webr55

I know the Sayffaerth story is sad... but still... this is him after the war. Quite a weird personality, he called himself "Großmeister of the Order Signum Fidei" and was selling titles to others... I found a story in Der Spiegel 1960 about him: He claimed that the Order Signum Fidei was derived from a count Reinhartsbrunn during the Crusades, whose last descendant was living deep in the Mexican jungle and had supposedly allowed his order to be given away by Sayffaerth....

Interesting, yes. Well this one did qualify for it: as an observer, he was flying recon missions for the Romanian 2nd Mountain Division in Russia in 1942/43. But he probably never got the order itself - only the entries in his documents.

It's possible - though there was a commission supposed to verify the recipient's (or buyer's) qualifications (having been a member of the Marinekorps). About 30,000 crosses were awarded... err bought. The cross was 3.50 Reichsmark, the miniature 2 Reichsmark, and one of the clasps cost 50 Pfennig.

Thanks for those translations! Very good to have them here!

WOW! Incredible! 8 recipients -- almost 200 years ago... and they had to give them back later... I'm afraid I cannot say anything about these. I will try to make some enquiries, however. Best regards Chris

Ahhh thank you! That's the one yes. Makes sense that the last one is Austrian Ehrenlegion rather than LS. No. 3 -- yes maybe the Deutsch-Bekenntniskreuz -- it has swords too on Claudio's bar. So this would be a Saxon member of the Marinekorps Flandern.

Well thanks - these ribbons baffle me completely. So #3 --- is that the "Ehrenkreuz" of the "Marinebund" you mean? I haven't been able to find a picture of that ribbon. #1 stays a mystery for now.

Reverse:

I picked up this ribbon bar with four vanity awards and a LS ribbon -- I can recognize the Marinekorps Flandern Cross in 2nd place and the Treu dem Regiment ribbon in fourth. Any idea what the other two are?

Ah - so a Grand Commander with star. Could well be silver and gold 'wings'. Btw - is there a complete list of recipients? St. Sava could also be, yes --- pity the second to last one is quite faded.

Please -- do let me know what that is!

Fourth to last - with two small crowns: Commander Order of Maurizius Lazarus, Italy Third to last: ? (Commander grade device) Second to last: ? (Commander grade device) Last: Rising Sun or Danebrog? (Commander)

I think this is something for the devices gallery --- BTW could this be an unofficial FIRST class device?

Thanks!

And a wonderfully clear view of the Olympia 2nd class device:

Ahhh.....

Wish I could get a better picture of the last (foreign) awards on his bar.

with photo:

Weitze is offering his awards - including his double row ribbon bar:

So this one?

And the Wehrpass entry:

I've got a Wehrpass and Soldbuch to a German flyer. There is a 1943 entry for the award of the "Order of the Crown of Romania", 5th class, on bravery ribbon. My question: does this mean it is the version with swords, 2nd model?

He's back!

Yes, we discussed it here. The first two awards are on the "Erinnerungsband", as the correct name is. It was used for several awards, of which the War Aid Cross is the most common. So in this case, one award will probably be the War Aid Cross, while the other one COULD be either a Crown Order 4th cl or a General Honor Decoration on "Erinnerungsband"

Yes, very nice. Here's mine: