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    13 hours ago, filfoster said:

    Yes, he's an interesting historical person. That's why I want to replicate his medal and ribbon bars and perhaps his dress uniform.

    My best wishes of success to you !

     

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    I hope some of the experts on this site can help fill in the missing blanks. The most puzzling mystery is the medal that appears in the #4 position in my initial post, and the #3 medal in the photo of him wearing Prussian uniform. It has rounded ends to the cross arms and is a similar shape but larger than the 1866 campaign medal that appears further on, on both bars.  There is no medal in the precedence list that corresponds to this shape.

    For reference, my precedence shows, after the Ludwig Order:

    Military Merit Cross for Peacetime 

    Merit Cross for 1870-71

    Lifesaving Medal

    Ludwig Medal

    Merit Cross for Voluntary Care of the Sick

    Prussian Iron Cross

    1916 Ludwig Cross

    Jubilee Medals

     

    The Merit Cross for the Voluntary Care of the Sick is the only one that corresponds to the shape of the #4 medal but this decoration seems very unlikely. It's not impossible, as I know King Edward VII of England wore two Red Cross medals on his bar, the Prussian Order of the Crown 3rd class with Red Cross device, and the 'Geneva Cross' French medal. 

    The photo is a 1914 example but I think it was instituted before the war, 1901.

    m19_14765.jpg

    Edited by filfoster
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    Lukasz Gaszewski:  Thank YOU!  I very much appreciate your help. I suspect the 1910 Agricultural Jubilee medal, while not particularly valuable, will be hard to find.

    Can you can ID any of the other unknown ones?

    ONLY 5 more to go!

     

    Is #12 the Queen Victoria Golden/Silver Jubilee medal?

     

    #14 is also definitely an Austrian medal because of the Franz Josef bust on the obverse. Which one?

     

    So we have now:

    1.  Jubilee medal for the Order of St. George

    2.  Military Merit Order 3rd with swords (and crown?)

    3.  Ludwig Order

    4.  Cross for Medical Volunteers

    5.  Luitpold 1909 70 year Jubilee medal

    6.  1910 Agricultural Jubilee medal

    7.  Bavarian 1866 campaign cross?

    8. Prussian 25 year service cross

    9.  Prussian Centenary Medal

    10. 

    11.

    12.

    13.

    14. Austrian Bravery Medal

    15. Austrian F J Tapferkeit

    16.

    Edited by filfoster
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    #2 Does not have a crown

    #7 is the 1866 campaign cross

    #10 is the Fürstlich Schaumburg-Lippe Militärverdienstmedaille 
    #11 is the Herzoglich Anhalt Goldene Erinnerungsmedaille zum 25. Regierungsjubiläum

    #12 is the Queen Victoria Golden or Diamond Jubilee medal

    #13 is the K.u.K. 1898 "Signvm Memoriae" medal

    #14 is the K.u.K. 1908 jubilee medal for foreigners

    #15 is the K.u.K. 1848-1908 jubilee cross

    #16 is the 1896 Imperial Russian Coronation medal of Tsar Nicholas II

     

     

     

    What would be quite interesting is to try and figure out what his post-war medal bar consisted of! 
     

    best regards,

    Dan

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    Good shot, Dan, my congratulations! I would only argue about #11. Actually, you cannot see it clearly on any photo here - it is either too small or covered by some other medal. I have found one of the above photos in a better resolution. It is a pre-1908 photo with apparently the same medal in a more legible position. To me it looks more like the Erinnerungsmedaille zum 25. Regierungsjubiläum von König Karl of the Kingdom of Württemberg of 1889 (most certainly in gold). The details seem much closer and the pink and silver ribbon of the Anhalt medal would probably come out brighter on the photo. Have a look yourself.

     

    It is quite surprising that the king received two decorations for the same 1908 jubilee of Emperor Franz-Joseph. I thought at first that one of these K.u.K. medals was the Kriegsmedaille of 1873 (as an ally of Austria and participant of the war with Prussia he would be eligible) but upon a closer examination I think you are right.

     

    Best,

    Lukasz

    Ludwig20III-ae21a87.jpg

    Erinnerungsmedaille zum 25. Regierungsjubiläum König Karl.jpg

    A close-up.

    Ludwig III Spange 3b.jpg

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    Thank you to Dan and Lukasz!

     

    So we have now:

     

    1.  Jubilee medal for the Order of St. George

    2.  Military Merit Order 3rd with swords

    3.  Ludwig Order

    4.  Cross for Medical Volunteers

    5.  Luitpold 1909 70 year Jubilee medal

    6.  1910 Agricultural Jubilee medal

    7.  Bavarian 1866 campaign cross

    8. Prussian 25 year service cross

    9.  Prussian Centenary Medal

    10. Princely Schaumburg-Lippe military service medal

    11. Ducal Anhalt Golden Commemorative medal 25th anniversary of reign

    12. Queen Victoria Golden/Diamond Jubilee medal

    13. Austrian 1908 Signum Memoriae Medal

    14. Austrian 1908 Jubilee medal for Foreigners

    15. Austrian F J 1848-98 Tapferkeit

    16. 1896 Russian Nicholas II coronation medal

     

     

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    Let me make a slightly more precise list:

     

    1.  Jubilee medal of the Order of St. George
    2.  Military Merit Order 3rd Class with Swords
    3.  Ludwig Order
    4.  Cross of Merit for Voluntary Nursing
    5.  1905/1909 Prince-Regent Luitpold Medal in Gold
    6.  1910 Agricultural Jubilee Medal in Gold
    7. 1866 Campaign Cross
    8. Prussian 25-year Officer Service Cross
    9. Prussian 1897 Centenary Medal
    10. Princely Schaumburg-Lippe Military Merit Medal
    11. Kingdom of Württemberg Commemorative Medal for the 25th Anniversary of King Karl's Reign in Gold
    12. British Queen Victoria Golden/Diamond Jubilee Medal in Gold
    13. Austro-Hungarian 1898 Jubilee Medal for Military
    14. Austro-Hungarian 1908 Jubilee Medal for Foreigners
    15. Austro-Hungarian 1908 Jubilee Cross for the Armed Forces
    16. Russian 1896 Nicholas II Coronation Medal

     

    Note that #11 is of Württemberg, not Anhalt.

     

    You can see #14 for example here:

    https://www.emedals.com/austria-imperial-a-bronze-jubilee-medal-for-foreigners-c-1908

     

    Until 1901 Ludwig (not yet a king) also wore the Long Service Cross (Dienstauszeichnungskreuz) of 2nd Class (for 24 years) and between 1901 and 1911 - of 1st Class (for 40 years), then he replaced it with the Ludwig Order.

     

     

     

    Edited by Lukasz Gaszewski
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    Lukasz and Dan, thank you very much. I believe this is enough to recreate the ribbon and medal bars for Ludwig. III. The difficulty with the medal bar recreation will be several of the obscure ones that are not commonly found as originals and never as copies, e.g., The Bavarian 1910 Agricultural Jubilee, the Wurttemberg Karl 25 year Jubilee medal and the Austrian 1908 Jubilee medal for foreigners. This will be a  very long term (and perhaps expensive) project.

    Edited by filfoster
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    I agree that completing all the medals can be difficult, as even the replicas of some of them are hard to get (I have just seen a nice looking replica of the Prince-Regent Luitpold Medal in Gold). Still, good luck!

     

    I would like to attract your attention to one of Ludwig's photos from this topic. I have got it in a better resolution. The photo was taken in 1916 at the earliest and is certainly the latest of all the photos here. I somehow did not pay much attention to it before. Note also the beautiful decorations of Queen Maria Theresa.

     

    I have enlarged the medal bar, which is substantially different from the ones on the other photos. Some of the earlier medals are missing, one is surprisingly not, some other, evidently from WWI, have been added. Below is the list, as I could identify them. I am not sure of the three medals whose faces are actually hidden, but maybe someone else will be able to confirm or reject my guessing:

     

    1.    Military Order of Maximilian-Joseph – Knight
    2.    Order of the Bavarian Crown – Knight
    3.    Military Merit Order 3rd Class with Swords
    4.    Ludwig Order
    5.    1905/1909 Prince-Regent Luitpold Medal in Gold
    6.    Kingdom of Saxony Military Order of St. Henry – Knight
    7.    Grand Ducal Oldenburg Cross of Friedrich-August (?)
    8.    Princely Schaumburg-Lippe Military Merit Medal (? - perhaps moved from the place further on)
    9.    Princely Lippe War Cross
    10.    1866 Campaign Cross
    11.    Prussian 25-year Officer Service Cross
    12.    Prussian 1897 Centenary Medal
    13.    Kingdom of Württemberg Commemorative Medal for the 25th Anniversary of King Karl's Reign in Gold
    14.    British Queen Victoria Golden/Diamond Jubilee Medal in Gold (?)
    15.    Austro-Hungarian 1898 Jubilee Medal for Military
    16.    Austro-Hungarian 1908 Jubilee Medal for Foreigners
    17.    Austro-Hungarian 1908 Jubilee Cross for the Armed Forces
    18.    Russian 1896 Nicholas II Coronation Medal (it is odd that Ludwig decided to continue wearing it during the war!)

     

     

     

    Ludwig-III-1916.jpg

    Ludwig III Spange 4.jpg

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    • 2 months later...

    VtwinVince: Thank you. My project for this year is to reproduce his 1912 full dress uniform, with helmet, tunic, aiguillette, epaulettes and baton. This will likely take most of the year. I hope to post what I have. by fall.

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    • 7 months later...

    1812 Overture: Very simply because I could not find one AND because the originals are HIDEOUSLY expensive, far more than I'm willing to pay for a project like this. I prefer to use reproduction medals when available or inexpensive real substitutes.. The obverse bust of the medal I used is very similar, except for the lack of a laurel wreath crown. the medal border is plain, like the original.

    Edited by filfoster
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