Daniel Krause

Nicolas, yes Sir! Generaloberveterinär is equivalent to LtCol. Generalveterinär would be a full colonel, even if Generalveterinär sounds "smaller" than GeneralOBERveterinär :-) Ans as far as I know there was only ONE Generalveterinär with the personal Rank of MajGen - that was GenVet Heinrich Schlake. Best, Daniel

because it is not Geyso's bar. We concentrate here on the hint, that the Oldenburg ribbon is a House Order, not the Friedrich-August-cross. Another perfect candidate would be Generaloberveterinär Emil Mohr, 1862-1922 he had RAO4, KO4, EK, DA, OK1 and ÖEK3 Best, Daniel

He was not... At least not according the quite well managed princely Hohenzollern award rolls. Best, Daniel

The abbreviations are partly different over the years and in various sources. EH, HSEH, HSH... Best, Daniel

Ernestinian house order commander grade. Best, Daniel

Schaumburg- Lippe Military Merit Medal with Sabers on the ribbon.... far away from being Ottoman... See here: https://woeschler-orden.de/node/4526 Best, Daniel

Hi Alan, a bit late reply, but I hope, better than nothing 🙂 My best guess: Either General Staff Major Ernst Buchrucker, 1878-1966, in 1914 Capt in IR99, in WW1 General staffer, retired after WW1 as Major. Or Richard Josupeit, as well an i.G. type. in 1914 1st Lt in IR 30, in WW1 in Heeresgruppe Kiew, reitred as Major after WW1. The combo of Crown 4 with Hohenzollern, Baden, Bayern and Württemberg is quite common, but in combination with the other known rolls, I can rule out plenty of other guys, so that only Buchrucker or Josupeit come close. Not sure if Josupeit had enough countable service time to receive the XXV years cross after WW1, thats why I would bet on Mr. Buchrucker. Best, Daniel

P.S. forgot to mention. I did my homework on that bar already a while ago, as I still owned his ribbon bar 🙂

Hi Laurentius, yes sure. As far as I have it: 1st Class: 41 to Germans (all together) plus 2 with Brilliants 2nd class: 342 to Prussians (fairly complete) 36 to Bavarians (incomplete) 24 to Württemberg (incomplete) 10 to Saxons (incomplete) 3rd classes: 10.124 to Prussians (fairly complete) 656 to Bavaria (incomplete) 383 to Württemberg (incomplete) 135 to Saxony (incomplete) Best, Daniel

Dear FAR 32, what would be my concept to show an Austrian Golden Merit Cross with crown and swords and Bravery ribbon on a ribbon bar? To be able to do that would really make me a Wizard, since even the Austrians that time did NOT have a concept for that. Iron, Silver and Gold Merit Cross, with or without crown, both signum Laudis, Military Merit Cross and Franz Joseph knight; if awarded to Austrians with swords on the Bravery ribbon would have the very same ribbon bar; the generic Bravery ribbon with crossed golden swords. That fancy miniature decorations and special devices were non-regulatory fashion things by the taste of the wearer. It could be worn, or it could not. There are plenty of Austrian bars around with 3, 4, 5 bravery ribbons next to each other and you can only guess, what a single ribbon would represent. The Iron Crown device you are refering, a crown with a wreath was indeed a Kleindekoration, showing a higher class either on the triangular ribbon or the ribbon bar. like this: https://www.dorotheum.com/en/l/3272702/ An Iron Crown 3rd class with war decoration was represented by a green wreath alone on the ribbon bar. "Hardly any" 2nd classes to Germans is relative. I have 59 2nd classes with war dec. to Prussians in my files, 6 to Württembergians, 5 to Bavarians, 4 to Saxons, 74 in all. 3rd Classes - 284 to Prussians, 37 to Bavarians, 12 to Saxons, 9 to Württembergians. Again, all awards from Austria to Germany were made with War Decoration only, never with swords. If there are swords shown on a German ribbon bar at Austrian ribbons, it was a period mistake by the wearer or outfitter. The War Decoration was usually shown by a wreath. By the way, if you meet Georg next time at the Dorotheum, tell him my best greetings. Best, Daniel

To clear some things up here... We can NOT rely on the device of the Austrian bravery ribbon here. Swords and crown make no sense on a German bar. As well it does not fit to have silver swords on that mystern yellow ribbon. An Austrian Iron Crown should have a green laurel leave to show the war decoration, no silver swords....which would be halfway correct for a Swedish Sword knight 2nd class. Austrian awards to Germans were only with war decoration, NEVER with swords. The swords devices were Austrian only. If there are swords devices on german bars, it was "self-awarded" non regular devices. The Austrian merit cross in gold was awarded to people below Officer rank. Paymasters, senior NCOs and that kind of Officials. The basic decoration for a German Officer wss the Military Merit Cross, followed by an Iron Crown or in rare cases a Leopold. Franz Josefs were usually awarded to Doctors and Officials, only in rare cases to normal Officers. Will check my sources and see if I can come out with some suspects. Best, Daniel

@CRBeery A bit more, according to Siekmanns Taschenkalender für Beamte der Militärverwaltung, Dröder was born in 1871, so turned the retirement age of 65 in 1936, just perfect to receive the fresh established Wehrmacht long service award. If he would still be active in 1939, he would have received the 40 years oaks. Best, Daniel

FAR 32, Thank you for your nice words 🙂 over the last 20 years I put together dates and names for ten thousands of decorated people in WW1 and after. That required for example reading over 500 regimental histories, more that 150 regimental officers lists, thousands of pages in newspapers and putting together dozends of award rolls into some bigger files. For the Prussian Army I can answer questions for about 50.000 noticeable decorated Officers, Doctors and Officials. But all together, I can - as seen - sometimes give an answer, but I can not in every case say where every bit of info came from. My short sentence about "wizards" was a joke, like my friend Rick quite often called us. I did not intend to insult somebody. Best, Daniel

Dr.Speck, for that bar, I would put Oberstarzt Dr. Hans Erchenbrecher in closer consideration. In WW1 he was a Oberarzt with IR 107, receiving the Saxon Duo, EK's and the Oldenburg 2nd class, served in the Reichsheer and finished as Oberstarzt in WW2. http://soldaten.balsi.de/index.php?action=show&id=8995 Best, Daniel

My late friend Rick would call us "wizards" 🙂 Nicolas, in this case, if it it a Zahlmeister as well, I bet on Gustav Schöne from IR 93. born 1874, between the wars civil Official, in 1934 Verwaltungsoberinspektor a.D. Maybe he was recalled for service to rejoin the Wehrmacht... In contrary to active Officers, these Officials did easily serve until their high 60ies. Best, Daniel