Char. Konteradmiral Fritz Hoffmann

[Kriegsmarine Admiral]

Can anyone help me with the two round medals please?

All the awards on the photo match his known awards. Only the two medals for colonial service can't be confirmed by the Rangliste.

In my opinion the 3rd medal on the medal bar is the Kolonial-Denkmünze with an unknown Spange.

The 4th medal looks like the China-Denkmünze.

We can rule out the Südwestafrika-Denkmünze because the stripes on the ribbons don't match (they are horizontal on the Südwestafrika-Denkmünze).

 

Is it correct that on the German medal/ribbon bars the Kolonial-Denkmünze comes before the China-Denkmünze? That would help determine which Spange to look for.

 

I can easily confirm the China-Denkmünze by looking at his career:

- Departure to Shanghai (19 August 1901-23 September 1901)

- Commandant of the Light Cruiser "Seeadler" (24 September 1901-11 October 1903)

- Journey Home from Tsingtau (12 October 1903-09 January 1904)

My guess for the class of the China-Denkmünze is Bronze (für Kämpfer). Do you agree this is the class? And do you agree the 4th medal is the China-Denkmünze in the first place?

 

Again, looking at his career, there is indication that he spent some time in East Africa. That would make him eligible for the Kolonial-Denkmünze, I think?

- Departure to Mumbai (07 March 1895-16 May 1895)

- First Officer on the Cruiser "Seeadler" (17 May 1895-12 May 1897) (Note: this is the same "Seeadler" as above)

- Journey Home as Transport Leader on Board the Steamer "Reichstag" from Zanzibar to Marseille (13 May 1897-03 June 1897)

If we look at the Wikipedia page of the "Seeadler" we find it was deployed to East Africa during the time period Hoffmann was serving on it as First Officer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Seeadler#Deployment_to_East_Africa

My two questions for this award are:

Do you agree the 3rd medal is the Kolonial-Denkmünze?

Does anyone know what the Spange could be? The possibilities (in my opinion, I may be wrong) are: "Deutsch-Ostafrika 1895, 1896 or 1897".

Thank for any help!

[1812 Overture]

There must be a medal for this colony

[Kriegsmarine Admiral]

On 07/04/2020 at 08:53, 1812 Overture said:

There must be a medal for this colony

Can you please explain? 

[saschaw]

I agree he's wearing the Colonial and China medal, and the precedence is proper as well, according to a Steinhauer & Lück sales catalog from January 1939 that includes such a list. Not knowing much about the clasps, I had a look at the excel "Gesamtliste" published on German SDA forum by member "CSForrester". It mentions a clasp "KAMERUN 1884" given to a Hoffmann, but I'm not sure this if is your man. However, no other clasp to a Hoffmann is mentioned there, so it should be him...

[Kriegsmarine Admiral]

On 12/04/2020 at 19:12, saschaw said:

I agree he's wearing the Colonial and China medal, and the precedence is proper as well, according to a Steinhauer & Lück sales catalog from January 1939 that includes such a list. Not knowing much about the clasps, I had a look at the excel "Gesamtliste" published on German SDA forum by member "CSForrester". It mentions a clasp "KAMERUN 1884" given to a Hoffmann, but I'm not sure this if is your man. However, no other clasp to a Hoffmann is mentioned there, so it should be him...

Thanks saschaw.

I think you are right. I have the same excel "Gesamtliste" and the Hoffmann mentioned there served on the "Olga" in 1884. Char. Konteradmiral Fritz Hoffmann served on the "Olga" in 1884 with the rank of UnterLt z.S. It must be him then.