Storm of Steel medal group 2

[Komtur]

Friedrich Seeßelberg (1861-1956), in 1916 battalion commander of Ernst Jünger.

[Bernhard H.Holst]

Hello.

Thank you for showing this.

I believe the memorial to the regiment of which Dr Sessselberg was the originator still exists today.

Bernhard H. Holst

[dond]

Very nice.

[Eric Stahlhut]

wonderful bar!

[Komtur]

Hello.

Thank you for showing this.

I believe the memorial to the regiment of which Dr Sessselberg was the originator still exists today.

Bernhard H. Holst

Yes indeed. There were two similar memorials created by Seeßelberg, one in France and one in Hannover. He also wrote some parts of the regimental history.

Edited August 21, 2015 by Komtur

[P.F.]

Most impressive frackspange.

 

[chuck]

VERY NICE!!  what is his last award on the on the fracksprange?

 

Chuck 

[P.F.]

VERY NICE!!  what is his last award on the on the fracksprange?

 

Chuck 

That's the Swedish Order of Vasa.

 

[Paul C]

That is an interesting and beautiful bar. One question:

Friedrich Seeßelberg was also awarded the HOH3x and SA3 and they are not on the bar. How could that be?

[Komtur]

... Friedrich Seeßelberg was also awarded the HOH3x and SA3 and they are not on the bar. How could that be?

 

This is the question I was waiting for

When this group came on the marked in the end of 2014 offered by a well known dealer from Hamburg, I checked the bar and found out by different sources, that all the medals are traceable for Seeßelberg. But unfortunately, he got the Housorder of Hohenzollern knight with swords too. By statistical and scientific reasons, to difficult to explain with my simple English, there is no reason to believe, that there could be another person with that 8-part combination. Therefore I bought this group.

Now I aimed my researches on the question, why he NOT had his HOH3X on his bar. I came in contact to his grand-grandson and he passed me a portrait, wich gives the answer. Seeßelberg decided, to wear his highest wartime award as a single decoration! As it seems, not only with his miniature chain, I bought together with the bar shown above, but also when he has worn his bar.

The Seeßelberg descendant  collected material of his famous grand-grandfather for years. He told me, that his uncle in the 1970-ies sold uniform, sword, helmet and medals on a flea marked. We were not able to find out, on wich way the bar came to Hamburg. Some weeks ago he visited me and because of his request I sold the bar and chain back to the family.

In memory to Rick Lundström, thanks for teaching us, how to use the skills for these kind of researches. R.I.P.

 

Regards, Komtur.

 

Edited August 21, 2015 by Komtur

[Paul C]

Outstanding!

[Brian R]

Outstanding!

Agreed. Great story and outcome.

I always wonder how so many of these groups leave the families in the first place. One man's trash is another's treasure I guess, even among those with the same blood!

[Komtur]

I always wonder how so many of these groups leave the families in the first place. One man's trash is another's treasure I guess, even among those with the same blood!

In that special case the person who sold these things was a little child, when grandfather Friedrich Seeßelberg died in 1956. Later he wore grandpas military equipment when playing with his schoolmates in the wood. When he was a young guy needing some money he sold all the stuff in the 1970-ties on a flea market without much sentiments. We have to consider it was the make love not war generation and especially in Germany after two lost wars it was not common and political correct, to be proud of or interested in military decorations or uniforms of ones ancestors. The person of the Seeßelberg family whom I now gave the medal group back, was born in the 1970-ies. With this distance of time he is able to appreciate his grand-grandfathers life and works without prejudice.

Some more material he compiled until now in his family archive:

[Claudio]

Such a Great story from a front officer, such a great happy ending... Well done!  That was a very noble thing to do... A class act!

It's always a true pleasure to read your threads Thilo... Thanks for sharing!

ciao,

Claudio

Edited August 21, 2015 by Claudio

[Chris Boonzaier]

Fantastic! A wonderful group and a good end to the story.... Sometimes the stuff is better off and more appretiated in collectors hands... and sometimes the family is the best home after all.

[dante]

Great story and ending

[chuck]

You are a gentlemen and scholar.

[Komtur]

Thanks to all for your interest and kind feedback.

Back to the headline of this thread, astonishingly there are only two passing mentions in Jüngers diary of his battalion commander Seeßelberg (October 26th and 30th 1916), whereas his regimental commander von Oppen is mentioned respectfully and often. They must have had some contacts after the war in the regimental organization (e.g. both wrote parts of a booklet printed in occasion of the dedication of the regimental memorial in 1928). Both had a similar intellectual and middle class background. But there was on the other hand a considerable distance in age. Seeßelberg, born in 1861, in 1893 already Leutnant der Reserve, was a famous architect, historian and professor on the Berlin technical college. He was very active in cultural politics in a national conservative direction. He founded in 1908 an association of artists and intellectuals to promote conservative, traditionell and German influence on art and society, the Werdandi-Bund. A splendid assembly of German writers, musicians, sculptors, painters and architects of the time joined this alliance managed by Seeßelberg. In the beginning of the war he was reactivated in the age of 53 as Oberleutnant der Landwehr. After he was wounded in 1916 he was deployed until 1918 in the war department for military scientific research. After the war he returned to the Berlin technical college and tried without success tu reactivate the Werdandi-Bund. He wrote a book about the static warfare widely noticed among experts. His political engagement was closely to National Socialism, but because of some trouble with an active party member and colleague his own entry in the NSDAP was in 1937 refused. So there could be some links between Friedrich Seeßelberg and Ernst Jünger even after the war. Unfortunately it is very laborious to search for the person of Seeßelberg in the extensive literary work of Ernst Jünger and its immense reflection by others.

Interestingly there is a significant gap between Seeßelbergs conservative cultural and political points of view and his own small number of own construcions, wich appears in a very modern style. So there is a distinct similarity of Seeßelbergs buildings from before the war to the later avantgarde and classical modern style of the Bauhaus tradtion.

 

 

Edited August 22, 2015 by Komtur

[dond]

Best thread that I have read in a while.

Thanks for sharing.

[ccj]

Wonderful story 

[Tunneller]

Simply  wonderful. What  a  bar  and  what  a  story!!!

 

Jim

[Chris Boonzaier]

Hi,

 

is there any mention of participents or other officers who were present at the Festtags booklet? I am still looking for more info on my guy...

Thanks

Chris

[Komtur]

Hi,

 

is there any mention of participents or other officers who were present at the Festtags booklet? I am still looking for more info on my guy...

Thanks

Chris

Sorry, I could not find a Haverkamp in that source.

Regards, Komtur.

Edited September 1, 2015 by Komtur