Bavarian Orders page

[Dave Danner]

I have created a new page, just for Bavarian knightly orders. My current Bavarian page, like the other pages, focuses mainly on military decorations. However, Bavaria's other orders are so nice, I went ahead and branched out. Maybe some day I will even have some of the orders pictured on the page (the first order pictured on the page sold in an auction two weeks ago for 15,000 Swiss francs, plus auction commissions, so I don't think I'll be getting one soon).

The page is here: http://home.att.net/~david.danner/militaria/bavaria3.htm

Have a look around and let me know what you think.

[W McSwiggan]

Excellent Dave - rushed right over to see and was delighted. Your site remains one of the finest on-line resources in my estimation. Thank you for doing this.

wem

I have created a new page, just for Bavarian knightly orders. My current Bavarian page, like the other pages, focuses mainly on military decorations. However, Bavaria's other orders are so nice, I went ahead and branched out. Maybe some day I will even have some of the orders pictured on the page (the first order pictured on the page sold in an auction two weeks ago for 15,000 Swiss francs, plus auction commissions, so I don't think I'll be getting one soon).

The page is here: http://home.att.net/~david.danner/militaria/bavaria3.htm

Have a look around and let me know what you think.

[Mike Dwyer]

Dave, as always, excellent! Your pages are ones that I neve tire of visiting over and over.

[Ran]

Hi Dave,

Amazing work as usual, your site is my collecting bible

I didn't quite understand the difference between these newly added orders and the other ones, why aren't

they all in the same page about Bavaria.

Also I couldn't find the link to the new page in the site ( I saw it by clicking on the link here ).

If you added so many new orders to Bavaria that means other states had more orders too which are not

in the site yet ?

Thanks again for your beautiful work,

Ran

[Paul C]

Dan, great job! I use you website almost every day. It is a fantastic help.

[Roeland]

Great site! I always love to see Bavarian items.

is this you're site as well? http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-medals/german_medals.htm

[Lukasz Gaszewski]

Congratulations, Dave! Great site. I have always found the award system of Bavaria the best developed of all German states and Bavarian decorations the most elegant.

[Dave Danner]

is this you're site as well? http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-medals/german_medals.htm

No, that one is Australian-based.

I didn't quite understand the difference between these newly added orders and the other ones, why aren't they all in the same page about Bavaria. Also I couldn't find the link to the new page in the site ( I saw it by clicking on the link here ).

If you added so many new orders to Bavaria that means other states had more orders too which are not in the site yet ?

There are far too many German state decorations to adequately cover. When I first created the German awards site, it was an outgrowth of my other pages, which mainly just showcase my own collection. Because there is/was no comprehensive on-line reference site for German decorations, I just decided to create one, by broadening my own pages to include images contributed by fellow collectors and a few dealers and auctioneers who gave me permission to use their pictures.

I kept the site limited to German military decorations for several reasons: (i) it is hard to find images of many of the less common orders, service medals, commemoratives and the like, (ii) the higher orders are too expensive for the average collector, and (iii) collectors like me generally have a "grunt's eye" view and are more interested in military decorations than in political awards, especially ones where the accidence of birth played as much, or more of, a role in getting the award as any act of merit.

I am rethinking that approach as more images become available and also because there are some collectors whose focus is both broader and narrower - broader in the sense that they care about more than military decorations, and narrower in the sense that perhaps their focus is one state, such as Lippe, which allows them to concentrate resources on medals that would otherwise be too expensive if you had a more wide-ranging collection.

This is a slow process, made slower because I am also doing something else, which is beefing up the descriptions of the states to include more about their military units in World War I. If you look at the Reuss and Anhalt pages, for example, you will see descriptions added of Reserve, Landwehr and other units. For Hesse I provided a link to a separate page on the Hesse Army in WW1, since that state's size made the article too long to leave on the main page. For Bavaria, this will be an even more involved process since the Bavarian Army was much bigger. That's why I hadn't linked to the new page on the Bavarian pages - because I am still revising the main Bavaria page. I have added several images, by the way, to the Bavaria pages:

http://home.att.net/~ordersandmedals/germany/BM3bX_1.jpg

http://home.att.net/~ordersandmedals/germany/BM3bX_2.jpg

http://home.att.net/~ordersandmedals/germa...ayern_KLK_1.jpg

http://home.att.net/~ordersandmedals/germa...ayern_KLK_2.jpg

http://home.att.net/~ordersandmedals/germany/BM5bXmKr_1.jpg

http://home.att.net/~ordersandmedals/germany/BM5bXmKr_2.jpg

http://home.att.net/~ordersandmedals/germany/BM5cXmKr_1.jpg

http://home.att.net/~ordersandmedals/germany/BM5cXmKr_2.jpg

[Ran]

Very nice new addition to Bavaria, just to mention that while the military merit crosses are very

nicely presented ( all classes ), the order of the military merit ( for officers ) can be better

explained with more classes to look at.

Anyway, as I mentioned, to many people your site is the main reference when it comes to

German states orders, so keep up the great work.

I think I offered my help 2 years ago or so ( in WAF ), as usual if you need my web-developing

skills I'd be happy to help always ( your site is very well presented in my opinion, very user

friendly ).

Best regards,

Ran

[Gerd Becker]

Great job, Dave. I have recommended your website probably a hundred times to Beginners in Imperial German collecting.

Do you have a list, what you still need for your website? I have a lot of pictures on file from Hermann Historica, for example. Let me know...

[Chris Boonzaier]

A lot of "stuff"... to my shame I would not have recognised half of it as bavarian.... in fact, almost all of it is new to me.

[landsknechte]

Nice work!

[Dave Danner]

Great job, Dave. I have recommended your website probably a hundred times to Beginners in Imperial German collecting.

Do you have a list, what you still need for your website? I have a lot of pictures on file from Hermann Historica, for example. Let me know...

I don't really have a complete list, as it keeps changing as I decide maybe I should add a little more Bavarian here, Saxon there, etc. It just sucks you in.

Jumping from page to page, these are the ones that jump out the most:

• Anhalt - any grade of the Order of Albert the Bear. Right now all I have is a Knight 2nd Class with Swords.
• Baden - Commander's Cross and Breast Star of the Milit?rischer Karl-Friedrich-Verdienstorden
• Baden - any more examples of the Verdienstmedaille des Milit?rischen Karl-Friedrich-Verdienstordens. Right now there are two there. One is a Franco-Prussian War type (FUR..., not F?R...) awarded to Uffz. Seraphin Landmann in February 1871. The other is a World War I type (I will add the obverse to show the difference when I update the Baden page) to either Uffz. Rudolf Krauth of IR 112 or Uffz. d.L. Jakob Krauth of LIR 23, both of whom were decorated in 1917. Other examples, especially if there are different engraving styles, would be nice.
• Baden - Small Golden Merit Medal on the statute ribbon and/or on the ribbon of the MKFVO, Friedrich II type. There were 1,418 awards on the statute ribbon and 395 on the MKFVO ribbon from 1907-1918, so they shouldn't be impossible to find, although obviously far less common than the Silver Merit Medal, which on the MKFVO ribbon was Baden's Iron Cross 2nd Class equivalent for enlisted men.
• Bavaria - Commander's Cross of the Milit?r-Max-Joseph-Orden
• Bavaria - Military Merit Order Cross 3rd Class with Swords. I think the example shown is a 4th Class cross which has been gilded.
• Bavaria - examples of the Milit?r-Sanit?ts-Orden. I had not previously covered it because of its rarity, but now that I've shown even rarer awards, that's not much of an excuse. Also maybe the Verdienstkreuz f?r freiwillige Krankenpflege.
• Hesse - Allgemeines Ehrenzeichen, "F?r Kriegsverdienste"
• Hohenzollern - Honor Cross 2nd Class with Swords, Silver Merit Cross with Swords, Silver Honor Medal with Swords
• Mecklenburg-Schwerin - examples of the Military Merit Cross from campaigns before 1914.
• Mecklenburg-Strelitz - its version of the House Order of the Wendish Crown
• Mecklenburg-Strelitz - 1870-71 version of the Cross for Distinction in War
• Prussia - Member's Cross with Swords of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern
• Prussia - 1870 Iron Cross First Class
• Reuss - Golden Merit Medal with Crown and Swords
• Saxony - Merit Order/Civil Service Order - any grades not already illustrated
• Saxony - Albert Order Commander's Cross with Swords
• Saxe-Weimar - White Falcon Golden Merit Cross with Swords
• Saxon Duchies - Star of the Commander 1st Class with Swords of the Ducal Saxe-Ernestine House Order
• Saxe-Altenburg - Gold and Silver Merit Medals of the Ducal Saxe-Ernestine House Order
• Saxe-Altenburg - Duke Ernst Medal examples. I have a 1906-09 type with the prior duke, but no WW1 examples
• Saxe-Meiningen - Gold and Silver Merit Medals of the Ducal Saxe-Ernestine House Order
• Schaumburg-Lippe - any classes of the House Order of the Honor Cross
• Schwarzburg - illustrations of the Oak Brooch (Eichenbruch).
• Waldeck - Merit Cross 4th Class with Swords

A nice little wish list for pics. An even nicer wish list to have the actual awards.