webr55

Well, whatever it is, as long as he got it after the Lippe, or Schaumburg-Lippe (yes, possible too), Dr. Schleh can be my man. I didn't look for specific awards when looking through the - indeed horrible - list of names, as long as he got at least five of his awards by 1908. BTW, I know that the Bavarian crown order gave knighthood to its recipients, but didn't that apply only to Bavarians?

Thanks for your comments! I was hoping to show that. If we could let an OCR software for Gothic type do its work on the DOA, I think we could ID a lot of so far anonymous groups.

But I think it is: 6) Ökonomierat Dr. Arthur SCHLEH He is listed with D70/71, LpDEK4, RAO4, LD2, ZM. Born in Berlin 6.10.1846, living in Münster. An "Ökonomierat" has nothing to do with economics, but is an agricultural official. I think he is the perfect candidate: - the precedence is right: after his Prussian awards, he first put the higher ones: Lippe (Knight 2nd) came last, the Bavarian Knight (no classes) before it, and the Hessian Philip was probably a Knight 1st. - academic background - he was in the proper position to get awards from other states at 60+ - the Bavarian Crown Order would have been quite appropriate for him (the Bavarians have a strong tradition in agriculture), whereas the EK2 1914 for an agricultural official would have been quite unlikely According to the CV I found in his PhD dissertation, his father was a factory owner. Arthur went to the University of Halle 1869-70, was then called for service in the 70-71 war, and went back to the University of Leipzig afterwards. He got a Dr. in agriculture from there in 1875 with a dissertation about "Über die Bedeutung des Wassers in den Pflanzen und die Regulirung desselben in unsern Culturböden". He was then a teacher at an agricultural school in Herford and later became the first director of the chamber of agriculture Westfalen-Lippe. He also published books about the agricultural role of pigs (1904), of crows (1904) and others, up until 1920 ? so, according to his publications, he was alive in 1920. Chris

What can I say? The whole enterprise took some time. Here are the results: I found only six candidates that could not be excluded immediately. Four were Hessians, so can probably be discounted: 1) Frickhöffer, Dr. Karl, D70/71, HssP4amKr, RAO4, LD1, ZM (a doctor) 2) Imroth, Hermann, D70/71, HssP3, HssP4amKr, RAO3, LD2, ZM (an official (Baurat)) 3) Lade, Ernst, D70/71, RAO4, LD2, ZM, ItKr4 (a forester) 4) Schurian, Karl Heinrich, D70/71, HssP4a, RAO4, LD2, ZM (a forester) There is one possible Prussian forester: 5) Lorenz, Emil, D70/71, RAO4, LD2, ZM, ItKr5 Lorenz was born in Eldena/Mecklenburg in 1847, and was Forstmeister in Wohlau/Silesia. I don't see how he should have got three other non-Prussian awards as a provincial forester. Cannot be totally excluded, however.

My assumptions were: 1) He was a veteran of 70/71, but did not get the EK 1870. Too young for 1866. 2) He was a hardcore Prussian from the precedence, even the lowly 1897 medal is before Hessian and Bavarian orders. 3) In 1908, he must have been in his mid-50s, at least. 4) During WW1, he was either dead already or too old OR not in the right position to get an EK 1914. (Or this was an earlier lapel bow.) 5) So basically, I looked at all 70/71 veterans without an EK. But what about other awards? My central axiom (which can of course be questioned) was that by 1908 at least FIVE awards have to fit. I think it would be improbable if he got half of his awards beyond the age of 55.

There was only one way to go (one thing less to do before I die. ): 1734 pages of the Ordensalmanach 1908/09 lay before me. (BTW, this could never have been done without Paul's digital version of the DOA.) Some risks had to be taken: - He might have not had himself listed -> tough luck, but relatively improbable, I think. Someone with so many awards was probably in there. - He might have died before 1908 -> tough luck! - He might have got half of his awards after 1908 -> tough luck! (see #5 below)

The back. From the combination, especially with the Bavarian civil order, this should be a civilian who maybe was in some academic position. Un-IDable, you say? First, I looked through some ranklists for reserve officers. No luck.

A happy new year to all members! I would like to start 2007 by posting a case that took me a while. I bought this nice Godet lapel bow from Stogie sometime ago: The ribbons are: 1) RAO4 (judging from the other awards, probably not an AEZ) 2) D70/71 3) Centen 1897 4) Prussian LS (probably LD2 or LD1) 5) Hessian HP4 (Knight 1st or 2nd) 6) probably a Bavarian Crown Order for Civil Merit, Knight 7) Lippe Honor Cross (Knight 1st or 2nd) 8) Italian Crown Order (Knight or Officer)

Maybe this one as well, with the Lippe rolls: Great work, Rick!

I think it is Hermann J?RGENS, Braunschweig. This thread is a good idea! Chris

What a strange and great find! The Schlaraffia still exists today and is organized in many local circles, but under one roof organization, the Allschlaraffia. I would not have imagined they printed a directory with their real names in it, so it was probably strictly confidential?

In order to get the Sudeten medal, no special activity or being in some specific place was necessary. Basically, anyone all over the Reich who carried a packet that was sent to the Sudetenland could earn it. More than 1 million were given out. Hitler was annoyed by this and consequently made the criteria for the next Anschluss medal, the Memel medal, quite strict. You had to have been there, in Memelland, to get it. There were only about 30,000 Memel medals awarded. Chris

I see that no one has answered your call for information on Generalleutnant Ulrich v. Tippelskirch (1883-1967). He was originally a Navy officer, in Turkey during parts of WW1, retired in 1919 as a char. Korvettenkapitän. Recalled for the new Luftwaffe in 1936, finally retiring in 1943. These are his promotions: Fähnrich zur See (22 Apr 1902) Leutnant zur See (29 Sep 1904) Oberleutnant zur See (30 Mar 1906) Kapitänleutnant (21 Jun 1911) Charakter als Korvettenkapitän (24 Nov 1919) Major (01 Apr 1936) Oberstleutnant (01 Oct 1937) Oberst (01 Nov 1939) Generalmajor (01 Nov 1940) Generalleutnant (01 Apr 1943) and his Luftwaffe positions: In the Staff of the General-Air-Equipment-Master/RLM (01 Dec 1935-31 Jul 1936) Advisor in the Supply-Office, RLM (01 Aug 1936-31 May 1937) Quartermaster with Air-District-Command I (01 Jun 1937-30 Jun 1938) Quartermaster with Air-Region-Command XVII and Commander of Air-Equipment-Group XVII (01 Jul 1938-31 Jul 1939) Senior-Quartermaster of Air-Fleet 2 (01 Aug 1939-28 Feb 1941) Commander of Air-Equipment-Group VIII (01 Mar 1941-10 Nov 1941) Commander of Air-Equipment-Group Rostov (11 Nov 1941-31 Mar 1943) Commander of Field-Air-Equipment-Group 25 (01 Apr 1943-07 Jun 1943) With the Staff of Air-Region-Command XXV (08 Jun 1943-18 Jun 1943) Führer-Reserve OKL (18 Jun 1943-30 Sep 1943) Retired (30 Sep 1943) Died (31 Dec 1967) in Steinebach, Wörthsee

Did you get it? Congratulations, if so.

This must be FRITZ-JULIUS von Petersdorff. He got a Dr. phil. from the University of Leipzig on 3/12/1931 in... Japanese philology! The title of his dissertation was "Beiträge zur altjapanischen Phonetik: Bericht über Takeshi Kitasato: 'Forschungen über das altjapanische Sprachlautsystem'", published in Shanghai (!) in 1931. He was obviously the perfect choice for an attache in Japan! I have not been able to confirm whether he is identical to this one, but might be: There was a resistance fighter Oberstleutnant von Petersdorff who was apparently imprisoned together with Canaris, Bonhoeffer etc. in Flossenbürg in 1945, maybe hanged as well.

Ernst Nordewin von Diest-Koerber got a Dr. in agriculture from the University of K?nigsberg on 11/12/1939. His dissertation thesis was titled "Untersuchungen ?ber die M?glichkeiten zur Steigerung des prozentischen Fettgehalts in der Milch bei Niederungsk?hen" - how to make cows have more fat in their milk.

Thanks to all for your information! Combined efforts - and yet another case solved.

What a coincidence! I got his photo on ebay. Appears to have been torn from some album. Oberst Nüßlein came from the 1st Telegraphen-Bataillon (Munich) and went into the Reichsheer. The 1924 RL lists him, but he must have gone aD before 1932. No way to know, of course, that he died in 1940. Chris

Generalmajor Emil Fürstenau? That was a nice pic, apparently he "singlehandedly" led his regiment... ok, bad pun.

Yes exactly, that's what I meant by "OK" - or OFA2, if you like. Chris

It's hard to read the cypher on his shoulderboards, seems to start with a "1", maybe "12" or "13"?

He is probably Bavarian. His ribbon bar shows - probably - EK2, BMV4X (?), OK, Hindenburg, Bav Jubilee (?), 2x LS.

Gentlemen, just got this pic of an Oberstleutnant, taken obviously pre-WW2. He is wearing an EK1, OK1, BWB, and a ribbon bar in Bavarian style. However, I couldn't find anyone matching in the Reichsheer. As a pre-war Oberstleutnant, even (E), he might well have made General. Any ideas?

Thanks for bringing this up! Konrad Fuchs was one of the last German WW1 veterans - but not the last. Neither was the French one, Charles Kuentz, who died in 2005. Actually, there are still 7 WW1 veterans living in Germany (and 50 in the entire world). Look here: Surviving_Veterans_of_the_First_World_War

Same old, same old... but this time, a Crown Order on the life-saving ribbon!