What did this guy do for a living?

[Carol I]

a DATE....

The change in Bulgarian orders mentioned by 922F took place in 1908, so the photo was definitely taken after that year.

And, if I understood right Eric's comment, the Medal of Prince Regent Luitpold was established in 1911, hence we may advance three years with the date. This date may also be confirmed if the first thing on the upper row turns out to be a Luitpold Cross (as suggested by Wild Card) rather than the Royal Merit Order of St Michael.

[Alex K]

The change in Bulgarian orders mentioned by 922F took place in 1908, so the photo was definitely taken after that year.

And, if I understood right Eric's comment, the Medal of Prince Regent Luitpold was established in 1911, hence we may advance three years with the date. This date may also be confirmed if the first thing on the upper row turns out to be a Luitpold Cross (as suggested by Wild Card) rather than the Royal Merit Order of St Michael.

Truly amazing piece of research. I must agree with Rick however, all this identifying the person only for someone else (E-bayer)to benefit does'nt make sense, however it does show what can be done on this excellent forum.

regards

Alex

[Carol I]

Truly amazing piece of research. I must agree with Rick however, all this identifying the person only for someone else (E-bayer)to benefit does'nt make sense, however it does show what can be done on this excellent forum.

Indeed Alex. I was not particularly interested in identifying this individual since the photo is not mine. But I found interesting the game of trying to identify the awards in the photo.

P.S. It could be that we have missed a decoration on the chest mid-line: in line with the badge identified as the Lippe-Detmold House Order of the Honour Cross (#5) there seems to be something else, but it is hard to say whether it is a badge tilted on the coat edge or just a ribbon. I'd rather say it is the former.

[Eric Stahlhut]

one rather remote possibility for mid-line of the chest #3:

sachse-weimar order of the white falcon (reverse)

perhaps the order was flipped over and no one noticed?

pretty easy detail to overlook, considering the amount of gear he's sporting..

[Wild Card]

With regard to #2 in the second row, I think that it is safe to assume that because of it?s prominent location this medal is very likely Bavarian. From what I can make of it, the only possible match that I can come up with is the Landwirtschaftliche (agriculture) Jubilee medal. I know that this does not sound like much, but they sure are rare - 54 awarded in gold and 147 in silver and 1,175 in bronze.

Edited September 25, 2008 by Wild Card

[Alex K]

Indeed Alex. I was not particularly interested in identifying this individual since the photo is not mine. But I found interesting the game of trying to identify the awards in the photo.

P.S. It could be that we have missed a decoration on the chest mid-line: in line with the badge identified as the Lippe-Detmold House Order of the Honour Cross (#5) there seems to be something else, but it is hard to say whether it is a badge tilted on the coat edge or just a ribbon. I'd rather say it is the former.

Really impressive stuff! I would say that he is wearing 8 decorations on the mid line, possibly even 9, at the very front there appears to be a ribbon , the actual award is hidden by the others, but I could be wrong.

What about the neck decorations?

[medalnet]

Really impressive stuff! I would say that he is wearing 8 decorations on the mid line, possibly even 9, at the very front there appears to be a ribbon , the actual award is hidden by the others, but I could be wrong.

What about the neck decorations?

I don't think those are neck decorations. At least not the bottom ones. Compare their size to the once on the bar and to the actual Bulgarian Commander Cross

[Alex K]

I don't think those are neck decorations. At least not the bottom ones. Compare their size to the once on the bar and to the actual Bulgarian Commander Cross

You could be right, maybe he just ran out of space

regards

[922F]

He's missing Nordic & Russian....bottom row 4 (a) seems to be a four arm ball-tipped cross perhaps a Swedish Vasa or North Star and 4 (b) maybe St. Stan. perhaps twisted & reversed. (Rick notes color shift with old photos and that one appears to be two tone value.) And where's his Portugese, maybe the 2nd position neck badge has 4 swallow-tail arms, so a Christ? If it's 5 arms....

[Carol I]

bottom row 4 (a) seems to be a four arm ball-tipped cross perhaps a Swedish Vasa or North Star

Swedish orders have crowned Maltese crosses as insignia, while the award in the mentioned position does not have a crown (plus that it does not seem to have the usual deep split of the arms of a Maltese cross). Maybe the third order on the mid-line of the chest is a Swedish order.

[Wild Card]

He's missing Nordic & Russian....bottom row 4 (a) seems to be a four arm ball-tipped cross perhaps a Swedish Vasa or North Star and 4 (b) maybe St. Stan. perhaps twisted & reversed. (Rick notes color shift with old photos and that one appears to be two tone value.) And where's his Portugese, maybe the 2nd position neck badge has 4 swallow-tail arms, so a Christ? If it's 5 arms....

Yes! I see something that I had not really noticed before.

On the second row, there are two rosettes. From the center of first rosette, draw a line to about seven o?clock, or about 210 degrees on a compass, and you will run into what certainly looks like a St. Stanislaus rotated about forty-five degrees to the left.

No?

Edited September 28, 2008 by Wild Card

[farmer]

Just stumbled onto this topic,

# 7 could be Belgian Crown Order instead of LOH, I see a lot of symmetry between arms.

[Herr General]

Very nice picture. Must be a court official!

[paul wood]

I am pretty sure to get a collection like that he must have been a well travelled diplomat. Possibly a German diplomatic handbook from around 1900 might be able to identify him.

Paul

[dedehansen]

Hi Gents,

he was a railroader.

http://h2385226.stratoserver.net/wbb4/index.php/Thread/74466-Regierungsrat-Wilhelm-Arendts/?pageNo=1

Kind regards
Andreas