Prussia 6 place ribbon bar Godet

[Claudio]

Dear forumites,

I am happy to show my latest purchase... a feldschnalle of a Prussian officer.

The awards combination could be quite unique... (Prussia, Bavaria, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Anhalt, KuK Österreich-Ungarn)...

Any comments or inputs are most welcome!

Ciao,

Claudio

[Paul C]

Nice one. It is hard to tell if the blue ribbon is for the long service cross or crown order.

[Claudio]

Hi Paul,

Thank you for your reply.

Too me it's clearly a PrKO4, the color is corn pale blue, not dark marine blue. I don't see any Centennial medal and by the Godet's Feldschnalle type here shown (dark blue/black backing with metal label), this bar was very likely assembled by Godet in the early-mid twenties. So this officer didn't serve that long in order to get a LS award for 25 years.

Ciao,
C

Edited May 19, 2013 by Claudio

[Deruelle]

Hi Claudio,

clearly you are a Lucky guy. This ribbon bar is awesome but I doubt that it can be id. Does anyone knows if the BMV4bX rolls is published ? Congrats for your purchase.

Christophe

[saschaw]

Great one, and nice you got it!

Too me it's clearly a PrKO4, the color is corn pale blue, not dark marine blue. I don't see any Centennial medal and by the Godet's Feldschnalle type here shown (dark blue/black backing with metal label), this bar was very likely assembled by Godet in the early-mid twenties. So this officer didn't serve that long in order to get a LS award for 25 years.

Couldn't agree more, this is definitely a Prussian junior officer's bar with KO4.

It should be identifiable, I think. Bavarians to "foreigners" is worked on, as is Mecklenburg... KO4 is likely pre-war, so in 1914 rank list...

Problem is we don't know what year/month the bar dates to. If WW1 era - which I'd guess - he could easily have added the one or other award, so we cannot exclude anyone with other awards, as long as we cannot check the exact award dates.

[Paul C]

I think I have him. From my list it is Olt Meass of IR 26. My list has him with KO4, BMV4X and MMV2. IR 26 was in Anhalt so the AK makes sense.

[Claudio]

That's great, Paul!!!!

Meass... it's a strange German family name... it sounds almost like "my ass" in English... Are you sure about the spelling? I can't find any family name in Germany with the spelling "Meass".

ciao,

Claudio

[Paul C]

My mistake. It is Maenss.

[Claudio]

Could be this Maenss (born in 1882), who than later became a diplomat in Sweden?

http://www.drehscheibe-foren.de/foren/read.php?17,6249266,page=all

ciao,

Claudio

[Claudius]

"The awards combination could be quite unique... (Prussia, Bavaria, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Anhalt, KuK Österreich-Ungarn)"

I would say so...the awards are an awesome swath across five states/countries. How does a such a junior officer get such a variety of awards? This is a question not only for this bar, but for many. It was usually just accepted before, but with more bars being identified with the history of the units, does anyone have a standing theory?

[Claudio]

What about this Maenss, living in Memel in 1929?

http://adressbuecher.genealogy.net/entry/show/248928

It would be great to have a first name, because the family name is really quite uncommon... but I still need a first name. Problem is that Prussian Ranglisten don't really show first names... it might be difficult... but who knows? It would be great to give a story to that bar... behind a ribbon or medal bar there's always a human story...

[redeagleorder]

How does a such a junior officer get such a variety of awards?

Being a staff officer or aviator would often do the trick

[Claudio]

There is also a Hauptmann Maenss (liason officer in Finland at the end of WWI, 1918) being mentioned in this thread http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/2713-german-troops-in-finland-1918/ ... such an officer could have had the chance to get multiple awards from different German states...

[Claudio]

A really nice informative thread (alas in German for those who can't read it) about the IR 26

[Dave Danner]

The OLt in IR 26 is Wilhelm Maenß. I don't know if he is the same officer in the thread to which Claudio links in post #9, but it seems possible.

Edited May 20, 2013 by Dave Danner

[Claudio]

Thanks Dave, for your confirmation.

ciao,

C

[Paul C]

There is also a Hauptmann Maenss (liason officer in Finland at the end of WWI, 1918) being mentioned in this thread http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/2713-german-troops-in-finland-1918/ ... such an officer could have had the chance to get multiple awards from different German states...

I think that is him since Walter Maenss was involved with railroads during the war.

[Daniel Krause]

Wilhelm Maenss was indeed born in 1882.

Claudio, congrats to another nice Godet bar!

Lots of greetings

Daniel

[Claudio]

Thanks to all of you... Dave, Paul and Daniel! Now we have also a first name... ;-)