Pre and WW1 Era German Medals

[Gildwiller1918]

Here are the few WW1 German Medals I have acquired over the years. 

Franco-Prussian War Medals, for Combatants and Non-Combatants (replacement ribbons). 

Kriegshilfsdienste medal 

Kaiser Wilhelm II Wedding Jubilee medal (replacement ribbon)

EK2 1914 medals, first one is for combatants, second for non-combatants (replacement ribbon) both are magnetic

Bayern 1849 loyalty medal (ribbon may be incorrect)

Bavarian military service cross 3rd class

Prussian jubilee medal, reverse has the following, along the rim it reads: Gestiftet im Jubilaumsjahr 1913, zur Erinnerungan 1813 und 1888. In the center it reads: Krieger Verein, gegr. 1.8.1879, Zucher.  On the Front it has Wilhelm  II Deutscher Kaiser Konig v. Preussen. I am sure the ribbon is a replacement.

Prussian jubilee medal, 25 year anniversary of the war of 1870-71, ribbon looks period, just not sure if it goes with this medal. 

[Fritz]

The last two medals are not official.

The bronze medal with the sword - "Dem tapferen Befreiungsheer 1849" - "To the brave army of liberation" not Bavaria and also not the correct ribbon (this is the ribbon of the Badische  Jubiläumsmedaille, 1902) - It states on the reverse "Leopold Großherzog von Baden" - It is a medal awarded by the Grand Duke of Baden after 1849 to foreign troops, who intervened against the rebellion, where almost all regiments of the state of Baden joined the insurrectionists in the uprising of 1848/9, and occupied several fortresses.  Worn on a ribbon in the colours of the House Order, yellow with woven silver edge stripes.  The Grand Duke fled to safety and Prussia and Bavaria were called upon to put down the revolt, sending troops, who defeated the rebels. There were several court martials and some of those involved in leading the rebellion were shot by firing squad. There were  similar revolts in Vienna, Berlin, Dresden and Paris.
Original ribbon is still obtainable!

The last decoration is unofficial, commemorating the 25th anniversary of the victory over France, 1870/71, and has the (wrong) ribbon of the Kriegsdenkmünze 1870/71, which was official.

The Kaiser Wilhelm Medal with the yellow ribbon - is not Kaiser Wilhelm II., and is not a wedding jubilee medal!  Depicted is Kaiser Wilhelm I., the grandfather of Wilhelm II.  It marked his hundredth birthday on 22. March 1797-1897, as was made of the bronze from French canons from 1870/71.    "Zum Andenken an den 100. Geburtstag des Großen Kaisers Wilhelm I...." Correct but replaced ribbon.

The white ribbon for non-combattants on the iron cross is a modern replacement, and is very much rarer than the normal combattants version.

 

Baden, Gedächtnismedaille, 1849 (left), yellow ribbon with edge stripes in silver thread.

Here is a better photo.

Kriegsdenkmünze für Nichtkämpfer (non-combattants), iron, on correct ribbon.

Iron Crosses with the normal ribbon and with the "white" ribbon for non-combattants.

An example of the Kaiser Wilhelm (I.)-Gedächtnis-Medaille, 1897 - as worn by a veteran of the 1870/71 War.

Kaiser Wilhelm II., Wedding Jubilee Decoration (25), worn on various types of ribbon, on that of decoration as last received by the recipient, in this example, Allgemeines Ehrenzeichen or Rother-Adler-Orden IV.Klasse.  Silver, pin-back, worn on left lower breast.

Bayern / Bavaria - Militär-Verdienstkreuz 3. Klasse (replacement ribbon), instituted in 1866, awarded till 1918/20.
with crown and swords
with swords
with swords, later 1917/18 example made of Kriegs- or Ersatz-Metall (Zinc), much seldomer encountered, Swords are of iron! (magnetic).

[Gildwiller1918]

Thanks Fritz, I was waiting to hear your comments. I appreciate you letting me know about the medals, still learning about them. The US stuff is more my area, but I am slowly expanding into other areas.

[Gildwiller1918]

Fritz, on the medals you said were unofficial, what was their purpose? For veterans, money raising scheme? Just curious.

[Fritz]

The first one is a veteran's association medal "Kriegerverein Tuchel" - founded on 1. August 1879, commemorative of the years 1813-1888-1913 - by that association, the second one was probably commercially produced for the 25th anniverary of the victories of 1870/71 for sale/distribution, simply a patriotic symbol. Depicted are:
Kaiser Wilhelm I., Crown Prince Friedrich as commander of the III. Armee, Otto von Bismarck, Reichskanzler (and Major of the Reserve), and Generalfeldmarschall Helmut von Moltke, whose plans and tactics on the battlefield led to victory over the French.

See my text and photos in section under imperial German medals - Preussen (Prussia), Baden, Bavaria/Bayern, etc.

There is also a Battenberg catalogue (by that publisher) of all German ribbons till 1945, each example in full colour, not an expensive
and highly recommended.

[Gildwiller1918]

Here is a new one I just got, the König Ludwig Kreuz für Heimatverdienste. Essentially a war service cross for Bavaria, it was awarded to those who supported the war effort. These cross were made of  silver, bronze, iron or zinc. The silver version was reserved for nobility and well known people as only 250 were made. The other materials were typically blackened and estimated 90,000 were made. The design comes from Bernhard Bleeker.

[Fritz]

This is of course, a Bavarian, and not a "German" decoration - most of the recipients would also have been Bavarians. Very good to get with original ribbon. Many Bavarian decorations are missing the ribbon.

[Gildwiller1918]

I have noticed an increase of WW1 era German medals for sale lately, wonder what the reason is?

[Fritz]

Same here, also for German WW1 and pre-WW1 items, including helmets, shoulder straps, uniforms, etc., also fieldgrey. I would think a lot of older collectors have passed on, their collections are coming on to the market again, mainly via auctions. I can see this through many of the latest auction catalogues in the past 10 years or more.

[Gildwiller1918]

Quite possible, I have been hearing a lot of US Civil War collectors are looking to sell off their collections as they are getting older and have other priorities now. 

[Fritz]

The last step before passing on!

 

[Gildwiller1918]

Picked up another Bavarian medal, the Armeedenkzeichen for 1866 which was established on 25.8.1886 by the King Ludwig II, for participants of 1866 campaign against Austria. Got it for a really good price, as mentioned earlier a lot of these WW1 and Pre-WW1 medals are hitting the market now. 

[Fritz]

Introduced 1866. Ludwig II. died on 13. June 1886! Bavaria supported Austria, a sad day for Bavaria. Bavaria lost the war in 1866, but the troops deserved some form of recognition. Not rare, but in the past, difficult to find, these have been surfacing the past few years. A good ribbon, not contempory, but probably manufactured before 1945.

[Gildwiller1918]

Just got another one, good price on this one as well. This is the Bavarian militarverdienstkreuz 3. klasse or military cross of merit, 3rd class. 3rd class medals had a copper tint to them. These crosses came in 5 categories: Grand Cross, Commander, Knights 1st and 2nd Class and the Military Cross. These were awarded from 1913-1918.

[Gildwiller1918]

Yet another find, the Prussian Red Cross Medal, which was instituted by Wilhelm II on 1 October 1898. There were 3 classes of this medal, the first class was a pin back type similar to the Iron Cross 1st class. The second and third classes were suspended by ribbons. The example below is that of third class. The initials W and R at the top (William Rex) and below are the initials A and V (Augusta Victoria). Unfortunately the ribbon has been messed with, I might be able to salvage it. 

[Fritz]

The Red Cross decoration is on a Ladie's bow, perfectly correct, if not the neatest one I have seen. I would not do anything to this. There would have been a safety pin sewn to the back, this has been later removed, as people were needy in the postwar years after both wars.

[Gildwiller1918]

I was thinking it looked like a brooch or something similar. Most people usually assume all the WW1 medals went to men, but the women did serve as well. 

[Fritz]

No, this usually has a large safety pin sewn to the  rear. There were a lot of women working in war service, behind the front and at home, as well as a vast quantity of medical personnel with the Red Cross organisations and care of the wounded.

The Militär-Verdienst-Kreuz was in 3 classes only. 1., 2. and 3. class. The first 2 classes had an enamelled medaillon to front, 1. was gilt, 2. was silver, 3. bronze, as in picture. The version shown with swords is much more common than without swords. Also worn with a crown, which was a grade higher.

There was otherwise the Militär-Verdienst-Orden, in various classes, and which was a different catagory altogether and was only awarded to officers.

The MVK and MVO were all an institution started in 1866 by Ludwig II.

The ribbons:

   Militärverdienstorden and -kreuz, peacetime ribbon

    as before, wartime

     as before, for Militärbeamte

[Gildwiller1918]

I did manage to find a Bavarian Military Merit Cross, third class without swords recently, it did not have an original ribbon, but still a nice find and it was very affordable, I have been seeing a lot of Bavarian medals lately....

[Fritz]

This does appear to be  an original without swords. Many examples are now turning up, where the swords have been removed at some stage. The cross without swords is so much rarer. It was however, not worn on the above ribbon. The correct ribbon is white with wide blue stripes towards the edges, or the other version with a wider blue centre stripe and black edge stripes for Militärbeamte.

Example of the ribbon for Militärbeamte - however, the cross is with swords

Here, an example of the other ribbon type, this being the 2. class without swords.
(internet photos)

[Gildwiller1918]

Thanks Fritz, I will have to order some ribbons soon to get them all correct. The one above came with the repro ribbon. I was just lucky to find it at all, I have not seen very many of these crosses. 

[Fritz]

Yes, there are two possible ribbons for the decoration, as shown above. The decoration came with the later mid war case. The earlier case was much nicer, it was light blue with silver print, a fine silk and velvet lining, and the lid was on a hinge and had a proper fastener.

 

 

 

[Fritz]

On 04/06/2020 at 00:11, Gildwiller1918 said:

Thanks Fritz, I will have to order some ribbons soon to get them all correct. The one above came with the repro ribbon. I was just lucky to find it at all, I have not seen very many of these crosses. 

 

  Baden, medal for 1848/49

Bavaria, 3 types of ribbon for Militär-Verdienstkreuz & -orden

  peacetime

  wartime

   for Militärbeamte and non-military persons

 

[Fritz]

On 09/09/2019 at 19:14, Gildwiller1918 said:

Here are the few WW1 German Medals I have acquired over the years. 

Franco-Prussian War Medals, for Combatants and Non-Combatants (replacement ribbons). 

Kriegshilfsdienste medal 

Kaiser Wilhelm II Wedding Jubilee medal (replacement ribbon)

EK2 1914 medals, first one is for combatants, second for non-combatants (replacement ribbon) both are magnetic

Bayern 1849 loyalty medal (ribbon may be incorrect)

Bavarian military service cross 3rd class

Prussian jubilee medal, reverse has the following, along the rim it reads: Gestiftet im Jubilaumsjahr 1913, zur Erinnerungan 1813 und 1888. In the center it reads: Krieger Verein, gegr. 1.8.1879, Zucher.  On the Front it has Wilhelm  II Deutscher Kaiser Konig v. Preussen. I am sure the ribbon is a replacement.

Prussian jubilee medal, 25 year anniversary of the war of 1870-71, ribbon looks period, just not sure if it goes with this medal. 

Not the Kaiser Wilhelm II. Jubilee medal, but the 100. birthday of Kaiser Wilhelm I., portrait same

Wedding Jubilee

Hochzeitserinnerungszeichen