Hansa crosses

[dond]

These little beauties are my favorites.

First up, Hamburg.

[dond]

The reverse.

[dond]

Bremen.

[dond]

The back.

[dond]

Last but not least-Lubeck.

Thank for looking.

Don

Edited April 17, 2005 by dond

[dond]

The back.

[Dave B]

Great looking crosses!

I also like these awards but I only have a fullsize Hamburg and a Bremen stickpin mini,which of these crosses is the most scarce?

Dave

Edited April 24, 2005 by Dave B

[Tony]

The L?beck is scarce.

Hamburg is quite easy to find and is the cheapest, but saying that, I haven't seen one for a while.

You don't see the Bremen cross often and the L?beck cross even less.

Don's L?beck is very nice indeed.

Tony

[Dave B]

Cheers Tony! :food-smiley-004:

Dave

[Guest Rick Research]

A normal (for other awards) TWO-ring suspension Hamburg. This has as a maker's mark a microscopic oak twig on the larger ring, which my best efforts at magnified extreme dpi cannot bring out the way looking at it with a magnifying glass can. I have only seen Hamburg 2-rings.

[Stogieman]

I think the nicest thing about the Hamburg HK is they are numerous, including the boxes. There's two distinct boxes, both bearing the "crest" of Hamburg on the lid in gilt. I had one of these once that was as the day it left the jeweler. Small format box, 4 different sized ribbons (Ribbon Bar, Miniature/lapel, 2 different medal bar sizes), the cross and a black safety pin. Every component neatly packaged in little envelopes. An amazing find. Will try to resurrect the photos.

[Stogieman]

Boxes for The Hanseatic Cross of Hamburg came in 2 sizes. here's the 'shorty' one.

[Stogieman]

I was pretty surprised when this one showed up. Just like it was the day it left the Jeweler! Inside were 3 pieces of ribbon. Full-sized, Miniature for Lapel Bow and 15mm. for the ribbon bar!

[Stogieman]

The cross was neatly packaged in this little envelope with the maker's name stamped on it! We never knew who made these until this one arrived! The boxes never had a maker mark! There was also this neat little safety pin!

[Stogieman]

Here's a close-up of the maker's stamp! :excl:

[Guest Rick Research]

One VERY important thing to remember is to check the Mutant Chicken's FEET on the L?beck Crosses.

Because there are RED feet...

[Bob Hunter]

Can someone explain the significance of the heraldry in the center of the Bremen Cross?

[David Gregory]

The Bremen cross is the symbol of the apostle Peter, the patron of Bremen cathedral, and was first used in the town seal in 1366.

It is associated with a quote from the bible by Peter referring to the "key to heaven".

/David

[Guest John Harman]

@ Rick (stogie):

What is the maker's name on the box? I can't make it out.

@ Rick (Research):

The eagle's beaks and tongues should also red - it's harder to tell though due to the small size. Also, here's a two-ring Bremen cross which sold on ebay about a month ago:

[Guest Rick Research]

Wow! That's a first for me to see! Thanks John!!!

Actually, I always thought the symbolism for Bremen was that they were a wholly owned subsidiary of Beck's beer.

My Truly Evil Twin has STILL not posted his Black Feet L?beck.

Here is my three ring Bremen in a medal bar

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=1037...findpost&p=7289

AND his award document.

[attachmentid=3819]

The Hanseatic Cross documents were all rather nice printed forms. Bremen's and Hamburg's stated that the crosses and paperwork could remain with the family

[attachmentid=3820]

as a souvenir if the recipient was killed-- which must have been a profound comfort.

[Guest Rick Research]

Hamburg's document was the nicest, with a great coat of arms up top and long format, always with printed signature of the city functionary in charge of the rolls.

[attachmentid=3821]

Gefreiter Folz would be one of 189 men to survive the extermination of his regiment under British attack at Arras later in 1917.

[Guest Rick Research]

Regimental histories show that often the mayors of the three cities travelled out and personally handed over their Crosses, but the pre-printed paperwork was always dated back home.

L?beck

[attachmentid=3823]

and THEIR cheery "next of kin can keep this after you're dead."

[attachmentid=3824]

[Guest John Harman]

Great docs...I had never seen the L?beck before. What I want to know is...when is one of our enterprising friends in the Hamburg/Bremen/L?beck area going to go looking in the archives (or Flak tower basements?) for the award rolls?

[David Gregory]

Hamburg Hanseatic cross document trivia*:

If you have two or more Hamburg documents in your collection, compare them with the one that Rick posted above and pay close attention to the fold lines.

All of mine have exactly the same fold pattern, in addition to any "non-standard" folds that might have been added by their owners over the years.

Does anyone have an original envelope that a Hamburg document was originally sent in? This might provide a clue as to the fold lines.

/David

*Just in case you are wondering, no I don't spend my spare time comparing fold lines of Imperial paperwork, it simply struck me while I was trying to find a way to store loose single documents that Hamburg Hanseatic cross documents all have exactly the same fold lines.

[Guest Rick Research]

It's nice to have a hobby!

Some more Hamburgs, having never noticed that myself. In all my award document sets, the only envelope I have is a transmittal letter for an Austrian Order of the Iron Crown.

Hauptmann dR D?hring had been a career officer who went dR (and 1 year later got an LD2), and held one of the 6,855 "black-white" "for war merit in the homeland" NONcombatant EK2s on the "combatant" ribbon. This is a good example of how the Hanseatics were issued as either frontline bravery awards or, as here, for rear area war merit.