A Lippe bar ....impossible job for me to ID

[Solomon]

Hello gents,

this nice medalbar I got on ebay (maybe some of you saw it) ...and it makes me mad

As you can see, the former owner got

-iron cross 2nd class 1914 (marked with SM or WS)

-war merit cross Lippe-Detmold

-military merit medal (correctly returned after receiving the war merit cross)

-long service medal for 9 years

-Hindenburg cross

- and....what?????

The last ribbon looks like the ribbon for the house-order Lippe-Detmold, but it?s a bit different

(the silver-thread in the golden stripes is missing).

But which house-order he got, I can?t say.

The following classes are possible:

- silver merit cross of the house-order

- house-order 4th class Div. A

- house-order 4th class Div. A with swords

But there is no chance to say which award it was

Any other thoughts about it?

Best regards

Solomon

[Solomon]

and Revers:

[Daniel Krause]

Hi Solomon,

what about a Braunschweig award? Ribbon would match.

Best regards

Daniel

[Stogieman]

Yes, I'm glad I backed out of bidding at the last moment...

I had slightly different thoughts though... I felt the missing second piece was a Brunswick Honor Cross with Swords to The Henry The Lion Order and last place was a Brunswick Long Service?

[Solomon]

Hi Solomon,

what about a Braunschweig award? Ribbon would match.

Best regards

Daniel

Hi Daniel,

I didn?t thought about that.

I have Nimmergut?s ribbon catalogue here, the ribbon-size for the house-order Brunswig matches.

But what where is the war merit cross 2nd class Brunswig? A single Brunswig house-order for a WW1-fighter from Lippe?

Best regards

Solomon

[Stogieman]

Hallo Solomon, if he was an "old-school" NCO with long service, he would have been eligible for one of the honor crosses of the house order. My original "gut reaction" call when I saw the bar was "Gold Honor Cross with Swords"... hence why it was missing (they were real gold) and hence my failure to bid... I know I've had 3 in all my years and only one gold with swords. They are very hard to find and quite beautiful. I think the gold content was marked "585" on the back.

Any way you look at it, it's an impressive bar and one to be proud of... I can't tell you how close I was to bidding... I bailed out with less than a minute to go... Just didn't want to start a new project!!

[Stogieman]

Here's a shot of my old cross in gold, cased, no swords. Even had the outer box from the jeweler!!

[Guest Rick Research]

He was actually a defector from Liechtenstein.

[Solomon]

Here's a shot of my old cross in gold, cased, no swords. Even had the outer box from the jeweler!!

Nice merit cross...

But I still have problems in believing that her got an order from Brunswig...that makes no sense.

What I can read in this medalbar, is a young WW1-fighter from Lippe (maybe born in 1890 or a bit later),

getting first the military merit medal Lippe-Detmold, then the IC 2nd class and at the same time the war merit cross.

He had to return the merit medal (see statutes), but was allowed to wear the ribbon.

For long service he got the long service medal 9 years before the end of the war, and in 1934-35 he got the Hindenburg-cross,

as every WW1-fighter did.

But for what he got the last order? A wartime-merit?

I have a third idea...what?s about the civil merit medal ("Paulinenmedaille") Lippe-Detmold ???

Best regards

Solomon

[Guest Rick Research]

The handful awarded during the war were for 50--and 60 years of service.

[Solomon]

The handful awarded during the war were for 50--and 60 years of service.

Damn...I didn?t read properly...you are right....two possible states left (Brunswig / Lippe-Detmold).

[Guest Rick Research]

Or Liechtenstein.

Or the Vatican. (Is there a Catholic underground in Lippe?)