EK 1914 Not very pretty but...

[Tom Y]

not very common either. A doc for an EKII am wei?-schwartzen Bande for for Staatminister a.D von Moeller.

[Tom Y]

and a congratulatory telegram dated 2 months before the award date and 9 months before the issue of the doc

My German isn't good enough to read the telegram and the translation to Babelfishese (Babelfishian?) leaves a lot to be desired, so could someone translate, please?

[Guest Rick Research]

Ted from Pittsburgh? No way! Get outta here!!! (Back in a few with an all is revealed scan, dood! )

Twould appear you have a disgracefully retired national minister getting a belated Wilhelmine version of a Bubba pardon--

(I babble quite nicely with my own brain, thanks for asking!)--

"I have just now learned to my great and sincere pleasure that Your Excellency has been awarded the Iron Cross and ask you to accept my heartiest congratulations on this so rare outside of civil service circles decoration stop

I see in this cross not only the longest overdue recognition of the high personal merit of Your Excellency but in a true sense also a rehabilitation of the unfortunately so long badly impugned accusation-- Lehn."

Whhhhooooaaaaaa, dude! A Minister of State scorned and maligned! Scandal and redemption! Wonder if he was a Steelers fan, too?

[David Gregory]

Tom,

If you got this, congratulations. I had also seen it but decided not to go for it as it was not strictly a military award (which is a criterion I try to apply to my collecting).

The language used in the telegram text is somewhat antiquated and I am not entirely certain that something might be missing at the end. That being said, it reads approximately as follows:

I have just learned to my great and sincere pleasure that Your Excellency has been awarded the Iron Cross and kindly ask you to accept my warmest congratulations on this award, which is so unusual outside civil servant circles. I not only see in this Cross the longest due acknowledgement of Your Excellency?s high personal merit, but, in a certain sense, a rehabilitation of the unfortunately long-standing accusation.

The last bit really sounds a bit strange, but I can only conclude that his name had been tarnished with some sort of accusation or poor reputation, and that this award was regarded by the sender of the telegram as proof that his bad reputation was unjustified.

Without wishing to relegate the significance of an EK award document to a "common" soldier, which I rate very highly, this is certainly one of the rarer documents I have seen in some time.

David

Edit: I hate it when I have to leave the keyboard for a few minutes and someone else makes much the same reply in the meantime.

Edited December 5, 2005 by David Gregory

[Guest Rick Research]

My Almost Super Powers wax at this special season of the year-- increasing my typing speed, what with transcribing all those "lists" for St.YKW.

Anyway:

German Orders Almanac for 1908/09 shows him as already "aD" ex-Prussian State Minister of Trade. (Naval nephew Erwin here was murdered by Arabs with fellow escapees from Dutch internment in Sumatra, having evaded the Japanese at Tsingtau.) One wonders at the two entirely separate households of Mr and Mrs Excellency, doesn't one?

[attachmentid=18317]

1921 Helden Gedenkmappe show that Dr. h.c. Theodor was raised to the hereditary nobility in 1905, so whatever befell him befouled him between 1905 and 1908:

[attachmentid=18318]

A meteoric fall from grace should have left some printed evidence behind from the period.

(real lives here, folks, not just retail "product.")

I saw this, couldn't read the seller's blurry scans, thought "nah." Went with the Oberregierungsrat War Effort Cross set and haven't turned up ANYTHING on him! Ow! Ow!! Ow!!!

Most assuredly tip top Boonzaierian material. I suspect more on this life unravelled will turn up for the rest of this story!

[Tom Y]

Thanks, guys. a.D. means retired, right? I've found a Staatminister von M?ller in Beilefeld with a leather factory. Definitely important to the war effort. Sounds like it might be the guy. Wonder how he screwed up. Married a showgirl? Ate with the wrong fork?

[Tom Y]

Rick, while I was typing you were posting, I guess. Don't know if it will shed any light on yhe matter, but this is lightly pecilled in on the doc.

[Guest Rick Research]

That says "Exzellenz," his honorific omitted by the typist.

[Dave Danner]

Theodor Adolf von M?ller was born 10 August 1840 and died 6 December 1925. He was the only child of Friedrich Wilhelm Adolph M?ller (20.5.1805-25.7.1878) and Henriette Friederike W?rmann (17.8.1808-29.6.1848), so the Lt. z. S is not his nephew. He was Prussian Trade Minister from 1901 to 1905, in the first term of Prime Minister and German Chancellor Bernhard von B?low. He was a representative from the National Liberal Party (Nationalliberale Partei).

The Frau Staatsminister was Karoline Eleonore Tiemann (15.7.1853-16.11.1935).

Their eldest daughter Irmgard Auguste Elfriede von M?ller (born 16.2.1874) died two months before him on 14 October 1925. Her eldest son Uffz.d.R. Theodor Gottfried Oswald Bendemann was KIA 13 February 1945.

First son Rittm.d.R. Gerhard Bernhard Carl von M?ller was born on 14 April 1876. I don't see his date of death. His son Gerd was KIA in Biala-Podlaska on 4 June 1942.

Second daughter Hedwig Caroline Emilie von M?ller (15.8.1877-6.10.1963) was the second wife of Hans-Otto Arthur Freiherr von Soden (1881-1945), Professor of Theology at the University of Marburg and a Divisionspfarrer. He was the author of Die Cyprianische Briefsammlung: Geschichte ihrer Entstehung und ?berlieferung and editor of Das lateinische Neue Testament in Afrika zur Zeit Cyprians: nach Bibelhandschriften und V?terzeugnissen. His collected writings were published after his death as Urchristentum und Geschichte (1951).

Second son was Oswald Friedrich Werner von M?ller (7.7.1879-21.6.1932). He was a surgeon and obstetrician and a Stabsarzt d.R.

Third son was Theo (Theodor Adolf) von M?ller (112.1881-28.5.1887) who died at age 6.

Third daughter was Magdalena Auguste Linda von M?ller (13.2.1883-19.1.1919), who was the first wife of the aforementioned Hans-Otto Frhr. von Soden. Hedwig married Hans-Otto on 24 August 1920, a little over a year and a half after her little sister's death.

Fourth daughter was Auguste Bertha Ottilie von M?ller (14.8.1884-?), married to Robert Berthold Kahl, an architect and Hauptmann d.R.

Fourth son was the Berthold August Arnold von M?ller, born 29 August 1888, in Rick's excerpt above. As the excerpt notes, he was a Ph.D. and was killed in action on 28 June 1915 as an Uffz. d.R.

Fifth son was Hptm. d.R. Roland Friedrich Albert von M?ller (4.6.1893-11.2.1957), who appears to have run the family business after Gerhard's son Gerd was killed in action.

Historical documents on the family business may be found here. The company is still around: http://www.moellergroup.com/

[Dave Danner]

One additional note. He was raised to the Adelstand in 1905. This was the same year that Bernhard von B?low was raised to F?rst. This was on the occasion of Crown Prince Wilhelm's marriage, so M?ller's elevation was probably related.

[Guest Rick Research]

And BTW, the "white-black" EK document was signed by Major iG Thilo von Bose, born Zabern, Alsace 12 January 1880, from Garde Grenadier Regiment 2 (Lt. 30.1.00 D21d, Oberlt 18.10.09 R39r, Hptm 1.10.13 L53l, Major iG 18.5.18 Hh), on the Great General Staff before the war, holding Belgian Leopold Order-Knight, Austro-Hungarian Franz Joseph Order-Knight, and Austro-Hungarian Gold Merit Cross. All I can be sure of for him during the war was a BMV4X 31.1.16.

So Tom-- was it a "bargain?"

[Paul R]

Very significant set! Just because it aint pretty does not mean it aint valuable(historically anyway)! Great find!

Edited December 5, 2005 by Paul Reck

[Stogieman]

Kind of amazing what you can find out here, isn't it!

[Tony]

Tom,

I wonder if he has anything to do with the Moeller Werke which is still in Brackwede. I cycle past there on the way to work on the odd occasions when I leave the car at home.

Oops, just noticed Dave has already mentioned the business.

Tony

Edited December 5, 2005 by Tony

[joe campbell]

tom-

i LOVE it!

both are interesting AND beautiful,

if only to someone who'd like to be their mother...

either one a dandy, together, quite

a haul!

joe

[Tom Y]

Detlev had this on his site for several weeks, but I guess Dave and i were the only ones who noticed it.

[Guest Rick Research]

Oh no! I noticed it, but it was too fuzzy to read and my "on site" viewing didn't seem promising.

Instead, I elected to get THIS set (ironically to the same ministry) from Weitze, figuring I'd SURELY be able to find out a whole life on a civil service "colonel"--

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?s=&showtopic=1...indpost&p=29817

Ow!! Ow!!! Ow ow ow!!! Owww! DOH!

[Chris Boonzaier]

Well, guess what arrived on my doorstep yesterday.... :-)

Tom Young is a man among men, a collector buddy like no other... and he has a cool beard....

My theory about the sentence... during the war our man was a plain old factory owner... his doc has his a.D. title, but unlike the usual officials who got this, he was no longer one, hence the mention of it being so scarce outside of govt official circles.

Any advances on that?

[Solomon]

Oh my god....

I live in Bielefeld and grew up in Brackwede, where "von Moeller" is a well known family!

You are absolutely right...Moeller produced leather and is still producing! (www.moellerwerke.de)

There is also a street in Brackwede, named "von-Moeller-Strasse", not far away from the factory!

Extremly nice and interesting document...my congratulations

Greetings

Solomon