Lifesaving Medals

[BlackcowboyBS]

HI Sascha you are welcome. And your wish shall be my command, here are three photos of the life saving medal of Brunswick, to me the most beautyfull medal af all German states. I guess you may recognize this medal bar. 

The third photo shows the case in which they were awarded. 

 

@webr55 I will have a look in my lists of the life saving medal and the orders of Henry the Lion, if there are any matches for people who got both. I know at least two names which have gotten a lsm and some HdL awards. But both had different medal bars, so these two can be ignored. 

 

 

 

[Trooper_D]

I certainly have to agree with you, BlackcowboyBS, that really is a most beautiful medal! Do you know the significance of the ring of eight stars, by any chance?

[BlackcowboyBS]

12 hours ago, Trooper_D said:

I certainly have to agree with you, BlackcowboyBS, that really is a most beautiful medal! Do you know the significance of the ring of eight stars, by any chance?

Hi Trooper, that's a fantastic question and I have to confess that I don't know the answer. In the documents in the archiv of Wolfenbuettel regarding the life saving medal there was no information regarding this topic. For other medals you could find drafts and letters with discussions on the design and how they should be changed, but none on this one. So we may have to guess.

 

1. the medal bar shown above shows the revers side of the lsm, most of the bars that I know of have this medal mounted that way, I guess it is because this side is extremly beautyfull. 
2. The revers shows the goddess nike with a leave of laurel putting her feet on a sea worm and showing upwards to the stars with her second hand. One has to know, that allmost every lsm being awarded were given to people who saved other from drowning. So this is the symbol the sea worm stands for. 
3. I think that the stars positioned to form a ring is a symbol for perfectness and maybe the cutter of this medal chose the number of eight stars because then the size of the stars fits best in this ring. In the flag of the EU we have 12 and this number has a rich history and meaning in many religions. The symbol how I read this medal is: By saving somebodys life you reach out to the stars. because it is the perfect deed.
4. Take a look at this hidden symbol on the avers side of the lsm from Brunswick, nobody knows the meaning of this either. Is this the sign from the original designer of the die? It looks like the greek gamma, in latin it would be a C. The meaning of it? 

 

[Solomon]

Here is a medalbar, which fits perfectly to this topic...

 

Ferdinand Metzte´s medalbar I introduced in detail here

[91-old-inf-reg]

WOW! Only being awarded less than 150 times by 1918 and you have not one but TWO examples and a case! I think it has to be recognized just how impressive that is! 

@BlackcowboyBS and @Trooper_D, I think the goddess represented is actually the goddess Ariadne. 
Known mythologically for helping Theseus defeat the Minotaur, thus ending the ritual of sacrificing 7 men and 7 maidens every 7 or 9 years and thus is attributed with life saving.
 

The wreath is known as “the crown of immortality”, quite fitting for a life saving medal. The mythology behind the crown is that the crown was given to her by Dionysus.

The eight stars above Ariadne’s head are the eight stars seen in the constellation “Corona Borealis”, the crown placed there by Dionysus.  
Further, this was also the general depiction of her crown by artist for hundreds of years.

 

I hope this was of some help, 

Best

Edited February 10, 2022 by 91-old-inf-reg

[Trooper_D]

Thank you BlackcowboyBS and 91-old-inf-reg for your most interesting contributions to this discussion - that's why we come here, isn't it!?

 

What an interesting observation that, more often than not, this medal was worn 'the wrong way round' for (understandable) aesthetic reasons, BlackcowboyBS!

 

91-old-inf-reg, your account of the symbolism is compelling, thank you. Apropos your reference to artistic depictions, I hope that it is not too far off topic to mention Titian's perspective on the Dionysus/Bacchus and Ariadne story, which can be seen here (note the constellation in the top left of the painting),

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariadne#/media/File:Titian_Bacchus_and_Ariadne.jpg

[drspeck]

On 21/08/2017 at 21:13, 03fahnen said:

 

Dear all, it recently dawned on me that one of my ribbon bars looks to have the Hamburg lifesaving medal. Does any rolls and/or any identifiable information exist about the Hamburg lifesaving medal? Best. Peter

 

[dwmosher]

A new addition to this thread.  Hopefully, the combination is unique enough to identify an otherwise unknown company-level Prussian officer.

 

Dave

[Stogieman]

Nice bar! Thanks for sharing!

[Komtur]

9 hours ago, dwmosher said:

A new addition to this thread.  Hopefully, the combination is unique enough to identify an otherwise unknown company-level Prussian officer.

 

Dave

 

Not necessarily an officer and no chance for identifying.