Imperial Awards of Baden

[Daniel Murphy]

Oh yea, I almost forgot. It came with this as well. This whole group surfaced out of the woodwork in South Carolina. I got it off ebay of all places.

Dan Murphy

[Wild Card]

Thank you Stogieman. Your explanation makes sense; I had seen these before, but never gave them much thought.

Best wishes,

Wild Card

[notned]

Dan! That is a FANTASTIC Group! WOW!

Thanks for showing...

wow again! an award document too!

Man that is sweeet!

Cheers,

Paul

[HeikoGrusdat]

one for the eyes....

Heiko

[Deruelle]

Beautiful ribbon bar Heiko, If I remember it belonged to an Artillerie officer from Baden isn't it ?

Christophe

[joe campbell]

where do you all find these magnificent bars???!!??

joe

[Deruelle]

Hi everybody,

Like I said above, please find my second ribbon bar with BV3 (Karl Friedrich Verdienst Orden). This bar belonged to Leutnant d. L. Ernst Hischmann from I.R. Nr. 40

He received the following awards

Iron cross 2nd class, 10 november 1915

Iron cross 1st class, 9 november 1916

Knight cross with X of the royal House order of hohenzollern, 31 october 1917

Cross 3rd class with X of the princely House order of Hohenzollern, 1er october 1914

Knight cross of the military merit order of the Karl Friedrich of Baden, 4 october 1917

Knight cross 2nd class with X of the order of the Zahringen Lion of Baden, 19 june 1916

Regards

Christophe

PS : Joe, for your information I have bought this beauty to one of my old friend who has got it for several years. I'm a lucky man.

[HeikoGrusdat]

@Christophe: you are right... this large beauty was worn by Oberstleutnant Holtz of the Baden field artillery

Heiko

[Wild Card]

Gentlemen,

I would just like to say what a terrific thread this has developed into. Thanks to Stogieman, for starting it and to all whose contributions have built it. I have felt for a long time that the orders and decorations of Baden are under appreciated, usually loosing out to the glamor of Prussia, Bavaria and Saxony; but take a moment, take a look - Baden has it all.

The House Order of the Faithful, being founded in 1715, is certainly one of the oldest Imperial German orders. The Military Karl-Friedrich Merit Order, again very old (1807); but how many states have a military, only, order? Then comes the Zahringen Lion which aside from having one of the most unique (and to most people esthetically pleasing) designs has it all - collar, swords, swords on ring, oakleaves, merit crosses... Lastly, we have the Berthold Order, a pretty complete order as well.

Medals? Civil and military merit, lifesaving, arts and science, long service... Baden has them all and then some. And then some? Yes, there are even a few Baden medals/decorations that are, if not unique, quite different from all others; two in particular that I will present shortly.

Again, thank you all - many great items there!

Wild Card

[Wild Card]

Gentlemen,

It would be tiresome to cover all of the decorations of Baden; but I would like to draw your attention to one so far unrecognized.

While not the oldest Imperial German bravery medal, that honor I think goes to Bavaria, there is a particular aspect of the Baden merit medal to the Military Karl Friedrich Merit Order that does make it unique - it is named to the recipient. These medals were awarded in gold and silver versions from 1807 through 1871 and then only in silver from 1915 though 1918.

Over the years many subtle changes to the form took place; but the basic format was followed. I would like to present the merit medal to the Military Karl Friedrich Merit Order awarded to Unteroff. Mathias J?ckle of the Leib Gren. Rgt, on 15 Feb. 1871 ?... [in] acknowledgment of outstanding bravery and exquisite performance during the present campaign...?

Regards,

Wild Card

[Wild Card]

The Military Karl Friedrich Merit Order awarded to Unteroff. Mathias J?ckle.

[Stogieman]

I would agree with Wildcard, the Baden Medals for Military merit are substantially harder to find and they are named! Excellent point!!

[David Gregory]

I have shown an EK2 and Z?hringer L?we bar in a separate thread at http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=3035&st=20

Here is another bar with a different style of construction.

[attachmentid=17184]

[attachmentid=17186]

[David Gregory]

The medal bar came with a matching ribbon bar:

[attachmentid=17188]

[attachmentid=17189]

[Stogieman]

Hi David, I don't remember seeing the early cinch type backing plate with a DRGM stamped in. Interesting!!

[Bob Hunter]

...and a serial number too! Very interesting.

[David Gregory]

...and a serial number too! Very interesting.

The serial number will be the DRGM registered trade mark number.

[Stogieman]

And...... as good a place as any for a quick explanation of:

DRP

DRGM

David?

[David Gregory]

DRP is the abbreviation for Deutsches Reichspatent, i.e. German Patent, used until a short time after the establishment of the Federal Republic, when the patent system was changed to DBP = Deutsches Bundespatent (German Federal Patent).

DRGM stands for Deutsches Reich Gebrauchsmuster, i.e. utility model or utility patent, later replaced by the DBGM.

Although similar in intent, the patent offered (and still offers) longer protection of design rights than the utility model.

DRP and DRGM marks can still be found on some products manufactured in the early 1950s.

[Stogieman]

Thanks David, I will try to remember to ask for explanations for all so that the ladies and gentlemen who might be newer can learn some of this stuff that we whiz right by!!

[David Gregory]

Stogieman,

My pleasure. At the same time, I am trying to get my head around the cryptical abbreviations for Imperial awards as used in rank lists, etc.

Once I've mastered all the glyphs, I'll learn the special handshakes and other secret signs.

David

[Wild Card]

Gentlemen,

The next unique Baden decoration is neither a medal or an order, but a bar to a medal; and when I say ?unique to Baden?, such was the situation until the Prussians borrowed the concept for their 1870-71 war medal.

On 27 January 1839 Grand Duke Leopold founded the Field Service Decoration for the surviving veterans of the Napoleonic campaigns. This is a 31 mm. cannon bronze medal (beautiful examples of which can be seen in posts #14 and 16) upon the ribbon of which were fastened bars 38.7 x 5 mm. which signify the year(s) of service. There are approximately eleven such bars.

This concept was revived to cover the campaigns from 1848 to 1871 making an additional six bars. In post #51 we see bars for 1866 and 1870-71 and another 1870-71 in post #70. Below is an example of the first issue - for 1809-10.

Regards,

Wild Card

[Wild Card]

1809-10 bar

[Deruelle]

First time I see a Baden medal from Napoleonic campaigns. Very nice Wild card.

Christophe

[Stogieman]

Greetings WildCard! Well, I've seen bars as early as 1866, and only once for 1848....... but never one this early! Fantastic!