VtwinVince

Hmmm, that mounting looks a little too "ghetto" for me. I just finished mounting up my uncle's replacement spange, and I'm no Ordensjuwelier, but mine looks way better than that.

I'd like to know why my last post on this thread was removed. Moderators, explanation please.

A bit of remedial Prussian history is in order here. Brandenburg came into its' own under the Great Elector, who finally booted out the Swedes at the Battle of Fehrbellin in 1685. In 1701 Elector Friedrich III was crowned "Koenig in Preussen", or King in Prussia, at Koenigsberg, thus establishing the Hohenzollerns as the dynastic ruling house of Prussia. Prussia was never, ever, an ally of Napoleon. My father is turning in his grave at this suggestion. The country was occupied after the disaster at Jena and Auerstaedt in 1806, and many Prussians, including one of my ancestors, were press-ganged into service in the Grande Armee for the 1812 campaign in Russia. It took the "Voelkerschlacht", or Battle of the Nations at Leipzig to finally turn the tide against the French.

Thanks Thierry. Are you sure the Austria Commemorative goes after the Hindenburg?

Brian, I never tire of looking at those spanges. Really great.

Gentlemen, Could someone enlighten me as to the proper order of mounting precedence for my uncle's awards? They are as follows: 1914 EK 2, Hindenburg Cross, Austria WW1 Commemorative, Hungary WW1 Commemorative, Wehrmacht 4 Year Service Medal, Sudetenland Medal, 25 Year Faithful Service Cross and German-Italian N. Africa Medal. Many thanks.

Nice, I love these early bars, especially when the KDM has clasps on it.

Thanks, gentlemen, I didn't think it would be that easy to find such a backing plate. I'll probably just make my own. Ed, I'm not sure how to take your comment. I'm producing something for my own personal display, and yes, it is a "fake" group, but not meant to deceive. Hope I'm not being overly sensitive here. On another note, could you learned experts tell me the correct mounting precedence for these medals? I have two of the major's ribbon bars, but both are clearly pretty wacky with precedence, and I'd like to get it right.

Gentlemen, To commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the death of my uncle, Major Dr. Albrecht Ochs, I am going to reconstruct his ordensspange, which consists of the following: 1914 EK2, Ehrenkreuz fuer Frontkaempfer, Oesterreich Kriegserinnerungsmedaille, Ungarn Kriegserinnerungsmedaille, Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 1. Oktober 1938, Wehrmacht Dienstauszeichnung IV Klasse, Treudienst Ehrenzeichen, Deutsch-Italienische Afrika Medaille I have all the medals, now I need the actual spange hardware to mount them. If anyone has any good ideas as to where I could find this, or how I can make it myself, I'd be very grateful for suggestions.

Many thanks, Heiko, for posting those great photos. Obviously, you're the "go to" guy for these things. My curiousity regarding the Loewenorden was peaked by recent acquisition of one along with some other items recently posted in a previous thread, courtesy of derGeneral.

Beautiful Urkunde, Brian, with an especially nice Wilhelm signature. It's sad when you realize how much vital paperwork was destroyed during the last war.

Gentlemen, Excuse my ongoing ignorance, but if members could supply more information on this decoration, it would be greatly appreciated. What is the difference between this award and the Elefantenorden? What were the criteria for the award being presented? How many were awarded? And finally, does anyone have a photo of someone wearing this decoration?

You're right, Chris, that would make a great display, however I just spent a bunch of money reconstructing my great-grandfather's spange, so it'll have to wait. Unfortunately I don't have a photo of him, as he was an uncle of my grandmother's. I have no idea how the dagger survived, as it was found amongst my grandfather's relics after he died.

Wow, that really is a spectacular bar, thanks for showing it. One of my ancestors was German consul in Madrid and, unfortunately, his spange has been lost. However, I have his ceremonial dagger, which was a gift of the Spanish government, and which was made at the famous blade-making centre of Toledo.

Eine richtig huebsche Kette, Aron.

Hmmm, this is a good topic. I've been picking up various awards that my uncle won, and which were "liberated" from him in 1945, to add to the original awards which I inherited from him 20 years ago. Unfortunately, some are quite rare, such as the NSFK Motor-Pilot Badge. One item which I've been on the lookout for is his 1940 Ehrenpokal, which I am petty certain is in Germany in a private collection. Other items, to include award documents and Soldbuch, are at the Bundesarchiv. I don't have plans to sell my uncle's items, so the concern of "mixing and matching" isn't relevant to me.

Ach du liebes Bisschen, did you see the 1813 EK Spange? What a great collection of items, and the estimates seem ridiculously low.

Very nice group, especially the Loewenorden. I'm looking for one of those.

Chris, that's a great item, thanks for showing it. Reminds me of my grandfather, Kriegsfreiwilliger 5. Garde Regiment zu Fuss, who was severely wounded in the fighting at Dixmude, and was the first enlisted man in the 213 Res. Rgt. to win the EK2.

Full marks for creativity.

Shouldn't this group have an Austrian WW1 Commemorative?

A fascinating and typical biography of the times, Rick. I think your man was the poster boy for millions of Germans caught up in the politics of the times, quietly doing "their thing", and then equally quietly being "reintegrated" into postwar society, with the convenient "loss" of any Third Reich trappings.

Spectacular pieces, Andreas, einfach Atemberaubend.

Great find. I'm looking for that exact medal, as I have images of my 3X great-grandfather wearing that ribbon in his buttonhole.

Interesting link, Dave, however the 109's in that simulation are not BoB spec E's, as you can see from the lack of tail braces.