Frackspange Restored

[VtwinVince]

Gentlemen,

Here is a frackspange which belonged to my great-grandfather, Paul Ochs of Magdeburg. Unfortunately someone swiped the crosses, so here is the result of my restoration. Thanks to Barry at eMedals for sourcing the replacement crosses. Paul Ochs was a Koeniglicher Baurat and was awarded the REO by the Kaiserin personally for restoring a church in Wernigerode. He was also responsible for building the Hindenburg-Kaserne in Magdeburg.

[VtwinVince]

And here is the reverse.

[Guest Brian von Etzel]

Great and wonderful work you've done!

[Guest Darrell]

Good job. Looks great

[dond]

Excellent job. If only other families cared about thier ancester's legacies....

[VtwinVince]

Thanks for your kind comments, gentlemen. I don't think I'll become a seamstress anytime soon. As a bonus, here's the mini, also from Godet. Fortunately it survived the ravages of time unmolested.

[Riley1965]

GREAT restoration!!! I agree about caring for our families ODMs 100%!!

Best,

Doc

[Jacky]

Wonderfull bar!!!

However I don't think that the crosses were swiped, I thought that those orders had to be returned after the death of the receipment.

Depends on when your grandfather died, After the fall of the kingdoms and the rise of the new republic, all receipments simply couldn't return the orders, so they kept it.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

Kind regards,

Jacky

[webr55]

Paul Ochs is listed in the DOA 1908/09 as Baurat and Kreisbauinspektor in Quedlinburg. At that time, he only held the RAO4.

[saschaw]

As far as I know such orders had to be given back until the 1930s(!) after death unless they were military WWI awards (and these weren't). So they probably went back.

Very nice to se it restored ...

[derGeneral]

A really wonderful bar, congratulations

[Ulsterman]

Nice ! Well done.

[Mike Dwyer]

Very nice! It's great that you have a wonderful piece of your family's history.

[VtwinVince]

Thanks, gentlemen, for your comments. I hadn't thought of the possibility of returning the orders. Wouldn't he have had to return the minis as well, or were these strictly private purchase?

[Mike Dwyer]

Thanks, gentlemen, for your comments. I hadn't thought of the possibility of returning the orders. Wouldn't he have had to return the minis as well, or were these strictly private purchase?

I believe the minis were strictly private purchase.

[Daniel Murphy]

Vince,

Great restoration. I'm glad to see you were able to restore it back to it's former glory. Can you tell me what exactly is a Koenigliche Baurat and what their duties are? I have a WW1 officers grouping and in his records his father (Robert Heeren) is listed as being one. His father had served in the 1866 and 1870 wars and was a graduate of the Hannover Technical University. In his case the family was from Norten, Germany . Thanks

Dan

[VtwinVince]

Hi Dan,

To become a Koeniglicher Baurat, or Imperial Architect, one had to complete an intensive schooling which covered such skills as drafting, painting, physics etc. One had to submit a portfolio for the Pruefung (test) to a commission which determined whether the applicant was competent or not. I have some of my ancestor's portfolio which he submitted, and these comprise incredibly detailed renderings of buildings such as the St. Nicholai Church in Potsdam. After he became an architect, he worked on famous buildings around Germany, including the Anhalter Bahnhof in Berlin. Here's a photo of him during the first war. As an aside, I have a pair of his trousers, which are huge as he was 2 meters tall.