Post your grenzschild pictures

[torstenbel]

Mike on this post, the schild seems to be somewhat smaller than the post...
http://tinypic.com/view/?pic=kal54h
http://tinypic.com/view/?pic=kal5hg

and this pic also very nicely shows the recess on the post, where the shield is fixed and this shield is actually also not quite fitting into the recess, just like the one on ebay...very good comparison pic...thanks olivyaya...Cheers, Torsten.

[Mike G.]

The piece of concrete (particularly the top portion) of the one that is being auctioned, in my opinion does not match up to that of the post in photo.

That aside, my reservation about the authenticity of the section of post that is being auctioned is the fact as Torsten commented, it looks as if the shield has been removed, cleaned and put back in place. I know for a fact it is not possible to remove a shield from a grenz post without breaking the concrete post apart - or as in my case, breaking the shield, which is what occurred to me when I removed mine. These posts are not even painted, until the shield is already in place - hence any shield that has actually been on a post, should have red, black and yellow paint on it.

I hope the post that is being auctioned is authentic. That would be really neat and a very historic piece of cold war memorabilia for the person getting it. But I personally still have reservations.

[Mike G.]

Well,

There's been an interesting development. Today, I went back to the ebay.de site to again examine the photo that shows the top of the Grenz Post before it was destroyed. And to my surprise, the Seller has removed that picture. It is no longer there. He replaced that photo with another photo already on the site ( 2 photos that are now the same). I wonder what brought this on?

[torstenbel]

very strange, what's happened on that auction... anyhow, whatever anyone thinks of it...my advice would be not to bid on it...I certainly will not...Cheers, Torsten.

[torstenbel]

That aside, my reservation about the authenticity of the section of post that is being auctioned is the fact as Torsten commented, it looks as if the shield has been removed, cleaned and put back in place. I know for a fact it is not possible to remove a shield from a grenz post without breaking the concrete post apart - or as in my case, breaking the shield, which is what occurred to me when I removed mine. .

actually, after having seen olivyaya's pic, I am not that sure anymore hat it had been removed and re-attached...it looks like, the shield in his authentic photo is positioned pretty much in exactly the same way as the one in the auction...but still, there is something not quite right about this auction and I would not bid on it...Cheers, Torsten.

[olivyaya]

I am the one who won the auction Soviet posted earlier... I have just got the shild and I am glad to share the 1st pics with you

[torstenbel]

very nice... particularly nice to see that the black-red-gold colours of the post can still be seen on the reverse...Cheers, Torsten.

[Mike G.]

Hi Olivier,

Congratulations on your acquisition of a genuine Grenzschild.

I know you have a replica as well. Now you can see the difference between the two.

Again - congrats. You have a really neat, and also rare collectible of the "Cold War".

[olivyaya]

Thank you Mike !
If I managed to get one beautiful like this one, it is thanks to your great assistance !

[olivyaya]

Another just found one

[Mike G.]

Yep,

Good to go.

[olivyaya]

Here are some interesting pictures : they tend to prove the existence of at least 2 types of border "schilds"... the one on top pictures seems to be non metallic type and the crest looks like to be colourful. It is screwed or rivetted onto the post !
The schild is then removed, and the post prepared with a cold chisel (indicating the new schild is somewhat higher ?) ...
A drilling device is set up to make the 2 new holes : note the higher central position of the bit.
The new schild is then put into place (you can still notice the former top corner hole).

[olivyaya]

I was told the pictures are from the 70s... would that mean the very early schilds were of the "non metallic" type and later replaced with the new metallic type we all know ? Your comments will be welcome !

[Mike G.]

Nice photos Olivier.

I've been waiting for you to post these for awhile now. The large size makes it very clear as to what is going on. Clears up a lot. Congratulations on acquiring these photos as they are really neat. It would make sense that they would replace the plastic shields as they certainly could not have weathered the elements very well. Did not know replacement with the metal type was so involved - more involved in fact that just making the border post with the new metal type from start to finish. Quite an apparatus there, just to attach the metal one where the older plastic one had been.

The metal shield has a slight extension or lip at the top so I would guess they were in fact larger by height, than the plastic shields they replaced.

[olivyaya]

Here is a close shot of the rear back of my latest schild... You can clearly see two types of concrete :
white one (yellow arrows) and grey/darker one (blue arrows)

I tend to think this schild is a replacement one, probably replaced "on the premises" ... the darker concrete stuck into the white one probably is remains from the grenzpost ... and the white one, the "concrete glue" or some sort that was used to place a schild back onto the post...

This one could be an illustration of the pictures above... or maybe of what had to be done after posts were damaged by anti socialist activity like that carried out by Mike in the late 70s