Anatomy of a rare order

[Stijn David]

Hello,

Here is a piece i received as a gift out of Germany, it is as you guys will see a so called :

Ehrenkreuz 3 e Klasse - F?rstliche Hausorden von Hohenzollern

The order is missing its center front disc but still has its reverse disc. Some previous owner did glue in the center (on one point that is a lucky thing as due to that reason teh center is still with the cross, on the other hand it gave me quite a cleaning job to remove the modern glue as it was a very sloppy job done, glue all over the cross, the arms, etc ... and the green enamel of the wreath.)

The cross is maker marked on the lowest arm with FR.

Does this stand for : Friedlander or is it Friedeberg ?

I do know both have produced these things (small quantity's) but it can help me to date this rather cross.

Due to this we can have a peek at how such a old and very delicate order was made, hollow center etc ...

I just love it + all comments are welcome

[Stijn David]

Hello,

And here is image nr. 2 .

Cordial greetings + thanks for looking,

[Stogieman]

FR is usually accepted as Friedlander. The centers were not hollow. Originally, they would have been packed with resin, which is what held everything together.

[Stijn David]

Hello,

Thank you Rick for the answer, much appreciated. It is fine to know the producer of this little baby.

Gebr. friedl?nder / Berlin

They took over the company off Friedeberg S?hne in April 1892 + started to produced (they where Hoflieferamt) the F?rstliche Hohenzollernsche Orden. They did so untill J.G. Zimmerer & Sohn (Sigmaringen) took over production off first the Bene Merenti - medal and then all F?rstliche orders and decorations in 1910.

The company of Friedl?nder will have produced these crosses etc ... in between these 18 years. Also nice to know is that quite a few old (returned from deceased persons) orders where restored and awarded again. That do makes me believe that fewer where produced then awarded.

I also noted that there is a large difference in the colour of the green enamel between the Friedl?nder products and the Zimmerer (WW1 products). The Friedl?nder's are much darker and les opaque.

Feel free to post your example of a III class cross in this thread.

Award numbers on this type of cross are :

1851 - 1869 ( reign F?rst Friedrich Wilhelm Constantin & Carl Anton togheter) : 216 awards

1869 - 1885 ( reign F?rst Carl Anton alone ) : 235 awards

1885 - 1905 ( reign F?rst Leopold ) : 394 awards

1905 - 1927 ( reign F?rst Wilhelm ) : 360 awards

1927 - 1965 ( reign F?rst Friedrich ) : 110 awards

So the presented cross was made in the period of reign from F?rst Leopold or Wilhelm, and more specifyed between 1892 and 1910.

Cordial greetings,

ps: is it a known practice for lets Friedl?nder to restore a awards from anotehr company and then place their own "Ritzmarke" on this ?, or is this totally not done?

[Biro]

.....ps: is it a known practice for lets Friedl?nder to restore a awards from anotehr company and then place their own "Ritzmarke" on this ?, or is this totally not done?

Anyone comparing a Wagner and a Friedlander PLM may well ask that same question Stijn!!

Marshall

[Stijn David]

Hello,

Thank you for the answer Biro => is anyone of the imperial guys aware of reparations by producer B from products of A and that these where marked accordingly ?

I know from a writing from the company of Friedl?nder that from 130 returned awards (also including 2 medals who where actually not returned upon death of the recipient) that 18 pieces could not be restored and where melted and the material used again, the other remaining 112 pieces where restored ( = 86 %)

It is unclear iff the restored orders where from Friedl?nder but i can imagine that tehre where also products from previous producers amongst these 118.

Cordial greetings,