DDR DDR Bester Badge

[order_of_victory]

Does any one have any more info one these

Heres mine

Order of Victory

[ehrentitle]

Yes, it's the NVA Bestenabzeichen or "Best Soldier" badge all of the Warsaw Pact countries had some type of equivelent to this badge. See this post from the DDR Forum on Wehrmacht-Awards.com for award criteria:

http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/sho...ad.php?t=171506

There were two versions, Red for NVA and Green for Grenztruppen with removable numbers up to 4.

Kevin

Edited August 23, 2006 by ehrentitle

[order_of_victory]

So does that mean that 4 is the Highest

What is NVA and Grenztruppen, sorry for asking this but Im not very up on German Millitaria

It works the number un screws!!

Order of Victory

Edited August 23, 2006 by order_of_victory

[ehrentitle]

So does that mean that 4 is the Highest

What is NVA and Grenztruppen, sorry for asking this but Im not very up on German Millitaria

It works the number un screws!!

Order of Victory

Yes, this series of Bestenabzeichen came out in about 1986 and went up to 4. The older badge had hangers that went up to 25. Kevin

Edited August 23, 2006 by ehrentitle

[order_of_victory]

Kevin, thanks for the info

It always amazes me how late a lot of this DDR stuff came out, could they not tell the end is nigh

Order of Victory

Edited August 23, 2006 by order_of_victory

[ehrentitle]

Here are mine, I've managed to misplace the number for my 2 badge -

[ehrentitle]

And this is the older, harder to find, set of badges. These were used from 1964-1985 and according to my references had hangers up to 25 -

Edited August 25, 2006 by ehrentitle

[order_of_victory]

I like those , you have a fantastic collection

Order of Victory

[Hauptmann]

So does that mean that 4 is the Highest

What is NVA and Grenztruppen, sorry for asking this but Im not very up on German Millitaria

It works the number un screws!!

Order of Victory

Hi Vic,

On your question on the NVA and Grenztruppen (prounded Grinztruppen by the way) here's your answer.

The NVA is the Nationale Volksarmee or National Peoples Army which was the Army of East Germany (DDR).

The Grenztruppen was the Border Guard of the DDR.

Hope this helps.

Dan

[ehrentitle]

Hi Vic,

On your question on the NVA and Grenztruppen (prounded Grinztruppen by the way) here's your answer.

The NVA is the Nationale Volksarmee or National Peoples Army which was the Army of East Germany (DDR).

The Grenztruppen was the Border Guard of the DDR.

Hope this helps.

Dan

Thanks Dan, I totally missed that part of Vic's question. Kevin

[Hauptmann]

Thanks Dan, I totally missed that part of Vic's question. Kevin

Hi Kevin,

That's my motto... Service with a smile!

Dan

[order_of_victory]

Thanks Dan and Kevin

Wow, that takes my count of DDR items to two

Order of Victory

[Hauptmann]

Thanks Dan and Kevin

Wow, that takes my count of DDR items to two

Order of Victory

Hi Vic,

Well, as McCloud used to say all the time "Well... there ya go!" I was told once long ago... if you have two or more items that are interrelated in some way... you have a collection!

So welcome to the wonderful world of collecting DDR militaria. Easy to get hooked. Most of this stuff is still extremely cheap, although prices on some have gone up over the years it's not near as bad as in most other areas. And you can still pick up bargains... especially in insignia and field gear... but even in awards. Alot of people simply don't know what they have and just want to get rid of it, sometimes by the box load.

There's a wide variety out there... some a bit tougher than others. They had a small navy and an extremely small paratrooper force. So those items tend to be a bit pricier in my experience... and at times a bit harder to get.

Army and Border Guard are extremely common for the most part and the Air Force seems to be as well. There was also an air arm of the Border Guard which used AF style collar tabs but with green backing. Those come up but seem to show up a bit less than the others.

Even full uniforms are cheap for the most part. There's tons on Ebay and plenty of bargains still to be had.

Here's another site I check out on occassion and have for years. They have interesting articles and tons of great pics. And also a sale section, etc.

http://militaria.gunboards.com/

You'll see down towards the bottom they have the DDR section, DDR Trader and DDR Discussion Forum.

There's also quite a bit of material available on-line. On Ebay there are reference discs that come up from a dealer down in Florida that I've heard are quite good. Basically he's scanned quite a number of DDR references onto the discs so it's like getting a ton of refs for around $12 plus shipping if I remember correctly. Might be just under $20... can't remember for sure right now but you'll know it when you find it. He's on the above forum and puts his stuff up in the sales section. And when you consider that alot of DDR refs run in the $40 and up range this is cheap to get a ton in one fell swoop complete with all pics, etc. just as in the book itself.

Just do me a favor... leave a few treasures for me!

Dan

[Riley1965]

Very Nice collections of DDR badges I, too, Love them

Doc

[order_of_victory]

Oh no not another collection...........

BTW what is te highest Order of the DDR and are they easy to get hold of

Order of Victory

[Hauptmann]

Oh no not another collection...........

BTW what is te highest Order of the DDR and are they easy to get hold of

Order of Victory

Hi Vic,

Okay... here's a thread which touches on this subject:

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=9349...533;entry100712

This one will allow you to go to two sites where Orders and medals of the DDR are shown:

http://www.geocities.com/athens/4795/DDR.htm

I've borrowed the following pics from Megan Robertson's site... if there is any objection I'll be happy to remove them. The exception being the pic of the Banner der Arbeit set.

I believe it would be the Order of Karl Marx (Karl Marx Orden):

[attachmentid=51241]

[attachmentid=51242]

And it's ribbon:

[attachmentid=51243]

With close runners up being:

Friendship Star of the DDR (equivalent to the Soviet Order of Friendship):

[attachmentid=51246]

[attachmentid=51247]

The Hero of the DDR (Held der DDR):

[attachmentid=51248]

[attachmentid=51249]

And last but not least... the Hero of Labor of the DDR (Held der Arbeit der DDR):

[attachmentid=51250]

[attachmentid=51251]

These are all pretty hefty in price and I haven't seen a ton of them come up. I "think" there are repro's of at least some of them... I missed out on one for the silver grade of the Friendship Star right before we moved from North Florida about a year ago.

But there are plenty of very nice Orders which can be had for not too much. One of my favorites is the Banner der Arbeit (Banner of Labor) which comes in three classes here shown from my collection:

[attachmentid=51256]

The classes are the same with minor manufacturing variants... with the exception of the metal clasps on the ribbon mount and ribbon bar. They show the classes I, II, and III.

I'd highly recommend your checking out the post 1945 German section where there are quite a number of DDR posts:

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showforum=136

including that of my humble DDR collection:

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=8727

Hope this helps... and welcome to yet another slippery slope! And please don't hesitate to ask if you need any help, etc. If I can I'll be happy to be of assistance.

Dan

[Hauptmann]

Hi all,

Here's my small grouping of Besters... three NVA and one Grenztruppen:

[attachmentid=51296]

[attachmentid=51297]

Dan

[order_of_victory]

Dan,

Wonderfull collection of DDR awards

I was surrprised there does not seem to be that much on ebay for this stuff

Ok I need a find a Order of Karl Marx now (As well as a HSU), my bank manager is going to love me

Order of Victory

[Hauptmann]

Dan,

Wonderfull collection of DDR awards

I was surrprised there does not seem to be that much on ebay for this stuff

Ok I need a find a Order of Karl Marx now (As well as a HSU), my bank manager is going to love me

Order of Victory

Hi Vic,

Hey, if you can afford to get those then you need to fly me out to see them in person once you have them!

Seriously, they are really beautiful pieces... at least in my humble opinion. But I fear I'll never own any of them. They shot up into the heavens and are well beyond my reach. But I do love them from afar and wouldn't mind decent copies one of these days if nothing else.

Thanks so much for the kind words re: my DDR collection. Actually I also have a few uniforms, caps and field gear I've yet to post. But as far as awards that's the bulk of it. Of course, donations are always gleefully accepted!

Try for a set of the Banner der Arbeit if you don't mind the suggestion. They're really nice pieces. Also the highest police Order... nicknamed the Order of the Grim Reaper for obvious reasons. they're really quite nice and not much at all if you bide your time and keep an eye out on Ebay.

And you're lucky actually... from what I've seen there's literally a gazillion tons of inexpensive DDR stuff in England. Whereas on Ebay the listings I tend to see here are same old, same old... all the common stuff I've already seen a million times.

Here's hoping that before long your collection will be filled with many quality items we can all drool over.

Dan

[order_of_victory]

Dan,

Thanks for the suggestions I acctuly thought I spoted a order of Grim Reaper on Ebay the other day

When I get the Order of Karl MArx and HSU I will also buy flight ticket for you

Order of Victory

[ehrentitle]

Great DDR collection Dan! Vic, now is the time to get into East German collecting when the prices are relatively low and the repros are mostly restricted to the high end medals and orders. The best place for variety, older items and price is Ebay.de, but shipping does get a bit expensive on larger items

Here are a few of my NVA badges. If anyone is interested in seeing more of my collection I'll start a new thread as we have gotten a bit off topic on this one. Kevin

[Hauptmann]

Great DDR collection Dan! Vic, now is the time to get into East German collecting when the prices are relatively low and the repros are mostly restricted to the high end medals and orders. The best place for variety, older items and price is Ebay.de, but shipping does get a bit expensive on larger items

Here are a few of my NVA badges. If anyone is interested in seeing more of my collection I'll start a new thread as we have gotten a bit off topic on this one. Kevin

Hi Kevin,

Many thanks! And you also have a great looking group of sets there... definitely, if you have more I know I for one would LOVE to see it all!

And yes Vic, I definitely agree. Prices have been pretty steady on most DDR militaria for quite some time but a few have gone up... as Kevin said mostly the higher end pieces. But even some of those are still well within the range of affordability for most folks.

You can put together amazing collections of this stuff with relatively little investment.

Dan

[Hauptmann]

Dan,

Thanks for the suggestions I acctuly thought I spoted a order of Grim Reaper on Ebay the other day

When I get the Order of Karl MArx and HSU I will also buy flight ticket for you

Order of Victory

Hi Vic,

PM sent by the way re the Reaper. And I'd love to come see the new additions as soon as you manage to find and grab them at a good price.

Dan

[order_of_victory]

Thanks Dan for moving htis thread to is spritual home

I will post new items when I get them

Order of Victory

[Paul R]

I agree! I only have a few to go on a few tunics. Your Bester badge set is a collection of it's own.