Austria-Hungary Mistery medal to a British recipient

[lilo]

Hi All,

I'm new of this 'brach' of the forum and I would like to ask your help about a (Austrian or German ??) medal given to:

H.R.H. Major-General Francis Paul Charles Louis Alexander Duke of Teck (1837-1900)

(You can see a biography of Him at : <a href="http://www.regiments.org/biography/royals/1837fraT.htm" target="_blank">http://www.regiments.org/biography/royals/1837fraT.htm</a> )

To make clear Who is the person I'm searching, we must take in mind 2 fundamental things to avoid any confusion :

1) the EXACT name : 'Francis (or Franz) Paul Charles Louis',

2) His birth/death dates : (1837-1900).

What I have explained above is very important to avoid confusion between many male members of the same family that used the same title 'Duke of Teck' and had a series of first names that changed very little between them, things that can cause confusion on a research work.

The Duke of Teck -normally referred as Francis (or 'Franz' in German/Austrian sources) 1837-1900- was born in Vienna and embarked upon a career in the Austrian army as following :

-1849-1853 Imperial Academy of Engineers, Vienna;

-1864 Lieutenant, 1st Regiment of Lancers;

-1856 Lieutenant, Guard Squadron;

-1856 Captain, 7th Regiment of Hussars;

-1859 Orderly Officer to Field Marshal Count von Wimpffen, Italy;

- served in Franco-Italian campaign (rcvd: Gold Medal for the Battle of Solferino, Bronze War Medal);

-1866 He retired from the Austrian army.

I have found a B/W photo (please see the attachment) that shows him wearing his medals (and it is datable between 1892-1900, year of his death);

From his biography (of which I attached the link at the starting of this thread) and from the analysis of the photo He appears to have received the following AUSTRIAN Orders/medals (I listed them as they are ordered on his medal rack in the photo) :

1. Order of Franz Joseph, Grand Cross (1904)

2. Order of the Iron Crown, Knight of the 1st class (1908)

3. Military Merit Med (Milit?rverdienstmedaillen) (Signum Laudis) Franz Joseph I, (Gilt bronze, combatant ribbon);

4. Kriegsmedaille 1873 (or General War Service med), bronze;

5. Marian Cross (Marianer-Kreuz) of the German Knight Order;

6. ?????

My Question:

Can anyone correctly identify what exactly is the LAST medal (addressed with a 'red arrow' in the photo) He wears in his medal rack in the photo attached ?

To correctly identify this medal I would also point your attention to some details anyone can clearly desume analyzing the photo :

1) the position (order of precedence) that this medal occupy on the medal rack;

2) the 'Head' in the center of the medal seems to be 'oriented' to the left;

3) the diameter (dimension) of the medal;

4) the 'ring' (???) suspension;

5) the 'trifold' ribbon used to suspend this medal;

6) the colours of this ribbon : wide dark central stripe + 2 white (??) thinner edge stripes.

Of help may be also a comment that another good collector/researcher (also a member of this forum) gave me in another forum that I fully report following :

''The last medal constitutes a much bigger problem. It may come from any country and the fact that the ribbon is trifolded suggests that it the Duke received it during his Austrian service rather than the medal is Austrian itself or from a country where trifold ribbons were used - in Austria they tended to wear foreign awards on trifolded ribbons too! I personally think the medal is a coronation, wedding or jubilee medal of some other country, perhaps of one of German states - unfortunately both the ribbon and the medal itself are too indistinct to tell you more right now.''

I also should be tempted to think - as a logical award - to the Austrian Jubilee 1898 medal but I'm not sure and so, must I consider this last medal to be the Austrian Jubilee 1898 (surely not the Jubilee 1908 medal because He was already dead) or is it another medal at all ?

I would greatly appreciate your help/thinking

Awaiting to hear from you again

Best Regards

Lilo

Edited December 7, 2007 by lilo

[Guest Rick Research]

Too small and blurry and washed out sepia to tell.

[Elmar Lang]

Hello,

yes, the picture is a bit unsharp where the last medal is visible, but it could be one of the W?rttemberg (considering that our Teck is wearing the Grand Cross star of the W?rtt. Crown Order).

Best wishes,

Enzo

[lilo]

Hello Rick, Enzo

Enzo

Please consider 2 important factors that, to my advise, make clear that it cannot be a Wuttemberg medal :

Any of the colours of the Wuttemberg medals doesn't match with those in the photo : 'wide dark central stripe + 2 white (??) thinner edge stripes'

(see:

<a href="http://www.bundesverdienstorden.de/" target="_blank">http://www.bundesverdienstorden.de/</a>

<a href="http://www.worldmedals.co.uk/Rib/germrib.htm" target="_blank">http://www.worldmedals.co.uk/Rib/germrib.htm</a> )

The 'Head' in the center of the medal seems (to me at least) to be 'oriented' to the left and this 'Head' appears to be large in dimension. So, please, can you make me an example of a Wuttenburg medal that can match with these details ?

Awaiting to hear from you again

All the Best

Lilo

Edited December 9, 2007 by lilo