Hauptmann

Here are some more miscellaneous pins and badges: [attachmentid=41329] [attachmentid=41330] And some stickpins, mini's and some miniature and stickpin versions of the sports badges as well as several variations of same including one with an A on it (the kind of stout looking one in bronze off to the left): [attachmentid=41331] And a Border Guard qualification badge: [attachmentid=41332]

This one is the Gold Honor Pin for Merit in the Socialist Education Program. I believe there is also a silver and bronze level for this award. [attachmentid=41322] A cased Meine Heimat (My Homeland) pin: [attachmentid=41323] A badge for active work: [attachmentid=41324] [attachmentid=41325] I don't know the exact title of this one... have seen it a gazillion times. [attachmentid=41326] [attachmentid=41327]

Next is my full cased set of Ernst Schneller medals. I understand the gold is a bit hard to find so I'm glad I have all of them... one less thing to hunt down. I'm not quite sure what they were awarded for but they're nice looking medals. [attachmentid=41318] [attachmentid=41319] And a Young Activist medal: [attachmentid=41320] [attachmentid=41321]

Here are my cased Army Reserve medals. I ended up with an extra silver and hope to complete a second set someday. [attachmentid=41314] [attachmentid=41315] And my Leistungsabzeichen: [attachmentid=41316] [attachmentid=41317] There are seven levels of this award and I would love to have a complete set someday.

Now for my full cased set of the Banner der Arbeit (Banner of Labor): [attachmentid=41311] And my Service Medal of the DDR. This is the "official" civilian version but there is an "unofficial" military version... only difference is in the ribbon. Same ribbon but the "military" version is mounted on the standard DDR Soviet style five sided ribbon minus the metal attachment. [attachmentid=41312] [attachmentid=41313]

Next is my full set of cased Army loyal service medals: [attachmentid=41307] [attachmentid=41308] [attachmentid=41309] [attachmentid=41310] These are for 5, 10, 15 and 20 years loyal service in the NVA. These medals also have the same variants I mentioned on the Army service medals with the additional variant concerning the state seal on the flag pictured on the obverse of these medals. One has an outer ring while the other does not have the ring. Again, these are ready made for collectors who love to obtain different types and variations.

And each individual medal. The Gold: [attachmentid=41304] The Silver: [attachmentid=41305] The Bronze: [attachmentid=41306] I hope to someday add some of the variations and especially the serial numbered examples. I also would love to obtain some document sets, preferably issued, and, dream of dreams... an award of this medal to a collective... although a full set of them awarded as such would be even better.

Next up are my Service Medals of the National Peoples Army. For some reason these are my favorite DDR medals. The first time I saw one was in, funny enough my first Soviet awards reference... Russian And Soviet Military Awards by V.A. Durov. Pictured on page 102 is a silver version of one of these medals. At the time, many years ago, I didn't even know for sure if it was only issued in silver or if it followed the traditional bronze, silver and gold pattern for most German awards. Needless to say I'm quite happy that it did. I don't know why but I just feel this is one of the best designed of the DDR awards. I've completed one set and am working on the second. I still need another complete silver set and a ribbon for the extra bronze. [attachmentid=41301] [attachmentid=41302] I'd like to point out that there are several variations both of the awards themselves as well as their Urkunden which also come in several styles. I've even seen an example that was awarded to a Kollectiv. It's very impressive with the Urkunde itself on the left hand side and the actual medal mounted on the right inside a cassette not unlike those used for Knight's Crosses during the Third Reich albeit far less elaborate than those. There are medals that have serial numbers located at the top of the wreath on the reverse. There are medals which have a silver content of 900 marked at the base of the wreath on the reverse. There are at least five variations with the number placed below the wreath stems and one which has it placed above the wreath stems. There are also at least two varieties of the wording on the reverse... one having hyphens on either side of the UND. And there are at least two varieties in the smaller wreaths on the state seal surrounding the compass... one being a more open design. And as if this was not enough for one medal... there are at least two varieties of the obverse. One has a dot on either side between the words at the top "Fur Hervorragende Verdienste" and the words at the bottom "Nationale Volksarmee"... the other version has no dots. There are at least five variations of the Urkunden plus the one for Kollectiv awards. What more can a collector ask for?

I have one other DDR award with the Urkunde set. It's for the ten year Kampfgruppen Service medal. I've also seen this referred to as the "Brandenburg Gate" medal. First the full Urkunde: [attachmentid=41295] The closeup of the award illustration: [attachmentid=41296] Closeup of the Urkunde: [attachmentid=41297] The cased award: [attachmentid=41298] [attachmentid=41299] And my full group of these medals from the riker mount display. I hope to someday have document sets for the full group. [attachmentid=41300]

And the 25 year awards cased: [attachmentid=41293] [attachmentid=41294] Note that the left example does have a lighter shade of gold as well as a lighter shade of the gold on the ribbons and the device than does the example on the right. Could be a manufacturer variation or simply a later version of the one on the right.

And now the smaller of the two sets. The folder: [attachmentid=41288] The full Urkunde: [attachmentid=41289] Closeup of the award illustration: [attachmentid=41290] Closeup of the Urkunde: [attachmentid=41291] The end page: [attachmentid=41292]

And now for my 25 year awards. Again I have two sets of these. I'll show one document set, then the other and finally the awards. I'll start with the larger of the two sets: First the folder: [attachmentid=41281] The inside page: [attachmentid=41282] The full Urkunde: [attachmentid=41283] A closeup of the award illustration: [attachmentid=41285] A closeup of the Urkunde: [attachmentid=41286] And finially the printed area on the end page: [attachmentid=41287]

Now for the 20 year in gold. For now I only have the cased award but hope to get the documents sometime in the future: [attachmentid=41279] [attachmentid=41280]

Now for the 15 year in silver. First the full Urkunde: [attachmentid=41274] The closeup of the image of the award: [attachmentid=41275] A closeup of the Urkunde: [attachmentid=41276] And of the actual cased award: [attachmentid=41277] [attachmentid=41278]

And the award itself... cased: [attachmentid=41272] [attachmentid=41273]

Now to get into a bit more detail. I'll start off with my awards for the Kampfgruppen der Arbeiterklasse. My understanding is these were civilians who did training with the regular armed forces of the DDR... kind of like a reserve force who in time of war would be called up to supplement the main forces. First off... the medal. I hope to get the document in the future: [attachmentid=41267] [attachmentid=41268] Then the 10 year medal in bronze with document. It has the folder but I'll show an example of that a bit later... All the ones I have are the same with the exception that one of my 25 year awards folders and Urkundes is larger than the other. First the Urkunde: [attachmentid=41269] The a closeup of the image of the award: [attachmentid=41270] And a closeup of the Urkunde: [attachmentid=41271]

From Flags of the World. Hi all, Finally got around to resizing all the photos I took for this about two weeks ago. First off, some pieces in a riker mount: [attachmentid=41264] Then a pic I did a while back showing some of my cased DDR awards as a group: [attachmentid=41265]

Hi all, Here's the latest edition to my Soviet finials. Same sheet metal type but with a different makers mark. It's the smaller type like my last one. [attachmentid=41256] [attachmentid=41257] And although not Soviet... since it's Warsaw Pact and a flag... my DDR. Actually tried to get this for a bare minimum bid on Ebay. Someone else bid several times (same person) and bid it up. I'd put in a max bid of $12. Well, I figured he/she wanted it so bad I'd offer it to them if they wanted to bid .50 more. This was in plenty of time for them to bid on it but they didn't do it. So then I wrote them and said if they wanted it more and if the seller would agree I'd step aside and they could pay and have him ship it to them. Still no reply. Tried a couple of times with no luck. So finally after waiting a day or so I wrote the seller, apologized for the slight delay (I generally pay within a minute or two of winning) and paid for it. By the way his description was written I was led to believe it was a modern copy like you'd buy from flag venders on the street... at least we had those down in Florida. It took a bit for it to arrive... no idea why as it was out of St. Louis and generally everything from there (have a friend and we send stuff back and forth) generally takes about three days tops. Anyhow when it finally arrived I was surprised and quite pleased to discover that it's a genuine DDR flag. [attachmentid=41258] It is multi piece, machine stitched and the DDR state emblem is also a separate piece on each side and also machine stitched. Very well made but without any markings that I can discover. After waiting for ages for one of these I'm glad I went ahead and got it, although I wish the other bidder hadn't bid it up I think I still did very well on it. I'm hoping before long to get a DDR finial like this one: [attachmentid=41259] [attachmentid=41260] [attachmentid=41261] [attachmentid=41262] I'm also hoping to get a Soviet finial of this style: [attachmentid=41263] If anyone has either of these two types... the DDR or the last Soviet, that they'd be willing to part with please let me know. Thanks! Anyhow thanks for looking! Dan

Hi Pat, I totally agree... a nice Luft with good, honest wear. I have had several of these in the past... I finally was down to a set, one in the aluminum and one that was painted blue which I believe were worn with the Luftwaffe work overalls for field crews and such... those who would refuel, rearm, maintain the aircraft, etc. I regret having gotten rid of those, as well as a beautiful unissued Luft camo breast eagle. Should have hung onto all of them. Very nice piece... now all you need is the belt to go with it. Dan

Hi Pat, That's indeed quite a gift. Kudos to Laurence for making such a wonderful and extremely kind gesture! You are indeed a scholar and a gentleman sir! All but that other 1st you've got are very nice looking pieces Pat. I'm just sooooo sorry you got hooked up with that German creep all those years ago. I'm still hopeful you'll be able to do something about that situation but in the meantime it defintely looks like you're making good progress. Dan

Hi Pat, Not positive on this one but suspect it could be a piece of jewelry made by or for members of an indian tribe. The backwards swas has for the longest time been a symbol of good luck or good fortune to many indian tribes and even other cultures as well as those in India. I've even seen (and may even have) some old books where the backing papers on the binding use a pattern of backwards swastikas as a form of border design. I also have a big brass pin with one. It was a throw in with some other stuff and I've just got it stuck in a miscellaneous box. The snakes as well as the overall design are what are making me feel it's something to do with a native American tribe, again either made by for sale as souvenirs or made for members of the tribe. But it's definitely not a military or German piece. Hope this helps. Dan

Hi Pat, You've no idea how I hate to say this... but don't really like the look of either of these. I hope the others prove me wrong, but for various reasons I don't think these look good. Are they from that same German or someone else? Regardless, if it was me I'd take them back for a refund post haste! Dan

Hi all, Any ideas on the value on the one I posted? Thanks, Dan

Hi Dolf, Many thanks! Shame of it is that my coin shop I frequented down in Tallahassee Florida carried these or ones very similar too it... and I likely could have gotten some great deals on them as they would occassionally put them on sale. I'll give Indian River a shout and see what they charge on their shipping and see what I can work out. Great displays and great pieces! Thanks again! Dan

Hi Dolf, Just wondered... what are the dimensions on the case you use for your Soviet medals display? I think you told me once before but where do you get those? Very nice cases and I'd love to do up a similar display as now I have them all divided between my various riker mounts. All your displays are outstanding! Thanks, Dan