Eastern Germany and the quest for orders and medals

[eurorders]

I have often wondered if those looking across Germany for imperial era orders of decoration over the last thirty years, do they have more success looking in the Eastern half of the unified Germany than the western side?? In other words were more orders found in the large eastern cities such as Leipzig and others (including smaller cities, towns and villages)? This thought has entered my mind. Were many such items to be found there in comparison, more or less?

[laurentius]

There was a consensus within the collecting community that when the wall would fall a stream of orders and decorations would come into the market. This, for several reasons, was however not to be.

 

Their thoughts were not illogical, after all the former German Democratic Republic held the lands that had previously belonged to two grandduchies (both the mecklenburgs), five normal duchies (Anhalt, Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha, Sachsen-Meiningen, Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach, Saxe-Altenburg), four principalities (Reuß older and new line, Schwarzburg-Sonderhausen and Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt) and two kingdoms (Saxony and Prussia). Prussia was stretched out from the river Memel in Lithuania to the French border but the majority of the elite live in estates east of the iron curtain (mostly also east of the river Oder, lands now in Polish hands). This means that 13/25 German states where now in Eastern Germany despite it's relatively small size, with the elite (the junkers of Prussia) living on estates there or in the capital Berlin, also cut in two.

 

Now, despite this multitude of states with their multitude of different decorations the stream of medals after the fall of the wall was little. Sure, some items came our way but much less than we expected. There are several reasons for this:

1. After the fall of the Third Reich the Soviet Russian army swept the land and took away all things valuable. Machines, art, furniture but also decorations (who is not familiar with the picture of the two Soviet soldiers on the steps of the Reichstag building with hundreds of medals at their feet?). Not even the palaces of the former rulers where saved from this.

2. When the Russian army left (which they never really did untill 1989) the German Democratic government started to destroy the old estates to make farms. Most country houses where demolished for building materials or redesigned for public use. This is the reason why we don't find anything in those attics, since people have already gone through them.

3. The junkers that did not live on estates, or who didn't live on estates when the curtain fell and Hitler took his live lived in the cities. Heavily bombed, many great houses and palaces here too were destroyed. The same goes for the many jewellers whose shops burned out or were turned to rubble. Not just medals, but also architecture, art and furniture where lost here.

4. Last but not least the German Democratic Republic traded in medals, uniforms and helmets to get access to foreign currencies. The decorations found in the great houses not yet robbed, together with collections which the stasi took off collectors where sold.

 

These are the four primary reasons why there was little offering from former East Germany. I have not accounted for things like bartering (do I want a full stomach or grandpapa's medals?) and melting down for money. Things have come from behind the curtain but alas, due to the course of history, not in the way we hoped.

 

Kind regards, Laurentius

[eurorders]

Fascinating and well tuned reply here. thanks. My supplemental thoughts. First of all, I would like to see that "familiar photo" on the steps of the Reichstag.  2. Paintings and furniture and fine art I can see they would immediately value, but it seems phaleristics and fine medal collecting did not emerge into its own as a recognized collectible til perhaps later in time?? And here is a fascinating question: did some higher level medals of royal and noble houses travel with their owners in exodus to the neutral states of Europe during both WWI and WWII? (for instance, to Sweden, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland, realizing that not the same exact nations were neutral in both wars, but there is some overlap with those named above.) So a parallel question: did fine orders of decoration and high level ones migrate to the neutral nations of Europe during WWI and WWII?

 

And by that I ALSO mean fine orders from any number of originating order of decoration-issuing nations during those two conflicts.

 

[laurentius]

4 hours ago, eurorders said:

Paintings and furniture and fine art I can see they would immediately value, but it seems phaleristics and fine medal collecting did not emerge into its own as a recognized collectible til perhaps later in time??

There are two kinds of collectors in this world. You have the phaleristic collectors (people like us) who collect to widen the knowledge of the field, who love the interaction with fellow collectors and who chase that high we feel when we buy something rare. This kind of collecting (in the area of medals and decorations) is atleast two centuries old. One of the most famous collectors was Prince George, Duke of Cambridge (the cousin of Queen Victoria). He died in 1904 and he managed to form a huge collection (which has been sold off during the last ten years), this would not have been possible without a network to buy those decorations (although his status as a German prince and a British duke surely helped).

 

Than we have the other type of collector, the trofee-hunter. Usually soldiers who seek mementos of their time in war. They don't have a particular decoration in mind but rather take what they can get. Orders, decorations, medals, shoulderboards, even the little pips on the uniforms aren't safe. This kind of collecting is much older than our 'civilised' way of collecting. It is this type of collecting that usually leads people to become phaleristic collectors. The majority of the collectors started because their grandpa/father/uncle/neighbour brought something back from the war. This leads to an interest which can lead to a big collection, if the passion is properly formed.

 

4 hours ago, eurorders said:

did some higher level medals of royal and noble houses travel with their owners in exodus to the neutral states of Europe during both WWI and WWII?

Given the way the European courts work I would expect this to be true. This doesn't mean they have entered the collector's market. Many of these orders are still being circulated within those families. The quality is great so it's not a problem some of these pieces are 100+ years old.

 

4 hours ago, eurorders said:

did fine orders of decoration and high level ones migrate to the neutral nations of Europe during WWI and WWII?

Decorations were made in the 'neutral' countries both during WW1 and WW2. The Dutch Order of Oranje-Nassau was produced during WW2 in Portugal (these pieces are known for their rough quality) and by Spinks in London. Certain Serbian and Romanian orders were also produced in France during WW1 when the mints in their respective home countries were unable to function.

 

Lastly the picture of the medals on the steps of the Reichstag.

 

Kind regards, Laurentius

[eurorders]

thanks immensely

[VtwinVince]

Don't leave out the mega-rich investor class, one of whom has cornered the market in VC's in England in recent years.