen MVM) Of these, Huth and Speidel had the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and the Merit Order of the Federal Republic of Germany, so among the highest awards of three different regimes. Speidel "wins" because his WM3 was his kingdom's highest military honor, while Huth's HOH3X was below the pour le Merite. Hans Boelsen was a Generalmajor d.R. in the Bundeswehr; I have no idea if he received the Bundesverdienstorden. Walter Freytag received the DDR's Fatherland Merit Order, but his highest Third Reich award was the Ehrenblattspange.

Heinrich Schmedes

#166 IR 99 Hard to tell, especially without a rank and with the handwriting. No one in the Rangliste or Ehrenrangliste for IR 99 is even a close match. Maybe: Booß, Paul * 3.4.1868 in Hattingen am Ruhr OLt.a.D., zul. im IR 82, Amtmann in Altenbochum, Hptm.a.D. beim Et.Kdt. in Hirson There are also two Majors "Booz", but they were Pionier officers.

Nehbel, Carl 5.12.1863-28.5.1944 01.10.13-14.11.16 Ch.d.Gen.St., Gouv. Königsberg 14.11.16-29.04.17 Ch.d.Gen.St., GKdo.z.b.V. 60 bzw. Gruppe Mitau 29.04.17-01.11.18 Art.Kdr. 12.ID 01.11.18-27.01.19 Kdr. 7.ID 22.03.13 Oberstlt. 27.01.15 Oberst 18.05.18 Gen.Maj. 30.09.20 Abschied als char. Gen.Lt.a.D. 27.08.39 char. Gen.d.Art.a.D. (Tannenberg-Beförderung) Orden pour le Mérite am 30.9.18

#167 Müller, August * 17.3.1885 in Cochem OLt.d.R., Kgl. preuß. Gerichtsassessor in Koblenz #168 Firgau, Hans 2.10.1870-9.7.1943 Oberstlt.a.D. #169 Arnold, Otto 22.7.1852-17.4.1928 Kdr. IR 49 (1905-09) Kdr. Landwehrbezirk Stettin Kdr. Landst.-Inf.-Regt. 32 #170 Lengerke, Hans Wilhelm Otto v. 12.4.1874-12.5.1933 Oberstlt.a.D. #171 Thaler, Otto Heinrich Jacob * 14.4.1870 in Weihershof, Landkreis Fulda, Hessen-Nassau Maj.z.D., Grukonach 602 10.11.17-10.3.18, sodann Grukonach 663 Regards, Dave

It was awarded to all ranks, although I have yet to encounter an enlisted recipient. We will never know the numbers with certainty, as the military records of Reuss Younger Line were destroyed in an Allied bombing of Gera in World War II.

Aus einem Nachruf: "Carl, der von jeher ein starkes Pflichtbewußtsein besaß, sah seine Kriegsleistungen als selbstverständliche Pflichterfüllung an, die keiner Hervorhebung wert seien. Aber aus der Verleihung des Ritterkreuzes des Hohenzollernschen Hausordens mit Schwertern im Juli 1917 ergibt sich, daß er seine Führerstellungen mit besonderer Auszeichnung versehen hat." Bedeutet das, daß er sicher den HOH3X erhielt? Oder lese ich das falsch?

Lucius, Günther; born 6.11.1892. Saxon, EK1, SV3bX, SA3bX Hptm. - 1.2.24 Maj. - ? (after 1929) Oberstlt. - 1.4.36 Oberst - 1.1.39

Also the Oldenburg Friedrich August Kreuz 1.Kl., Deutsches Kreuz in Gold, Allgemeines Sturmabzeichen and Verwundetenabzeichen in Silber (2.WK).

Thanks Andy! Despite his Sondershausen connection, he got neither the swords nor the oak brooch to his pre-war SEK2.

By the way, the gentleman above is Dr.med. Ewald Luyken, Stabsarzt d.R., 2.GFAR, RIR 206 and RIR 208. --- Another (I believe) previously unknown late-war recipient: • Gerhard Schiche, Oberleutnant, Führer 2.Feld-Komp., Pi.-Btl. 14, HOH3X on 8. November 1918.