DDR My DDR awards

[ehrentitle]

Verdienstmedaille der NVA in Silver. On the left is a late issue medal, on the right are a pair of early 1960s numbered medals. notice the difference in the size of the ring holding the medal to the ribbon, you can also see this on the KG medals I posted earlier.

Edited May 29, 2006 by ehrentitle

[ehrentitle]

and the reverse. The 60s medals are marked .900 (Silver) on the bottom rim of the medal. Note the difference in the UND near the bottom of the medal. the one on the left has no dashes before and after the UND.

Edited May 29, 2006 by ehrentitle

[Hauptmann]

Nice collection! I especailly enjoy the qualification badges and the award citations.

Hi Paul,

Many thanks! They did indeed have a large variety of qualification badges of both types with much of it still being dirt cheap which is great for collectors on a tight budget... which I've been for a long time. Lets us get in on some of the fun! I hope to get some navies eventually and perhaps a few from the air force. They're starting to turn up on Ebay and I keep checking hoping for some good prices. Oh for the return of the heyday in Soviet and EG collectibles.

I also love the Urkunden. I never really was able to get into WWI or WWII award documents and these make terrific displays. I only wish mine were "awarded" pieces... but I'm always hoping to be able to pick some up at some point.

And when I got my book on Orders and medals (see my addition in the reference listing) I was amazed at some of the variations on some of the awards. It seemed they were tailor made for collectors who love such things.

I guess, along with the 57's this is one area that definitely needs improvement though... references in English. I've scrounged for whatever I could find but it's not much. And the prices on Ebay when such things turn up tends to make it so I can't afford it. I have a few in German but sadly I'm nowhere near fluent enough to learn enough from them. But there's a seller on Ebay with alot of this material on CD rom and I've been tempted to get one and check it out. Looks like an awful lot of info.

And I really hope that by posting such things we'll all be able to learn more about them.

Thanks so much for taking a peek!

Dan

[Hauptmann]

Thanks for sharing your collection. Kampfgruppen and VOPO medals and badges some of the most affordable of East German collectables. I'll try to post a couple of examples of varations of medals to illustrate your comments. Kevin

Hi Kevin,

Thanks so much for posting some of your pieces. Great stuff! I'm so glad to see some of the varieties I talked about. In fact I believe between your Kampgruppens and the service medals they also show the variation in the reverse wreaths as well as showing the early numbered awards not to mention the pins... something not mentioned in the book. Well done!

I have some of the ones with the varieties in the flag on the obverse on the Army loyal service medals but not any of the Verdienstmedaille der NVA. But I keep looking.

I just LOVE your service medals, especially on the bar. I'm still hoping for at least one DDR bar and I would dearly love to find one with some of my beloved Verdienstmedaille der NVA on them... just beautiful!!!! I don't know why in the world I'm so hooked on that particular type but I am so guess I've just got to go with the flow.

And many thanks for showing the difference in the reverse attachments on the early qualification badges. So I take it that means my Panzer Meister is one of the restrikes? Again I'm far from an expert in such things... but I'm trying to learn.

Beautiful pieces you have there. Loved seeing them. Please post more DDR's if you have them. And would absolutely love to see that entire medal bar... or medal bars in general if you or any of the other members have them. I've yet to see one for sale but I keep hoping. It's like ribbon bars... I have yet to obtain a single DDR ribbon bar... outside of the singles that come with the medals.

Again many thanks for sharing. That's the greatest part of this... we all get to learn more about the things we love.

Dan

[ehrentitle]

Dan - Thanks. I've been collecting East German on an off since 1986 when I was stationed in Berlin. There is a thread I started on restrikes in the DDR section of the WA form at: http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/sho...ad.php?t=153256 that might be useful. I suspect that your Panzer badge was made in the 90s because of the type of post.

The best and cheapest place to get East German awards and orignial certificates is Ebay.de of course. A few months back I bid on and won a set of over 25 medals and badges for KG (it contained all of the cased KG medals you have shown), VOPO, etc for just 6 Euro plus postage which was about twice that. it did take seven weeks to make it here, but well worth the wait.

There are some references in English. The now defunct Society of East German Militaria Collectors (SEMC) had a great newsletter in English in the late 90s. They are a bit hard to find but you do see them on E-bay once in a blue moon. I have most of them, but they are a royal pain in the backside to photocopy. Wikipedia has a few articles on East German Medals and some great articles related to East Germany, most of which were translated from the German wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:East_Germany

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Awar...of_East_Germany

I've been working on revising an article on the KG at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combat_Groups...e_Working_Class

Kevin

Edited May 29, 2006 by ehrentitle

[ehrentitle]

Dan - Per your request here is a scan of the front side that shows the full medal bar. Kevin

[ehrentitle]

And the reverse -

[Hauptmann]

And the reverse -

Hi Kevin,

I'm in love!!!!

Many thanks for all the info! Will be going over it a bit later when things get quiet around here and I can concentrate and enjoy.

Thanks,

Dan

[Avitas]

Very informative on post on DDR medals Dan

It seems you have a very good selection of documents to go with the nice medals. I have many of the pins and badges that you have pictured, plus a few more that you haven't posted. I have a few different "GST" badges (among others) and I was wondering what that stood for, as I really don't know much about DDR, but apparently I have still managed to acquire lots of it. I will have to get on the scanner and post some of my DDR stuff for your viewing! Mostly pins, badges and shoulder and collar tabs. I really like the Kampfgruppen set, the image of the AK toting soldier is classic. The banner awards are also a neat variation of the Soviet Red Banner award, and together would make a good set for the era. Here are my Major-Oberst DDR Airforce collar tabs for kicks.

Cheers,

Pat

[Hauptmann]

Very informative on post on DDR medals Dan

It seems you have a very good selection of documents to go with the nice medals. I have many of the pins and badges that you have pictured, plus a few more that you haven't posted. I have a few different "GST" badges (among others) and I was wondering what that stood for, as I really don't know much about DDR, but apparently I have still managed to acquire lots of it. I will have to get on the scanner and post some of my DDR stuff for your viewing! Mostly pins, badges and shoulder and collar tabs. I really like the Kampfgruppen set, the image of the AK toting soldier is classic. The banner awards are also a neat variation of the Soviet Red Banner award, and together would make a good set for the era. Here are my Major-Oberst DDR Airforce collar tabs for kicks.

Cheers,

Pat

Hi Pat,

Many thanks. The nicest thing is there's a great deal of variety and something in all price ranges so just about anyone can put together a fairly nice DDR collection.

On the GST it stands for Die Gesellschaft f?r Sport und Technik. It was formed 7th August 1952. It was a paramilitary youth organization for sports including things such as motorcycling, flying, pre-military training, etc.

From what I've seen GST items are among the cheapest and easiest to get ahold of of all the DDR material out there. They even have a nice finial I'd love to get some day and even their flags and such turn up rather cheap from time to time.

I've never really sought it out for the most part... the pieces I have mostly came from big package deals and they just happened to be there or as throw in's or gifts. Makes for a nice sideline.

Nice tabs by the way. I have the same ones with the matching boards. Another throw in if I remember correctly. I also have a set of paratrooper tabs and some other miscellaneous tabs and boards, as well as several uniforms, field gear, headgear, etc. I'll have to get around to taking pics of those and posting at some point.

Definitely would like to see your goodies as well.

Dan

[Hauptmann]

Hi all,

Here's the newest additions to my DDR collection thanks to Gerd. Many thanks my friend! You are indeed a Scholar and a Gentleman!

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[Hauptmann]

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[Hauptmann]

These are fantastic and a great addition to my mini sports badge collection. Two documented minis, one in gold and one an oblong silver... with a II pendant! I've never before seen one of these with a pendant! Fell in love with these the second I laid eyes on them.

Gerd... I simply cannot thank you enough! Fantastic pieces one and all!

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Dan

[Ingsoc]

Here is my Verdienstmedaille der NVA in Silver, notice that the number on it is 00225 (a very low number).

[Paul R]

Awesome stuff guys! I have not seen too many mounted medal bars around! Yours is great!

Also, nice early silver service medal. It is only the second one I have ever seen. Lots of rare things here!

[Guest Rick Research]

The Ernst Schneller medals are M1973+ for the Gesellschaft f?r Sport und Technik (GST), pre-military training youth sports badges.

This was the DDR clone of the Soviet DOSAAF organization.

[Hauptmann]

Hi all,

This is the newest addition to my DDR collection. It was actually found on Ebay by Vic (Order of Victory) who passed it on to me. (Many thanks Vic!!!! ). I managed to win the bid and can't wait till it arrives.

It's an Urkunde (award document) for a Polizei long service medal dated 1955 and awarded to Volks Polizei Unterkommissar Heinz Mueller and numbered 1271.

From the picture of the medal I believe it's an early type that was later redesigned. Of course I'm always open to more info if anyone knows more about this or any of my items.

These are the sellers pics by the way. His name is Torsten and goes by German.Militaria on ebay. I know several of our members know Torsten from other forums. And he should be joining us here at GMIC very soon. In fact he has some information to add about this document and I can't wait to see his post when he comes on board.

He's a Gentleman and a Scholar and will be an excellent addition to our membership! And keep in mind that he runs some terrific auctions on Ebay so please, check out his listings... you never know, you might find a real prize like I did!

First the outer cover:

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Full shot of the inner document:

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The picture of the award:

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Serial number:

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Edited October 4, 2006 by Hauptman

[Hauptmann]

The Urkunde:

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The signature of the Police President of Berlin:

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Anyone have any idea on the name here?

I hope I did well with this one. I've seen quite a few of the more modern documents and covers but this is the first early one I've seen. Managed to get it for $20.50 plus shipping. To me I think it's well worth it. Now I'm wondering how hard it would be to find the actual award to go with it... or how much it would run.

Also does anyone happen to have a pic of the uniform this man would have worn or the rank insignia? And is this an officers or lower rank?

Needless to say I'm very excited by this one and can't wait to see it in person when it arrives.

Dan

[lach470]

Looks cool Dan! Not my area of expertise but this certainly looks interesting. I tried digging around on the internet to see if I could get a handle on the name for you.....I didn't have any luck

Hope you get this DDR item soon!

Cheers!

Rob

[Gordon Craig]

[attachmentid=54875]Dan,

The badge you do not know the name of is called the Aktivist der Sozialistischen Arbeit. It was instituted on 28.07.1969. To help learn more about DDR badges and medals I would suggest you acquire the following two books;

And last but not least is my Panzer Meister badge. There were three types of Panzer badge. The first type looked like this with the exception that the "flag" at the top of the wreath had only the DDR state colors. This was used from 1958 to 1960.

The second type (mine) had the state seal included on the flag at the top of the wreath. This was used from 1960 to 1963.

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The third type (to my knowledge) looks similar to the majority of the qualification badges shown in my post, including the one for the Border Guard... except on the Panzer it has a pink background for the center color with a picture of a tank, the number of the qualification badge and the flag with state seal at the top of the wreath.

Well, that's it for now. I do have some extras, field guard, insignia, uniforms, caps, etc. but as far as awards this pretty well does it for this post.

If anyone has any additional information on anything I've posted please feel free to post it. I'm always open to learning more about anything I have.

I hope to add more to my DDR collection over time but for now I've been trying to concentrate on my Soviet awards and flag/finial collections.

Thanks for looking and I hope you've enjoyed the show.

Dan

[Gordon Craig]

[attachmentid=54875]Dan,

The badge you do not know the name of is called the Aktivist der Sozialistischen Arbeit. It was instituted on 28.07.1969. To help learn more about DDR badges and medals I would suggest you acquire the following two books;

[Gordon Craig]

[attachmentid=54876]Dan,

Just learning to post pictures on the board and that last one didn't work so well. The other book I wanted to tell you about was.

[Gordon Craig]

Dan,

Unterkommissar was the lowest grade of officer. His shoulderboards would have looked almost exactly like a Leutnant in the Third Reich Wehrmacht.

Very nice early Urkunde in a Mappe that matches the time frame.

Cheers,

Gordon

[Hauptmann]

[attachmentid=54876]Dan,

Just learning to post pictures on the board and that last one didn't work so well. The other book I wanted to tell you about was.

Hi Gordon,

I actually do have the second of those two books... would definitely like the first at some point. Finding these at a decent price is the only problem. All DDR stuff seems to go sooooo high these days.

Mucho thanks!

Dan

[Hauptmann]

Dan,

Unterkommissar was the lowest grade of officer. His shoulderboards would have looked almost exactly like a Leutnant in the Third Reich Wehrmacht.

Very nice early Urkunde in a Mappe that matches the time frame.

Cheers,

Gordon

Hi Gordon,

Many thanks! Again I'm hoping I did well on this. I've not seen enough of these Urkundes to really have a handle on values... and this is the first and only early one I've seen so really no idea here... totally new ground. But I just couldn't pass it up.

It would be really neat if I could find the medal to go with this as well as the complete VP uniform for his rank... would make a great display. Another long term project I guess. Thank goodness as a general rule police stuff tends to be fairly cheap.

Thanks again,

Dan