DDR My DDR awards

[Gordon Craig]

Dan,

Getting the medal should be doable. Getting the uniform will be almost impossible. Good luck in trying.

I ment to mention previously the , like you, I was impressed by the way the Collective presenatation cases for medals were set up. I have only seen one complete set for sale in all my years of collecting and I missed it because I gave the other guy 20 seconds to bid and he beat me by a Euro. Some you win and some you lose.

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

[Hauptmann]

Dan,

Getting the medal should be doable. Getting the uniform will be almost impossible. Good luck in trying.

I ment to mention previously the , like you, I was impressed by the way the Collective presenatation cases for medals were set up. I have only seen one complete set for sale in all my years of collecting and I missed it because I gave the other guy 20 seconds to bid and he beat me by a Euro. Some you win and some you lose.

Cheers,

Gordon

Hi Gordon,

Now see, I figured the medal would be difficult. I'd figured that it was one of the earlier issues that was later redesigned so figured it would be hard to get. I tend to see the various police uniforms, insignia, caps, etc. on Ebay all the time for fairly cheap. So figured the uniform would be alot easier.

On the collective ones, could you give me a "rough" idea of what they run? Feel free to PM if you'd feel more comfortable doing it that way. I've yet to see one outside of the reference but it's a beaut.

Speaking of losing... I'm so steamed. Ebay has been really funky with me this week. I just bid on a couple of DDR ribbon bars. One is a four ribbon customs bar... won that. But the important one to me was immediately afterwards... an eight ribbon bar for NVA, etc. I hit the confirm bid button and Ebay kicks back with confirm bid again! By the time I hit the button again the auction was over! I was furious! This is the second time this week that they've done this to me. Bid with plenty of time and then some glitch throws it all in the can. I don't mind losing when I'm outbid but I positively hate it when it's due to a technical problem. I just don't seem to any have luck at all with decent sized DDR ribbon bars. They either go for a small fortune or they go cheap when I get distracted or mix up the days or something. But in this case I was ready to go and it still messed me up. I'm beginning to wonder if I'll ever have an eight bar much less anything even close to it. And I've basically given up on anything bigger than an eight.

Sigh. Some days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed.

Oh well... back on the hunt I guess.

Dan

[Gordon Craig]

Dan,

Sorry, but I can not give you an idea of the price for a medal award to a collective. I only saw the one for sale and don't remember what it went for. They are very much sought after and will go for whoever has the most to spend. Hard to say what something this rare will go for. As for eight place ribbon bar, are you looking for anything specific or just a bar with lot of awards? If you let me know what you want I can keep an eye open for you.

When I said the uniform would be hard to get it was because of the date of the award. While you see a lot of uniforms for sale on the net you rarely see those dated in the 60's, one 60's date tunic just sold for over 300.00 euros, and you never see them dated for the 50's. Virtually nonexistant.

Also, I said the medal was doable. I didn't say it would be easy and it would need to be of the type issued at the same time as the Urkunde. Once you have research the right type of medal then it is time to start searching for one. Good hunting.

Cheers,

Gordon

Hi Gordon,

Now see, I figured the medal would be difficult. I'd figured that it was one of the earlier issues that was later redesigned so figured it would be hard to get. I tend to see the various police uniforms, insignia, caps, etc. on Ebay all the time for fairly cheap. So figured the uniform would be alot easier.

On the collective ones, could you give me a "rough" idea of what they run? Feel free to PM if you'd feel more comfortable doing it that way. I've yet to see one outside of the reference but it's a beaut.

Speaking of losing... I'm so steamed. Ebay has been really funky with me this week. I just bid on a couple of DDR ribbon bars. One is a four ribbon customs bar... won that. But the important one to me was immediately afterwards... an eight ribbon bar for NVA, etc. I hit the confirm bid button and Ebay kicks back with confirm bid again! By the time I hit the button again the auction was over! I was furious! This is the second time this week that they've done this to me. Bid with plenty of time and then some glitch throws it all in the can. I don't mind losing when I'm outbid but I positively hate it when it's due to a technical problem. I just don't seem to any have luck at all with decent sized DDR ribbon bars. They either go for a small fortune or they go cheap when I get distracted or mix up the days or something. But in this case I was ready to go and it still messed me up. I'm beginning to wonder if I'll ever have an eight bar much less anything even close to it. And I've basically given up on anything bigger than an eight.

Sigh. Some days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed.

Oh well... back on the hunt I guess.

Dan

[order_of_victory]

Dan,

Well done on getting it

Happy hunting tring to track down the pieces for this

Order of Victory

[Hauptmann]

Dan,

Well done on getting it

Happy hunting tring to track down the pieces for this

Order of Victory

Hi Vic,

Many thanks my friend! I literally could not have done it without you. Out of all my DDR Urkundes this is now by far my favorite!

Thanks!!!!

Dan

[Ed_Haynes]

Thanks, Dan!

This has inspired me to start adding mine over at

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=11514

[Hauptmann]

Thanks, Dan!

This has inspired me to start adding mine over at

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=11514

Hi Ed,

Great pieces in your collection. Absolutely love the two Held's... fantastic!!!! I can only hope to own one someday.

Thanks so much for adding these in. Definitely gives us DDR collectors more heights to aspire to.

Dan

[Hauptmann]

Hi all,

Here's my latest additions.

Customs 4 place ribbon bar:

[attachmentid=54970]

All long service awards for (from left to right) 5, 10, 15 and 25 years. No idea why there's no 20 year as there is indeed on for that many years of service along with one for 30 years.

And a cased Medaille der Waffenbr?derschaft (Brotherhood in Arms Medal - Bronze) (1966). Hope to get the silver and gold grades at some point.

[attachmentid=54971]

I hadn't gotten much for my DDR collection for a bit so it's nice to be able to add these to the pile.

Dan

[Hauptmann]

Hi all,

Here's some scans of the Waffenbruderschaft medal. Any imperfections are not on the medal but due to the scan. I keep forgetting to bring down the cleaner for the glass on the scanner. The medal though is stone cold mint!

[attachmentid=56578]

[attachmentid=56579]

Edited October 10, 2006 by Hauptman

[Hauptmann]

[attachmentid=56580]

[attachmentid=56581]

[Hauptmann]

[attachmentid=56582]

I hope I'm able to get the other two grades someday. It's a rather striking design on this one.

Dan

[jon m.]

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:

[attachmentid=54853]

Full shot of the inner document:

[attachmentid=54854]

The picture of the award:

[attachmentid=54855]

Serial number:

[attachmentid=54857]

He also served in the NVA

[Gordon Craig]

Dan,

I susupect the one long service award was left off the four place ribbon bar because it was to be worn on a shirt. Ribbon bars are limited to four ribbons in length when worn in the short sleeve oreder.

Regards,

Gordon

[Hauptmann]

He also served in the NVA

Hi John,

How can you tell? I looked at it again... granted I'm not feeling all that hot today... got a cold or something but I can't see any reference to the NVA.

Tell me your secrets.

Dan

[Hauptmann]

Dan,

I susupect the one long service award was left off the four place ribbon bar because it was to be worn on a shirt. Ribbon bars are limited to four ribbons in length when worn in the short sleeve oreder.

Regards,

Gordon

Hi Gordon,

Certainly makes sense. That has always seemed so strange to me... coming from the German tradition of wearing just about everything but the kitchen sink, as well as the same Soviet tradition it seemed so odd that they'd limit the number of awards that could be worn at any given time.

Dan

[German.Militaria]

Hi John,

How can you tell? I looked at it again... granted I'm not feeling all that hot today... got a cold or something but I can't see any reference to the NVA.

Tell me your secrets.

Dan

Hi Dan, I believe that Jon was referring to the person that sold you the 1955 certificate...i.e. ME... (some nice smilies on this forum... ) ... anyhow, I am glad that you have got the cert now and that you like it...keep checking my auctions...I am sure that I will have more in the future...anyhow, re your question about who signed the cert, that was Fritz Eikemeier, who was Polizeipresident of Berlin from 1953 to 1964 and lived from 1908 to 1985....hope this helps? Good luck with the rest of your collection... Cheers, Torsten.

Edited October 20, 2006 by German.Militaria

[Hauptmann]

Hi Dan, I believe that Jon was referring to the person that sold you the 1955 certificate...i.e. ME... (some nice smilies on this forum... ) ... anyhow, I am glad that you have got the cert now and that you like it...keep checking my auctions...I am sure that I will have more in the future...anyhow, re your question about who signed the cert, that was Fritz Eikemeier, who was Polizeipresident of Berlin from 1953 to 1964 and lived from 1908 to 1985....hope this helps? Good luck with the rest of your collection... Cheers, Torsten.

Hi Torsten,

Hello my friend. Glad to see you've come aboard! Wecome!!!!

On the NVA part, that's very true of course. Thought he was talking about the certificate. We'll chalk it up to the deranged mind of a cold/flu victim.

Any chance of getting a pic of Herr Eikemeier? I did a quick Google search and although it came up with a couple of things, no pics.

Many thanks for this info on the certificate and I'll definitely be keeping an eye on your future auctions for more. Just have to get my warchest built up a bit.

Have a great one!

Dan

[German.Militaria]

Hi Torsten,

Hello my friend. Glad to see you've come aboard! Wecome!!!!

On the NVA part, that's very true of course. Thought he was talking about the certificate. We'll chalk it up to the deranged mind of a cold/flu victim.

Any chance of getting a pic of Herr Eikemeier? I did a quick Google search and although it came up with a couple of things, no pics.

Many thanks for this info on the certificate and I'll definitely be keeping an eye on your future auctions for more. Just have to get my warchest built up a bit.

Have a great one!

Dan

I am sure that there will be a pic of the man somewhere, but I would not know where to look right now...lets see what I can find...or maybe someone else can help?? Cheers, Torsten.

[Hauptmann]

I am sure that there will be a pic of the man somewhere, but I would not know where to look right now...lets see what I can find...or maybe someone else can help?? Cheers, Torsten.

Hi Torsten,

Mucho thanks! And no rush... just something I'd eventually like to display with the doc. A shame it would probably be near impossible to find a pic of the recipient out there as that would be ultra cool! But talk about finding a needle in a haystack.

Have a great one!

Dan

[jon m.]

Yes I was referring to German.Militaria (Torsten) as having served in the NVA.

Sorry for not noticing the confusion sooner, but I have been caught up in "The Devaluing of the Hero of Russia." I sure stirred up a hornets nest over there.

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=10543

Jon.

Edited October 20, 2006 by jon m.

[Hauptmann]

Yes I was referring to German.Militaria (Torsten) as having served in the NVA.

Sorry for not noticing the confusion sooner, but I have been caught up in "The Devaluing of the Hero of Russia." I sure stirred up a hornets nest over there.

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=10543

Jon.

Hi Jon,

Not a problem! I haven't taken a look at the "Devaluing" thread for a bit... looks like I'll have to wander over there and take another look.

Thanks,

Dan

[Hauptmann]

Hi all,

Well, here's my newest addition to the DDR collection, a cased Fatherland Merit Order in bronze complete with ribbon bar. Not here yet... just ordered it so hopefully it'll be here sometime in the next couple weeks or so. Once it's here I'll do better pics and scans for more details:

Been wanting one of these for the longest time. I've no idea how much the gold and silver grades are running these days and I'm almost afraid to ask... if you can even still find them. I think my next goal is going to be for the Orders of Merit for Nation and Fatherland set like Vic just completed. After that... not sure what I'll be able to afford in the higher ones. They seemed to get pricey right from the get go and have just continued to go up ever since.

Anyhow till I receive it and get more pics here's a page I found on them with all three grades front and back:

http://www.medals.org.uk/germany/ddr/ddr005.htm

If anyone happens to have any of these... even a bronze grade please post as I'd love to see them but it would also be great for comparison when I get mine.

Dan

[Gordon Craig]

Dan,

Interesting url for the VVOs. If you look at the backs of the medals you will see the difference in construction of the earlier and later models. There are more than two issues but this will do for a start. The bronze is a late issue with the ribbon held on by bending over two pins and a simple hook that the actual medal hangs from. Notice also that the back is rough rather than smooth. The silver and gold grades have the ribbon and the medal hanger held together by two screws. Note that the medal hanger is composed of two loops of wire and that the backs of the medals are smooth. Also note the barrel latch and pin arrangement on the silver and gold grades versus the much simplified pin arrangement on the bronze. The silver and gold grades do not appear to have any silver hallmarks on them however so they are probably the issue just prior to the last one. Cann't remember all of the details right off and don't want to make a mistake in my post so will close with these comments and do a better job in the future.

Regards,

Gordon

[Hauptmann]

Dan,

Interesting url for the VVOs. If you look at the backs of the medals you will see the difference in construction of the earlier and later models. There are more than two issues but this will do for a start. The bronze is a late issue with the ribbon held on by bending over two pins and a simple hook that the actual medal hangs from. Notice also that the back is rough rather than smooth. The silver and gold grades have the ribbon and the medal hanger held together by two screws. Note that the medal hanger is composed of two loops of wire and that the backs of the medals are smooth. Also note the barrel latch and pin arrangement on the silver and gold grades versus the much simplified pin arrangement on the bronze. The silver and gold grades do not appear to have any silver hallmarks on them however so they are probably the issue just prior to the last one. Cann't remember all of the details right off and don't want to make a mistake in my post so will close with these comments and do a better job in the future.

Regards,

Gordon

Hi Gordon,

Many thanks for the additional info on these. To be honest I had not noticed any of those details save the basic differences in the smooth or rough finish on the reverses when I looked at this earlier. I tried looking it up in my DDR Orders and medals reference last night and was shocked to find it didn't cover these... except the ribbon bars that is:

I can't wait to receive this latest addition and have a chance to get a good look at it. I've never seen one in person... only online. Doubt I'd be able to get the higher grades as I'm assuming those have reached far greater heights over time and will continue to do so. But there's always hope I guess.

Many thanks for your help and advice on this one. I'm glad I could manage to get it. Wish I could have managed the early one as well but right now this was a squeeze... but one that I feel is well worth it.

Thanks!

Dan

[ehrentitle]

Looks like lots of activity since the last time I visited this forum, I need to visit more often. I have two Bronze and one Silver VVO, all the early type with the double loop suspension. I'll try to post a couple of scans this weekend. Here is a link to a great thread on the VVO at the WA DDR forum:

http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/sho...p;highlight=VVO

Kevin

Edited March 8, 2007 by ehrentitle