Your Lyin' Eyes: Miniature Old Style Ribbon Bar Mystery

[Guest Rick Research]

Scratch off ANOTHER one from the David S Collection of PREVIOUSLY Anonymous Ribbon Bars.

As many of you know, I don't get out much. What with only 1 hour of exercise daily here at the Secure Facility, I have a LOT of time on my hands. Years and years. And that is how long this one has thwarted me...

because it is an optical illusion... a mirage... a chimera.

Because your eyes see what my eye sees:

Red Eagle Order (4th Class)

Prussian XXV Years Long Service Cross

1897 Wilhelm I Centenary Medal

Mecklenburg generic war ribbon (probably -Schwerin)

Oldenburg Friedrich August Cross 2nd Class combatant

Turkish Medal for the Kaiser's State Visit 1889

That last and the blue backing and miniature "Old Style" style all shout "NAVY," of course.

And yet... where IS he? Not a trace 1914... 1918...

and what a strange way to wear two other WW1 awards, with no Iron Cross ribbon first!

And so, in all the long, empty, meaningless "between" hours and days and weeks and months and years... I have been hunting this one down... the Inspector Javert of ribbon bars, pacing, endlessly pacing...

Today, thinking of our new member Kapitular's recent posts and to Paul C's Rank Lists on CD for years that I don't have originals... I FOUND HIM.

LOVELY portrait photo.

[Guest Rick Research]

Just like a portrait with no ribbon bar what I have been SEEING all these years is

not there.

Those are NOT WW1 war ribbons from Mecklenburg and Oldenburg.

Well yes, they were, but these aren't.

The same exact IDENTICAL ribbons were used

for more than one award.

What is REALLY there are the ribbons for a

Mecklenburg-Schwerin Order of the Wend Crown-Knight and the Oldenburg House Order!

All now falls into place.

And here he is, in 1900:

Still no 1889 State Visit Medal listed. Why list an incredibly rare award that would help us in the 21st Century? Nooooooooo. Never shown in Rank Lists. For that we need either the 1889/90 Navy rank Lists or... some other source for the same data.

[Guest Rick Research]

As I always say, the Biblio Verlag Admirals' biographies by the late cousins Hildebrand & Henriot are INVALUABLE. Much much cheaper than expensive and time-consuming psychiatric therapy AND no gasoline is used driving to inconveniently located archives, thereby smugly reducing one's personal carbon footprint.

? Biblio Verlag, God-blessem

[Guest Rick Research]

and now for the crucial bits:

Yes, to the giant ? shoulders of Hildebrand & Henriot, we see that Adolph von Bassewitz was the 1st Officer of the Constantinople station ship, S.M.S. Loreley (Crew = 4 officers and 53-61 ratings. Scrapped in 1896 for its namesake replacement), at the time of the new young Kaiser's Official Visit.

And so this ribbon bar does NOT date from 1915-17, but from circa 1899-1902--

worn on the "monkey suit" mess dress of the Captain of the S.M.S. Bussard, cruising the Netherlands East Indies 1900-1902.

Total time invested in this identification:

2 years, 4 months, 3 days, 8 hours, 57 minutes, and 19 seconds. More or less.

But now I know, and that's all that ever mattered.

[Guest Rick Research]

Some time around his promotion to Fregattenkapit?n, he would have received the Crown Order 3rd, so this ribbon bar must pre-date that. His final pre-World War awards from the 1908/09 German Orders Almanac=

ALL Research Gnomes tend to assume that what we find as leavings in this new century are the latest, final, items worn by their original owners. But then every so often, history laughs at us

and we get something like Admiral von Bassewitz's ribbon bar...

inexplicably saved and tucked away in a drawer someplace, preserved against all expectation lonnnnnnnnnnnnng after he no longer could use it and should normally have THROWN IT AWAY.

[David S]

Simply amazing . . .

[sambolini]

Hi Rick,

That's one great ribbon bar even without the I. D., now it's priceless. I see from his career history he was awarded "Charakter als Konteradmiral". I'm not familar with the term "Charakter". Is this an honorary promotion or a retirement bump?

Regards,

Sam

[Guest Rick Research]

That's the same as our "brevet"-- wearing the rank but junior to everybody who held the same grade with an established "Patent."

[sambolini]

Ah, that makes sense. Thanks Rick,

Sam

[Kapitular]

Deeply impressed!!

v. Bassewitz got the Oldenburg knight cross 2nd class with crown in 1895, June 21st.

Kapitular

Ah, that makes sense. Thanks Rick,

Sam

[Claudius]

WOW! Just WOW.

[Hauptmann]

As always Rick... absolutely amazing! You are da man! Congrats on discovering the history behind this one.

Dan

[webr55]

!