Hauptmann

And now... Actually this looks tons better in person than in the scans. It's absolutely beautiful! A friend of mine did this for me. He removed the old silver paint someone put on it and then used his airbrush to repaint it black. Took him four tries to get it up to his standard. I just wish I could get it to show up as well with the scanner as it looks in daylight in front of me. Dan

Hi all, Here's my latest addition. Seems my luck is holding... a second DDR medal bar and with one of my all time favorite medals (the Verdienst medal on the left) on it to boot! Just love this one!!!! Can't wait to see it in person. Dan

Hi Vic, Glad you liked the info. He seems to have had a long and fairly distinguished career. His ribbon bar is nothing to sneeze at either. And how ironic about him dying same year as you were born. Ever feel the urge to take the salute during parades? Perhaps there's some reincarnation going on here. I'll see if I can scan another pic or two from my reference a bit later. Hoping to do some scanning anyhow depending on how things go today. Dan

Well, I must say... some very nice "mooching" indeed! Great finds!!!! Dan

Hi Gordon, Super! Looking forward to it!!!! And sounds like a very interesting thread. Mucho thanks! Dan

Hi Gordon, Believe you me, I know the frustrations of digital cameras all too well as evidenced by some of my earliest posts. Perhaps on another trip they might let you pop inside the glass to get some good pics under their supervision. I know many museums will do this if you get with the right person in charge and show them how serious a collector/historian you are. I always go by the idea that "It never hurts to ask". By the sound of how they reacted to ya'll visiting this past time I think they're so starved for attention they'd be more than pleased to help ya'll to get better pictures. Who knows... you might end up driving home in an old Fire Truck to add to the collection!!!! Seems by the sound of it stranger things do happen over there. Would love to see pics of the cased awards. I especially love that aspect of the munkasor group I got from Charles. Amen on the flag!!!! An absolute beauty without a doubt! Thanks again for all your and Charles efforts in all this. Dan

Wow! Love those last two!!!!!!!! I sure wish I could find those for a good price... especially cased. Been on my list for quite some time. Great additions to the collection!!!! Me fears you may need an entire new house before all is said and done... don't think a new wing is gonna do it! Dan

Can't wait to see more! Fantastic report so far. Yet again I'm tempted to leap on the plane (and I'm not fond of flying) and head over just to visit the museum... well, and the market of course! Looked like some cased awards in front of the Generals display... am curious about those. You know me and cased stuff. Love the General's uniform and especially that rack of ribbons!!!! And that flag is BEAUTIFUL!!!! Very colorful. Thanks so much to both you Gordon to to Charles for sharing your adventures, your knowledge, your time and your collections with us. You truly inspire us to learn more and to continue to build out collections. Couldn't do it without you! Dan

Hi Vic, Glad you like the new goodies. I would mention a couple of things though. The swallows nests are pairs. But I know it's easier to just picture one each as they're kinda on the big side of things. Also, I can't take but a little credit for the silver medal and urkunde... I just pointed you in the right direction on those. But it's a great set! I wonder if that's an original signature... I think it's General Heinz Hoffmann... here's a good bio on him: http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=5973 And the only pic I could find on the web: Key Warsaw Pact figures. From right; East German Defence Minister Heinz Hoffmann, Polish Premier Wojciech Jaruzelski, Warsaw Pact Commander in Chief Viktor Kulikov, and Czechoslovakian Defence Minister Martin Dz?r discussing Warsaw Pact manoeuvres in Poland, March 1981. Parallel History Project on NATO and the Warsaw Pact, www.isn.ethz.ch/php, by permission of the Center for Security Studies at ETH Zurich and the National Security Archive at the George Washington University on behalf of the PHP network. This image has information on its source, however it does not have information on its copyright status. It may be usable under fair use but this has yet to be verified. It might be public domain or under a licence compatible with the GNU FDL. To the uploader: Please provide licensing information as soon as possible. Images without this information may be deleted in the future. And a short article on his death in 1985: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html...751C1A963948260 Dan

Hi Vic, Glad I could help out my friend. Hopefully more coming before long. Dan

Hi all, I used to deal with a guy in Florida who was into DDR. He'd served in army intelligence over in Germany and knew quite a bit about the DDR and had been there several times. The DDR required all young men and women reaching a given age (can't remember but think it was like 17 for the guys and 18 for the women or something like that) had to serve at least a minimum term in the military (I think a year). This seems to be what several if not all of the Warsaw Pact countries did. My understanding from him was that most did not want to serve, did so begrudgingly and could not wait to get out. So they'd put in their minimum time, most being miserable while serving and high tail it out asap when their time was up. Therefore the vast majority didn't have any medals and awards to speak of. It tended to be the long serving NCO's, Warrant Officers and Officers who got a bunch of stuff. Even among the officers most seem to have only a medal or two. You can see this in the last DDR parade video... most have nothing or perhaps an academy badge, NVA sports badge, shooting cord but that's about it. Only a few have awards beyond that and only a very few seemed to have a sizeable rack of medals and other awards. So my guess is that ID books with awards listed will be few and far between, and those with a bunch of awards... well, if you find em' ya better grab em'! Hope this helps, Dan

Hi Grant, Congratulations on completing the set!!!! Onward, ever onward! Dan

Well Ed... I can't imagine we could be in better company. Dan

Hi Vic, Amen for you and me both my friend!!!! Dan

Many thanks Jim! And amen to lansknechte's comments as well. And on the Soviet items and still to a very large extent the rest of the Soviet Block countries which save for GMIC there is very little reference material available, especially in English. Thank God for the red and green bibles and Dave's additional contribution there (which I still have to order, but for the most part I, like many others I'm sure was flying blind for years. If only I'd known then what I know now there are so many high end pieces I'd have grabbed. Sigh. Now they're out of reach for the most part or in some cases will just cost me dearly... but who knew. I mean I had no idea what 98% of the Orders and medals were much less what they were called or what to pay for them if I ran across them. First ORS I ever saw was in a small shop I used to frequent (which is long gone) and was on consignment. Was asking $350! I passed as I simply didn't have the funds at the time. And the guy wasn't open to trade... only cash. Now who knows... might have been a rare type or something. Had no idea of such things back them much less researching or any of the rest. That all came a good bit after that. But when ORS's started going for $15 to $35 not too long after that... well I felt very happy that I'd passed on that first one. On the other Soviet Block countries I just look for what I feel are deals I simply can't pass up for items I like and I grab them. Over time you get a feel for things but boy oh boy would some good references in English make all the difference. All we can do, both as a club and as collectors is to educate new collectors whenever we have a chance and teach them to read, study and check out other collections, museum displays, etc., every chance they get so it will better prepare them for the moment when they face some copies or mucked up garbage like that ribbon bar... and they can "Just say no!." Thanks, Dan

Hi Gordon, So happy to see the pics. You really lucked out!!!! As I've told Charles I've been tempted to grab a flight and head over just so I can hit the markets with you guys. You're sooooooo lucky! Well, perhaps one day... have to get my Passport first... then make a ton of money so I can afford the trip and have enough to buy tons of goodies. Just don't buy up all the good stuff before I get there... or better yet, buy it all up between the two of you and send a huge shipment back with Charles that he and I can divy up! Keep up the great work! And thanks so much for sharing!!!! Dan

Hear hear! Indeed many thanks to all who have contributed and especially to Chairman Nick! Dan

Hi Dave, Mucho thanks for all that great info! Deeply appreciate!!!! More than I've known about it since I got it. Dan

Hi Megan, Appreciate the help! Dan

Hi Dave, Many thanks for the extra info. Dan

Hi Vic, OOOOOOH! I finally get to see my pretty!!!! She's beautiful!!!! Can't wait to hold her in my hand! Will be the first Yugo award I've ever seen in person. YAHOO!!!! Many thanks my friend!!!! Dan

Gordon, I think I neglected to congratulate you publicly on your becoming Charles Co-Host! I know you both are doing and will continue to do a fantastic job! Dan

Hi Jim, I'd hope this is correct but I've seen some newbie collectors who are entranced by seeing tons of those small metal insignia plastered all over ribbon bars. I fell into the same hole with quite a few of mine... but I think on mine, at least to a newbie that they at least looked right, especially considering how there were no references (that I'm aware of) at that time (20-25 some odd years ago). Just one more reason to tell newer collectors to study, study, study and then study some more before letting loose of their hard earned dollars. Dan

Hi Paul, Probably the case... at least I hope so. As I agree, the tabs do look great. Dan

Hi Gerd, You've no idea how badly I needed the good laugh this brought me when I read it. Many thanks my friend!!!! Far as I know no one bid. Dan