Austria New additions to my Austrian Collection

[Gordon Craig]

Gentlemen,

Recently I bought a large lot of mixed badges. About half of them were Austrian from a variety of organizations and time frames. Some I have identified and other not so here they are for your consideration.

The first one is the Kriegserinnerungskreuz - 1939-1945. This award was presented to Austrians who were members of the Österreichischer kameradschaftsbund (ÖKB) who had serviced in the armed forces in WWII. It was the only WWII related award that was allowed to be worn on their uniforms by members of the Bundesheer (BH). The Österreichischer kameradschaftsbund (ÖKB) continues to exist and is formed mostly of serving and former members of the BH.

First up is the medal from my collection. Most of these awards were made of bronze but they exist in other material including some in plastic. Following that, a medal that I found on the net with a distinct black finish which is probably not made of bronze. It is made by the firm of Schwertner. The medal can be found with a plain back or as is the one from my collection with a decorated back. Next a picture of a BH soldier wearing his medals including the Kriegserinnerungskreuz - 1939-1945 last on his medal bar. Last but not least, a ribbon bar as worn by a veteran of the BH. It would not have been worn this way on his BH uniform as it contains WWII Wehrmacht ribbons. These last two pictures were provided to me by Peterm.

Regards,

Gordon

[Gordon Craig]

Another medal, possibly for a shooting organization, although this is just a guess. It could be almost anything. The wording on the banner is unreadable to the point where I can not even take a guess at what it says.

Edited July 9, 2014 by Gordon Craig

[Gordon Craig]

An award from the Bund der Tyrol Schutzenkompanie. Written around the outside of the badge is "BUND D. TIR SCHUTZENKOMPANIE-LEISTUNGSABZEICHEN". I have been unable to find anything on the web about this award.

[IrishGunner]

Thanks for sharing the Kriegserinnerungskreuz and info in Post #1; very interesting.

[Gordon Craig]

IrishGunner,

The history etc of this medal was new to me as well. Thanks for your comments.

Regards,

Gordon

[Gordon Craig]

Das Auszeichnungen der Wiener Unteroffizieregeselleschaft:

On 2 March 1994 the Executive Board of the Unteroffiziegesellschaft decided to issue medals to members for outstanding achievements and contributions, with an honourable character, and a different set of medals for long service. The statutes were revised on 3 March and this resulted in some changes to the respective medals.

The medal I have added to me collection is the 25 year long service medal, in gold, as awarded from 1994 until 2004.It is a round medal with a diametre of 36 mm. It has the UOGW crest on the obverse and "25" on the reverse surrounded by oak leaves closed at the bottom and open at the top. The medal recognizing 10 years of service is of the same design but in silver. When the ribbons were worn alone there was a miniature of the medal on the ribbon.

Pictures from the Gesellschaft web site showing the first type (1994-2004) long service awards and the second type (2004 until today). Note the change in the text on the second type of medal. The second type is 40 mm in diametre and was issued in three grades. Bronze - 10 years; Silver - 15 years and Gold - 20 years. The ribbon now has a coloured stripe on each edge of the ribbon in the colour of the award.

[Gordon Craig]

The award for Outstanding Achievement was in the form of a cross and the first ones issued were 60 mm in diametre. It was worn on a 40 mm ribbon. There were soon complaints against the size of the cross and the diametre was reduced to 39 mm. The cross comes with an DIN A4 award certificate in a folder. The original cross was smooth on the back. The smaller cross has written across the back "FÜR BESONDERE VERDIENSTE" ("FOR SPECIAL MERIT").

These pictures are from the Gesellschaft web site. There is no comment on the site as to the difference of colour of the two crosses. I do not own one of these crosses yet.

[westfale]

Hi Gordon!

After reading this article I remembered that I have these crosses, too - and have heard something about their history. I've got the big crosses - it's the 1st type of the Ehrenzeichen - in bronce (like yours shown on the 1st picture left) and in silver, too. THey were given for outstanding achievement and all of these are rare, especially the 1st type crosses!

So as the man who sell the crosses told me the 1st type with the big crosses were only given a short period of time and were than replaced by the type you have figured on the right side and the 2nd picture. These crosses are smaller and more perfect for the Unteroffiziersgesellschaft Wien so they decided to change the type into smaller ones and with a new type of shield, too. 

Hope I can make it a little bit clearer than before

Regards

westfale

Edited September 30, 2015 by westfale