ID ideas about interesting Prussia/Bavaria/Saxe-Coburg combo?

[drspeck]

Hi all.

Received this set yesterday. Interesting combination of awards.

Ribbon number 7 is the 1899 Saxe Coburg commemorative Medal for the Silver Wedding Anniversary of Duke Alfred and Duchess Maria. The round silver medal on the chain is the Duke Ernst medal for Arts and Science, ca. 1889 - 1896. On the back it says “princeps musarum sacerdos” or “the muses are the sacred rulers”.

Since the Order of Civil Merit and the Duke Ernst medal are on the chain, but not on the bars, would these have been worn around the neck?

According to the auction, this set belonged to a member of IR 95. No extra information came with this set so I can't verify.

Thanks. Peter

[laurentius]

Dear Peter,

although the miniature-chain and the ribbonbars are lovely, I personally don't think they belong together. Why would a miniature-chain miss several decorations from imperial Germany itself, but instead feature a foreign award? Sure, some might suggest that the DA and the Centenary-medal aren't worthy, or important enough to be on a chain, but would this also go for a BMVO4x or a SEHO?

Kind regards, Laurentius

[Dave Danner]

I would agree with Laurentius that the chain and the ribbons are to two separate people.

The most likely candidate for the ribbon bars is Johannes Friedrich Albert Hugo Riemann, *14.6.1869 in Castell, Unterfranken. He was a Hauptmann in IR 138 in 1914 with the RAO4Kr. He was promoted to Major on 8.11.1914, was commanded to the Bavarian Kriegsministerium,  and received the BMV4X on 6.7.1915, the BMV4XKr on 19.11.1915 and the EH3aX on 22.3.1916. He later commanded Reserve-Ersatz-Regiment Nr. 4 and retired as an Oberstleutnant. He died in 1927 in Partenkirchen. He is the only RAO4Kr/BMV4XKr/EH3aX recipient I know of who cannot be ruled out by other known decorations.

Hugo entered the Army in IR 95 on 20.3.1890. The only question I have is that he was transferred from IR 95 to IR 167 on 22.3.1897 with effect from 1.4.1897, so he was not with the regiment in 1899. I am not certain what the exact criteria were for the Silberne Hochzeitsmedaille. Maybe being in the regiment for seven years, and being part of the battalion of IR 95 which was provided for the formation of IR 167 meant he was still connected to IR 95 as far as the Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha  authorities were concerned.

[drspeck]

9 hours ago, Dave Danner said:

I would agree with Laurentius that the chain and the ribbons are to two separate people.

The most likely candidate for the ribbon bars is Johannes Friedrich Albert Hugo Riemann, *14.6.1869 in Castell, Unterfranken. He was a Hauptmann in IR 138 in 1914 with the RAO4Kr. He was promoted to Major on 8.11.1914, was commanded to the Bavarian Kriegsministerium,  and received the BMV4X on 6.7.1915, the BMV4XKr on 19.11.1915 and the EH3aX on 22.3.1916. He later commanded Reserve-Ersatz-Regiment Nr. 4 and retired as an Oberstleutnant. He died in 1927 in Partenkirchen. He is the only RAO4Kr/BMV4XKr/EH3aX recipient I know of who cannot be ruled out by other known decorations.

Hugo entered the Army in IR 95 on 20.3.1890. The only question I have is that he was transferred from IR 95 to IR 167 on 22.3.1897 with effect from 1.4.1897, so he was not with the regiment in 1899. I am not certain what the exact criteria were for the Silberne Hochzeitsmedaille. Maybe being in the regiment for seven years, and being part of the battalion of IR 95 which was provided for the formation of IR 167 meant he was still connected to IR 95 as far as the Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha  authorities were concerned.

Dave, thanks for taking the time and energy. That is very cool I will keep the chain and the bars seperate.

Regards. Peter

[VtwinVince]

Very nice items, I particularly like the mini RAO4mdK.

[saschaw]

On 17/11/2019 at 00:19, Dave Danner said:

The most likely candidate for the ribbon bars (...)

Just to be 100%, I can confirm these bars are Riemann's! I know where they came from, not the auction, but the previous owner, and they did come with some unusual and important IR 138 memorabilia, like an association flag. Some of Riemann's single awards were available as well, so we don't have to expect his medal bar to surface anywhere.

This is his lovely early to mid war, real golden EH3aX which I'm currently offering:

Edited August 20, 2020 by saschaw