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Remembered Today:

Help to identify German medal


Gunner Bailey

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Not being a medal person I can't identify this medal on a WW1 photo postcard of a German Officer.

 

Expert help appreciated.

 

John

DSCN7538.JPG

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Others will know better than I, but just to be going on with, just possibly the Hausorden der Wendischen Krone Großkreuz mit der Krone in Gold? See, e.g., http://www.ehrenzeichen-orden.de/deutsche-staaten/hausorden-der-wendischen-krone-groskreuz-mit-der-krone-in-gold.html

 

Certainly an 'Order' of some kind as opposed to a 'medal'

 

Trajan

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trajan,

 

The wendische Orden has only 4 arms, while the order in the picture has 5...

 

Jan

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I don't know immediately of any German order with 5 arms. Perhaps it's a foreign order?

 

Is there anything else on the picture (back or front) that may be useful?

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No only the armchair he sits in. I was hoping the epaulettes may have helped

 

Name appears to be Karl-Heinz DANZER. (Two dots over the A). Possible home in Heidelberg.

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It looks pretty similar to the late-empire period French Legion d'honneur commander's neck badge. But given that the crown on the badge was replaced by a laurel wreath in 1871, this would seem rather unlikely for a WW1-era youngish German officer.

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A Hauptmann Friedrich Dänzer from Infanterie-Regiment 112 was KIA on 9 August 1914 near Mülhausen (Mulhouse)... Yet I can't find immediately an imperial German order with the 5 arms (I had thought of the Legion d'Honneur as well, but that is not possible).

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Could the uniform be diplomatic?  The tunic has 6 buttons and seems to be quite long, almost coat length.

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On 16.2.2018 at 12:29, AOK4 said:

A Hauptmann Friedrich Dänzer from Infanterie-Regiment 112 was KIA on 9 August 1914 near Mülhausen (Mulhouse)... Yet I can't find immediately an imperial German order with the 5 arms (I had thought of the Legion d'Honneur as well, but that is not possible).

Hi.

the officer in the photo is at least a Major. So it shouldn´t be Hptm. Dänzer. Can´t make out if here is a crown on the shoulderboard/Schulterstück. In the Rangliste of 1912 there is a Oberleutnant Dänzer. He was an Inspektionsoffizier at the Kriegsschule Hersfeld. He belonged to the IR 113 in Baden. So maybe he is related to the Hptm. Dänzer who was KIA while at IR112, also a Baden unit. Maybe the order is of the Großherzogtum Baden, though I couldn´t find a matching one.

GreyC

PS: No Dänzer in heidelberg 1910 or 1914. No personal file at he State Archive of Baden-Württemberg on him. BUT on Hptm Dänzer KIA and a Olt.d.Res. from Freiburg. Both can be ruled out, though. Is it really Dänzer or is it DANZER?

Edited by GreyC
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11 hours ago, charlie2 said:

His shoulder boards indicate he is at least a Major.

 

Charlie

 

Thanks that's useful.

 

12 hours ago, Bilco said:

John - try posting your photo here  http://gmic.co.uk/forum/71-germany-imperial-the-orders-decorations-and-medals-of-the-imperial-german-states/

Lots of very knowlegable folks there ...

 

Bill

Thanks, will give it a go if there's no answer from the GWF.

 

10 hours ago, GreyC said:

Hi.

the officer in the photo is at least a Major. So it shouldn´t be Hptm. Dänzer. Can´t make out if here is a crown on the shoulderboard/Schulterstück. In the Rangliste of 1912 there is a Oberleutnant Dänzer. He was an Inspektionsoffizier at the Kriegsschule Hersfeld. He belonged to the IR 113 in Baden. So maybe he is related to the Hptm. Dänzer who was KIA while at IR112, also a Baden unit. Maybe the order is of the Großherzogtum Baden, though I couldn´t find a matching one.

GreyC

PS: No Dänzer in heidelberg 1910 or 1914. No personal file at he State Archive of Baden-Württemberg on him. BUT on Hptm Dänzer KIA and a Olt.d.Res. from Freiburg. Both can be ruled out, though. Is it really Dänzer or is it DANZER?

 

Thanks very much for taking the time to look that up. It's Danzer with the two dots.

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On 2/16/2018 at 13:25, AOK4 said:

... The wendische Orden has only 4 arms, while the order in the picture has 5...

 

Heck, my eyesight IS going... Thanks...:unsure:

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John,

I think it would be a good idea to post a scan of the reverse side and let the German hand writing experts - Jan, GreyC - see what they can make of it. A very high res scan of each shoulderboard may also help.

 

Charlie

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Here's two more photos. The left shoulderboard is less clear.

 

Is the ring significant?

SSCN7636.JPG

SSCN7642.JPG

On 2/18/2018 at 15:39, gmac101 said:

The two dots are called an umlaut and change the vowel sound

 

Yes I know.

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I don't see a last name there, just: In "Alt-Heidelberg" als Karl-Heinz.

And "Alt Heidelberg" is a play, so the man has a stage costume and he played this character Karl-Heinrich (or Karl-Heinz) in the play...

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3 hours ago, AOK4 said:

I don't see a last name there, just: In "Alt-Heidelberg" als Karl-Heinz.

And "Alt Heidelberg" is a play, so the man has a stage costume and he played this character Karl-Heinrich (or Karl-Heinz) in the play...

 

Interesting! So he could be an actor called Karl-Heinz DANZER playing the prince of Saxony???

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5 minutes ago, Gunner Bailey said:

 

Interesting! So he could be an actor called Karl-Heinz DANZER playing the prince of Saxony???

 

No, "Karl-Heinz" is the name of the character in the play...

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May I offer two possible medals:

 

1. Belgium medal of honor of the crown, knight cross edition

 

5a8da131e0aed_BelgienKronenordenRitterkreuz.jpg.a4cdedd392190bf26cfe69628a58f295.jpg

 

2. French National Order of the Legion of Honour

 

national-order-of-the-legion-of-honour.jpg.6e5b9118c9129cfb16eb514cef9fdc88.jpg

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The medal and uniform are just for the play, so they are probably just made up from some things and don't refer to anything real.

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Looks like it's all coming together now.

 

Thanks Egbert and AOK4.

 

Military photo becomes Theatrical!

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