12 Place Ribbon bar or PLM Tr?ger

[Paul C]

12 Place Imperial German Ribbon Bar (purchased from Der Rittmeister website http://www.derrittmeister.com/ )

The 12 place ribbon bar consists of the following awards: 1913 Iron Cross second class, Mecklenburg-Schwerin Military Merit Cross second class, Mecklenburg-Strelitz Cross for Distinction in War second class, Red Eagle Order fourth class with swords, Sax-Ernestine House Order Knight second class with swords, Hamburg Hanseatic Cross, Anhalt Friedrich Cross, Bremen Hanseatic Cross, Prussian Long Service Cross, Colonial Service Medal, Centennial Jubilee and Anhalt House Order (Albert the Bear) with Crown.

The bar is traced to Oberst a.D. Kurt Freiherr von Wangenheim, Ritter des Ordens Pour le Merite. Wangenheim was born March 31 1862 in Gotha. He joined the Prussian army on March 15, 1882 and served with FR 73, IR 74 and IR 164 until September 1890 when he was transferred to the Schutzentreppen in German East-Africa and a Hauptmann. During his 9 years is East-Africa he obtained the rank of Major in 1907 and was awarded the Red Eagle Order 4th class with swords and the Ernestine House Order Knight 2nd class with swords in about 1907.

In February 1909 he returned to Germany and joined IR 93 which is an Anhalt regiment. In 1912 and 1913 he added Anhalt House Order, Knight first class and then the crown to the Anhalt House Order. In 1913 he was transferred to GR 89, a Mecklenburg regiment.

At the outbreak of WWI he was with GR 89 and in October became the commander of GR 89. During the first 3 years of the war he was award the Iron Cross, and 4 awards from Mecklenburg. In 1916 he was awards the Prussian Crown Order 2nd class with swords and in 1917 he was award the Hohenzollern House Order 3rd class with swords. 1917 was a very big year for Wangenheim as on September 17 he was awarded the Pour Le Merite. His last award during the war was the Princely House Order of Hohenzollern second class with swords.

His commands during the war were GR 89 and 34 Infantry Brigade. After the war Wagenheim became a medical doctor and practiced in Coburg where he dies on November 16, 1937.

If anyone has pictures of Wangenheim or documents to him or signed by him please let me know. I just picked up the regimental history of GR 89 and with was written by Wangenheim and there are no pictures of him in the book.

Edited December 28, 2008 by Rick Research

[Paul C]

closes ups

[Paul C]

Close up of Albert the Bear ribbon and crown

[Paul C]

1914 ARL entry

[Tom Y]

:jumping: Although I prefer bars with dangly bits I this one. When you gonna get his PLM? :cheeky:

[Paul C]

Does anyone have any information on the family which may still be living in Coburg, Germany.

[Bernd D]

Paul, you are a little bit late, aren?t you?

Kube auction 98, collection Siebentritt.

[Bernd D]

Part 2

[Steve K.]

Exceptionally nice ribbon bar!

[Paul C]

There seemed to be TWO Kurt v. Wangenheim. The documents may have been mixed. I think the above one is to the Wangenheim born in 1870 and died in 1970. I would very much like to see a close up on the picture of Wangenheim from the catalogue.

Edited December 26, 2008 by Paul C

[Les]

Nice bar. There aren't all that many good long ones around. A few years back a friend of mine gave me a 12 place bar that I posted. It was free, and Rickie (thanks again!) was quick to identify the man behind the bar, and a PlM recipient.

Here's the link to save bandwith and not overly crowd the archives:

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=2488&hl=

The critters in the photo are appropriately dressed for the holidays.

Les

[arb]

Paul is correct. There were two active duty officers in 1914 named Kurt Frhr, von Wangenheim. The gentleman descirbed in the Kube auction entry was born 27.11.1872, ten years after "Paul's" Kurt. In 1914 he was in the 3. Garde R.z.F. and like his eponimous fellow officer, had served in the colonial wars. His 1914 awards included (as found in the 1914 Rangliste) PRAO4 PKrO4mSchw PDK BrH3bmSchw MMV2.

Andy

[Daniel Cole]

Just curious if "Der Rittmeister" knew what he had, or was it just a 12 ribbon bar?

[Guest Rick Research]

The Gnome Collective ("We Never Sleep"???) provided that information for honest and honourable negotiations. It is a magnificent bar!

It is also in perfect Mecklenburg Rules precedence. See:

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?autocom=galler...=si&img=850