Wehrmacht OKW Oberst Hans Nuyken-- Hermann Historica Sale October 2012

[Guest Rick Research]

Because I have this ribbon bar,

I am looking for additional information on

Hans Nuyken, born Biebrich am Rhein 8 June 1890, died ?

Fähnrich

Leutnant 20.02.10 A (backdated seniority, commissioned 1911) in Infantry Regiment 55

Oberleutnant 18.10.15 Aa

charakterisiert Hauptmann aD circa 1920

Hauptmann (E) 01.11.33 #10 (probably circa 1935)

Major (E) 01.03.38 #25

Oberstleutnant (E) later (S) 01.04.41 #207

Oberst (S) 01.12.42 #38

Transferred to newly created war unit Reserve Infantry Regiment 255 (77^th Reserve Division). Service after 194 to war's end unknown—see below.

Wehrmacht service throughout Third Reich at Kriegsministerium Wehrmacht Amt Inland section (“WA-J) later O.K.W. Section (“W Allg”-- Wehrmachtsangelegenheiten/Inland)

9 ribbon bar circa 1942+ =

EK2 1914

KVK2X

Lippe Detmold Ehrenkreuz IV-BX (LDH4bX) awarded 22.09.14 as Lt in RIR 255. One of 48 of this class for WW1

Lippe Detmold War merit Cross (LKr)

Hamburg Hanseatic Cross (HH)

Honor Cross for Frontfighters aka Hindenburg Cross X

Wehrmacht 12 years Service Medal (WHDA3)

Wehrmacht 4 Years Service Medal (WHDA4)

Volkspflege Decoration M1939 (type “Red Cross award known—see below)

This ribbon bar was obtained by me 1 November 1984 from a New Jersey dealer subsequently fallen from grace and expelled into exterior darkness for dishonesty. Nuyken's unattributed medal bar—with the Volkspflege cross but no KVK2X—was sold in Florida in Jack Sweetman's last catalog (#86) November 1982. (That medal bar went for $395 BTW)

It is my understanding that a completely intact M1957 medal bar (where did Nuyken get another LDH4bX????), pinback awards, all award documents, miscellaneous things like happy 85^th birthday (or some such) were sold by Hermann Historica in October 2012. That provided evidence that Nuyken also received a WW1 EK1 (of course) a Lippe Detmold War Cross for Heroic Deeds, and a KVK1X during WW2.

If anyone saved scans that are legible and provide any details on Nuyken' award dates, service dates, long ?) life—and his FACE-- I would be most obliged if you could post them here.

I have been looking for his “Florida” medal bar since 1982. It has never resurfaced. The existence of a M1957 medal bar is amazing.

[Dave Danner]

I could have sworn I sent you the image on the disk which does not seem to work anyway...

[Dave Danner]

Catalog description:

Los Nr. 3141

Auszeichnungs- und Dokumentengruppe Oberst Hans Nuyken

Achtteilige Ordensschnalle in der 57er Trageweise mit Preußen: Eisernes Kreuz 1914, 2. Klasse, Lippe-Detmold: Ehrenkreuz 4. Klasse mit Schwertern, Deutsches Reich: Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer 1934, Lippe-Detmold: Kriegsverdienstkreuz für Kämpfer, Hansestadt Hamburg: Hanseatenkreuz, Deutsches Reich: Kriegsverdienstkreuz 2. Klasse mit Schwertern, Wehrmachts-Dienstauszeichnung 3. und 4. Stufe für 12 und 4 Jahre. Dazu die passende Feldschnalle und eine Miniaturnadel des preußischen Kadettenkorps, Eisernes Kreuz 1914, 1. Klasse, Lippe-Detmold: Kriegsehrenkreuz für heldenmütige Tat, Kriegsverdienstkreuz 1. Klasse mit Schwertern 1939, Verwundetenabzeichen in Schwarz 1918 und diverse Kriegerbund-Mitgliedschaftsnadeln. Die Dekorationen des Zweiten Weltkrieges und die beiden EK in der 1957er Ausführung. Das an der Ordensschnalle befindliche Ehrenkreuz 4. Klasse mit Schwertern in der Fertigung der Firma C.F. Zimmermann Pforzheim ist mit einer Gesamtverleihungszahl von 82 Exemplaren besonders selten. Im beiliegenden Wehrpass sind seine Auszeichnungen und der "Kaiserdegen 1912" (nachfolgendes Los) eingetragen. Dazu vier Fotografien aus der Zeit des Zweiten Weltkrieges und Zeitungsberichte zu Nuykens 75. und 85. Geburtstag mit angelegter Ordensschnalle bzw. Berichterstattung über seinen "Kaisersäbel".

Oberst Hans H. Nuyken, geboren am 8. Juni 1890 in Biberach, erhielt nach Absolvierung des Kadettenkorps sein Leutnantspatent 1911, diente im Ersten Weltkrieg an den Fronten in Ost und West und war bis 1945 Bonns und Siegburgs letzter Wehrbezirkskommandant. Seine Stammeinheit war das 6. Westfälische Infanterie-Regiment "Graf Bülow von Dennewitz" Nr. 55, welches zum Teil durch den Staat Lippe gestellt wurde. Als bester Schütze des westfälischen Offizierskorps erhielt Nuyken vom Kaiser 1912 den Schießpreisdegen verliehen.

Zustand: II

Limit: 1600 EURO

Zuschlag 1900 EURO

Also close-ups of the Ehrenkreuz:

[arb]

Rick,

According to the 1979 "Anschriften Verzeichnis ehemaliger Kgl. Preuß. u. Kgl. Sächs. Kadetten" he died on 10.05.1977 in Bad Honnef (Frankenweg 1a)

Andy

[Dave Danner]

I have no idea how the automatic shrinking of attachments works, but the image I posted seems to have gotten a lot smaller.

I cropped it to make for larger images:

[Dave Danner]

Crop 2:

[Dave Danner]

Crop 3:

[Dave Danner]

OK, I saved the image in the last post and compared it to what I uploaded;

The image I chose for attachment was:

• Dimensions: 1350 x 947 pixels

• Resolution: 360 dpi

• File size: 408 kB

The attachment seems to have become:

• Dimensions: 1141 x 800 pixels

• Resolution: 96 dpi

• File size: 154 kB

So not only is it smaller, it has lost a good deal of resolution.

[Guest Rick Research]

Thanks very much Dave and Andy!!!!! Note that the M1957 medal bar contains an LDH4aX repeat 4aX and what Nuyken was awarded was the MUCH rarer LDH4bX, which was on his ca. 1939 "Florida" medal bar (and confirmed by the Rolls.

Nice to see some face-- AND (even if smudgy in original) "my" ribbon bar!

Edited August 25, 2013 by Rick Research

[Dave Danner]

Oh, I forgot to add:

LKEK awarded on 16.7.17, received on 24.7.17, #242 in the award file. At the time he was Brigade-Adjutant, 77. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade.

[Guest Rick Research]

Did he have a "good receipt" or a "minimal" receipt?

[Guest Rick Research]

Got to love that grinning, hands-in-pockets wartime Wehrpass photo! Who knew OKW Colonels could be Fun Guys? His personnel file at NARA ought to be a hoot when you get to the end of the N's!

Edited August 25, 2013 by Rick Research

[Dave Danner]

Oh, I forgot. I already jumped ahead and got that:

Edited November 26, 2017 by Dave Danner
Fix images

[Guest Rick Research]

Ho ho! A military life in8 pages! THANKS for getting tghis from the NARA, Dave!!!!

So once again, a geneuinely NICE guy, everybody's buddy (except, it seems for his 1st wife ) and quite surprisingly, qualified in WW2 as a Russian translator--and never used as same! Lucky for him, obviously!

And not least, a 1941 date for my ribbon bar, and 1940 for The Medal Bar That Got Away.

The pro-forma political clichés remind me of the mirror-image Stalinist Soviet ones--but the rest of the hale-fellow-well-met glowing evaluations belie that.

It's a shame he never had children to have had grandchildren--seems he'd have been the perfect jolly grampa.

[Guest Rick Research]

From the personnel file Dave copied:

Hans Nuyken, born Biebrich am Rhein 8 June 1890, son of Ministerialrat aD Karl Nuyken (alive in Soest i/W 1938) and Anna Schwollmann (died 05.01.38 Soest i/W). Colonel Nuyken died 10 May 1977 Bad Honnef (home Frankenweg 1a ).

Fähnrich from K.P. Kadettenkorps Berlin-Lichterfelde (death data, from Saxon Cadet Corps newsletter 1977)

Leutnant 20.02.10 A (backdated seniority, commissioned 1911) in Infantry Regiment 55

Oberleutnant 18.10.15 Aa

charakterisiert Hauptmann aD 09.07.20

Hauptmann (E) 01.11.33 #10 (on 01.06.35)

Major (E) 01.03.38 #25

Oberstleutnant (E) later (S) 01.04.41 #207

Oberst (S) 01.12.42 #38

Transferred to newly created war unit Reserve Infantry Regiment 255 (77^th Reserve Division). Served as Regimental Adjutant from 28.12.14, January to July 1916 back and forth between the regiment and as and adjutant at 77^th Reserve Division, 01.01.17 Regimental Adjutant of RIR 255 again, from 02.09.17 Brigade Adjutant 77^th Reserve Infantry Brigade. On 22.08.18 assigned a General Staff position with 10^th Reserve Division. 19.01.19 back to Inf Rgt 55, and discharged 30.03.20.

Wehrmacht service: recalled as (E) officer effective 01.06.35, at Wehrbezirkskommando (unspecified!) Discharged (!!??) 31.03.35 and not back in military service again until 01.04.36, at WBK Düsseldorf. In 1937 (with uniform of Inf Rgt 18 from 19.01.39) transferred to Berlin at Kriegsministerium Wehrmacht Amt Inland section (“WA-J) later re-designated O.K.W. Section (“W Allg”-- Wehrmachtsangelegenheiten/Inland) until 28.02.41 as “Sachbearbeiter und Gruppenleiter. From 01.03. to 30.11.43 he was Deputy Section Chief (stellvertretender Abteilungschef) in OKW/AWA/WVW (Wehrmacht Verlustwesen). Placed on Führerreserve 01.12.43 in Wehrkreis Kommando IX at disposal of WBK Weimar. 01.05.44 assigned as commander of Wehrbezirkskommando Bonn—and the records end in October 1944. In 1945 “last commandant” of Wehrbezirkskommandos Bonn and Siegburg.

Among the surprises in his personnel file, was that he qualified as an auxiliary translator (Hilfsdolmetscher) in RUSSIAN on 16.05.39-- a talent (luckily for him!) the Wehrmacht never chose to utilize!!! He was married twice, but had no children. His first marriage, at Crantz on 29.03.19 to Isabella Helene von Helmersen-Sawensee (*1894, Baltic German, Protestant) ended in divorce at Detmold 28.01.35. He remarried at Köln 26.09.35 to a Catholic lady (unspecified whether widow or divorcée) named Johanna Weller (*28.01.85) who had a daughter (apparently unmarried) *1909.

As might be obvious from his jovial demeanor in the photograph included at the Hermann Historica sale, his military performance reviews reveal Nuyken to have been far from the stereotype of the Teutonic officer caste. His 1 March 1943 review includes the comment “In Kameradenkreis beliebt.” And that of 5 February 1944 “Beliebter Kamerad.” Nuyken was efficient, tactful, a great organizer with what we in our jargon-heavy days would call “organizational skills” both verbal and written. But most important, he was LIKED by EVERYBODY. Such comments are—so far—notable in what Dave has discovered among the captured Wehrmacht files at the U.S. NARA.. So:

9 ribbon bar circa 1941+ =

EK2 1914 (17.09.14)

KVK2X (30.09.41)

Lippe Detmold Ehrenkreuz IV-BX (LDH4bX) awarded 22.09.14 as Lt in RIR 255. One of 48 of this class for WW1

Lippe Detmold War Merit Cross (LKr) (03.05.15)

Hamburg Hanseatic Cross (HH) (14.09.18)

Honor Cross for Frontfighters aka Hindenburg Cross X (13.03.35)

Wehrmacht 12 years Service Medal (WHDA3) (07.10.37)

Wehrmacht 4 Years Service Medal (WHDA4) (02.10.36)

Volkspflege Decoration M1939 (type “Red Cross award known—see below) (30.09.40)

This ribbon bar was obtained by me 1 November 1984 from a New Jersey dealer subsequently fallen from grace and expelled into exterior darkness for dishonesty. Nuyken's unattributed medal bar—with the Volkspflege cross but no KVK2X—was sold in Florida in Jack Sweetman's last catalog (#86) November 1982. (That medal bar went for $395 BTW)

A completely intact M1957 medal bar (where did Nuyken get a LDH4aX yes 4aX to improperly duplicate his actual LDH4bX ????), pinback awards, all award documents, miscellaneous things like happy 85^th birthday newspaper clippings were sold by Hermann Historica in October 2012. That provided evidence that Nuyken also received a WW1 EK1 (07.04.16). a Lippe Detmold War Cross for Heroic Deeds (16.07.17), a 1918 Black Wound Badge (shot through shoulder 15.09.14, broke metatarsus and fibula in fall with horse 25.10.16), and a KVK1X (30.09.43)—shown in blurry snapshots wearing his pre-war ribbon bar.

I have been looking for his “Florida” medal bar since 1982. It has never resurfaced. The existence of a M1957 medal bar is amazing.

Per auction cited newspaper accounts on his 75^th and 85^th birthdays, he received a 1912 Kaiserpreis sword for marksmanship, which is confirmed in his Wehrmacht personnel file.

Sources:

Rank Lists, Wehrmacht Stellenlisten and Dienstalterslisten, the Roll of the Lippe Detmold Honor Cross, Dave anner's research at the U.S. National Archives, and Hermann Historica catalog.

[Guest Rick Research]

(I hope the buyer of the Hermaann Historica group appreciates all this free research from sources unavailable in Germany.... )

[Dave Danner]

Hans Nuyken, born Biebrich am Rhein 8 June 1890, son of Ministerialrat aD Karl Nuyken (alive in Soest i/W 1938) and Anna Schwollmann (died 05.01.38 Soest i/W).

Some additional information about his family, in case you're interested:

Karl Nuyken was born on 9 April 1854 in Burgsteinfurt. Anna Schwollmann was born on 4 February 1862. Karl and Anna were married on 13 August 1885. They had five sons:

• Triss, born on 27 August 1886 in Biebrich am Rhein

• Karl, born on 25 December 1888 in Biebrich am Rhein

• Hans, born on 8 June 1890 in Biebrich am Rhein

• Otto, born on 26 October 1898 in Münster in Westfalen

• Wessel, born on 22 March 1900 in Münster in Westfalen

Perhaps being the middle one of five brothers accounts in part for his comradely demeanor.

Karl Nuyken spent his career in the Prussian public works administration, mainly in water supply matters. A Regierungs-Bauführer in Münster, he was named a Regierungs-Baumeister in 1884. In 1893, he was named Königlich Meliorations-Bauinspektor there. In 1901, he was transferred to Breslau and named a Regierungs- und Baurat. In 1902, he was transferred to the Ministerium für Landwirtschaft, Domänen und Forsten in Berlin. These moves show up in Hans Nuyken's personnel file above, under "Erziehung". In 1904, Karl Nuyken was named a Geheimer Baurat und Vortragender Rat in the ministry in Berlin, and in 1908, he was a Geheimer Oberbaurat. He retired as a Ministerialrat in 1921. He was an Oberleutnant der Landwehr a.D., and had served in the reserve and Landwehr of IR 55 in the 1880s.

The 1908/09 Deutsche Ordens-Almanach shows Karl Nuyken with the Red Eagle Order 4th Class, Crown Order 3rd Class, and Landwehr-DA 2nd Class. This was already out of date, as his Red Eagle was bumped to an RAO3 with Bow in December 1908. The Crown Order 2nd Class followed in January 1912, and the RAO3S was replaced by the Red Eagle Order 2nd Class with Oakleaves in July 1918. The 1918 Prussian Court and State Handbook also shows that he received the Prussian Merit Cross for War Aid. His medals might have ended up somewhere, but as two separate neck orders and a nondescript two-medal bar with PrVfK and LD2, were probably broken up.

[Guest Rick Research]

How... where... do you find children of non-nobles?

[Dave Danner]

One of his relatives constructed a family tree at an online genealogy site. I suppose we can thank the Mormons. Mormon missionaries have been collecting birth, christening, marriage and death records all over Europe, which has allowed for creating more detailed family trees than might otherwise have been available with one's own family records.