During a cleanup of an old collection I ran across an old manuscript by Eric Ludvigsen. Read for yourself: The Griffon Order of the Mecklenburg Grand Duchies – An Outline Especially the remarks on sword awards are quite interesting.
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The municipality of Thurnau must have been extremely proud of their veterans of the Franco-Prussian War. They coined medal as shown below in genuine silver. Everybody has probably encountered the official War Commemorative Medal issued by Prussia to all participants of that war. Coined from captured cannon
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The history of Prussian awards for combat-related action for NCO’s and soldiers is rather complex. Of course, during the Napoleonic Wars, the 1870/71 war against France, and during the World War (1914-1918), the Iron Cross 1st Class and 2nd Class were the primary awards for combat-related action
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A lesser know fact to most German collectors is that every German order had a “Kapitel”, basically a board of directors with secretary and treasurer to tend to the operative and administrative needs of the organization. Not all but a few states made this visible by handing
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Hermann Ritter von Speck was born on August 8, 1888 in München. During the First World War he fought in various battles on the Western Front. On September 7, 1914 at Gellenoncourt: “Leutnant Speck, der Abteilungsadjutant der II./3. b. Feldartillerieregiments hatte bei einem Erkundungsritt festgstellt, daß
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The grand cross star of the Württemberg Military Merit Order is one of the rarest among the bravery decorations of the former German states. Initially crafted by court jeweler F. Steinam in Stuttgard the Grand Cross of this esteemed order was only awarded 71 times over its
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During the German-French 1870/71 War Georg Eschenbecher was a member of the 6th Infantry Regiment “King William of Prussia” (6. Infanterie-Regiment „König Wilhelm von Preußen”). He was awarded the Bavarian Military Merit Medal in Silver (bayerische silberne Militär-Verdienst-Medaille) for action on September 19, 1870:
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After coming across a very unique Arts and Science medal, I was very much inclined to post it here as to tilt the scale of all German blogs to another type of decorations. Honoring the Art and Science has a long tradition. From non wearable state awards
Read more →This photograph was presented in Orden und Ehrenzeichen 16. Jahrgang., Nr. 94 (Dezember 2014) on page 349. At the time of publication, readers were asked to identify any of the individuals shown in the photograph. Readers were also asked to identify a possible the reason for the meeting.
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During the “War of the Fifth Coalition” in 1809, Frankfurt was ordered to aid the french troops to fight against Britain and Austria. The embarkation order to set out for Spain was issued on August 10. 1808. Initially 868 men, called the „1. Bataillon des Regiments von Zweyer“,
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