1870 EK2 with "25" eichenlaub

[streptile]

All right. I believe that every EK I own of questionable pedigree has been posted here and discussed. The 39EK2 Schinkel? Latvian Fake. The other 39EK2? Postwar. The 14EK2 Prinzen? Fake. Niemann's Fake of the week, no less. The 70EK2 I just posted? Refurbished 14EK2, or so it seems.

Thankfully that still leaves a number of nice, genuine EKs. Here is the one that started me collecting:

1870 EK2 with "25" Jubiläumseichenlaub:

















A few gratuitous beauty shots:







(I've chosen to watermark this one because it belonged to a family member and has some special import for me.)

[gregM]

THAT is what a 1870 should look like I only wish mine looked
that nice.

[VtwinVince]

Very nice example, thanks for showing it.

[Biro]

Beautifull - and textbook!

Congratulations.

[Adrian]

A beautiful EK and superb photos showing the minute details. Fantastic!

[saschaw]

Just textbook. Very nice one, congratulations.

[Don D.]

I can't add anything to what has already been said so I'll just sit here and be green with envy.

[streptile]

Thanks everyone for the nice words. I love this particular EK. I believe it to have been the actual awarded example, but I have no real way of knowing whether that's true. It is a "family piece" of which I am the current steward. My fascination with it started me on the road to collecting EKs.

I'm going to post some EKs in Wehrmacht crosses over the next few days, hopefully figure out makers, etc. Any help over there will be most appreciated.

TR

[Robert P.]

OUTSTANDING, Tervor! I can remember years back when these gems were still possible to find. But, no more. Yours is the example of the examples. Such nice detail.

[Jamz]

Whew!!! Thanks, I needed that. John

[streptile]

This thread has been resurrected so I decided to add this higher-res unmarked photo to it:



This EK was awarded to a man who is either my great-great grandfather or my great-great grand uncle. It's all a bit uncertain. I have his 1870 Kriegsdenkmünze, too (I'll post it in this thread a bit later). The EK was passed down through the family until I went on a family reunion to Poland about 12 or 13 years ago, where my family used to live (when it was Pomerania/Pommern) and met a cousin a few times removed, an older gentleman, who had served in WW2 on the Eastern front. He himself had been awarded the 39EK2 and EK1, as well as a wound badge (a lot of his face was shot off) and - probably - a few others decorations. He passed this EK to me as I alone demonstrated a real interest in it, and had only a few years earlier finished studies in German History. I've got a few photos of us together, too. I didn't stay in touch - the language barrier made it difficult - but I heard he passed away.

This is just a little bit of history.

By the way, this EK rested in a very small wooden box with an Iron Cross motif inlaid in silver on the lid - not an EK case, but rather something home-made or privately purchased.

[streptile]

Here is the Kriegsdenkmünze that belongs with the EK2.

It's interesting - and this is impossible to see on the photos - but the ribbons for both awards are clearly sewn up by the same hand in the same way. They're closed, almost hemmed, at the top - very neatly done.

I know Kriegsdenkmünzen aren't that exciting, but this one is, to me. I've got no idea why there are no campaign bars. I think they were issued during the jubilee period also. Is that correct? Seems like there should be some. The only campaign I know this soldier to have taken part in was the siege of Paris, but there could have been many more. I wish I knew.

[saschaw]

I've got no idea why there are no campaign bars. I think they were issued during the jubilee period also. Is that correct?

They were not issued but had to be privately purchased, and that's why the medal come often without any bar.

This EK was awarded to a man who is either my great-great grandfather or my great-great grand uncle. It's all a bit uncertain.

If you can give me their names I can look them up in a EK list...

[streptile]

If you can give me their names I can look them up in a EK list...

What a great offer.

Unfortunately I don't know the name of the awardee, but I've always wanted to. I suppose we could start with my family name(s), which I'll PM to you. The problem is that no one could tell me the path this award took through the years and finally into my hands... and it seems rather circuitous, as my family split up into many component parts more than a few times and moved continents twice since 1873, lost the farm (literally) after WW2, and then reconnected for the first time in Poland in the 1990s.

Thanks, Saschaw.

A PM with my family name(s) is on its way to you.

[streptile]

Hi.

Thanks so much, Sascha, for the help. It's very exciting to have this information close. I've made some preliminary discoveries and narrowed it down to 3 names, but I don't quite know what I'm looking at with the German text below in some cases, and in other cases I need help with the structure of the Prussian Army c. 1870.



I would be very grateful to anyone who can help me with these questions:

1st line:
"Prem-Lieut" = something Lieutnant, probably. Pommersches Feld-Artillerie Regiment No. 2. What is "Prem-Lieut"?

What is the "Reiter" batallion or Abteilung? I read that the "Reiter" batallion of Nr. 2 1. Pommersches Feldartillerie Regiment was stationed in Belgard, which is - quite literally - the small town in which my family lived. Would a "Prem-Lieut" have been in the Reiter batallion? The rest of the regiment was in Stettin, which - in 1870 - was not that close to the homestead.

2nd line:
Unteroffizier in Pommersches "Feft" or "Fest" -Artillerie Regiment. What is "Feft" or "Fest" I know there was also Artillerie Fuß, or Fuss, in addition to Feldartillerie. Is this it?

3rd line:
"Musketier" Would this have been the same the as "Füsilier" batallion during WWI-era? I read that the 3rd batallion of 7th Pommersches Infantrie-Regiment (Nr. 54) was the Füsilier batallion, and that they were stationed in Cöslin, the largest big city to my old family farm - less than 10 miles away.

All help is very welcome, and again a big thank you to Sascha! This is also great because it's given my 94 yr old grandfather something to research. He's so happy. He never thought we'd be able to solve this mystery.