What is this?? - Please
I judt got this very big coin/medallion, but what is it??
/Jacob
I judt got this very big coin/medallion, but what is it??
/Jacob
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Last edited by Jacob Andreasen; 07-25-2009, 03:43 PM. -
...Last edited by Jacob Andreasen; 07-25-2009, 03:43 PM. -
Its one of those big tabletop medallions the DDR were into.
Don't ask me what exactly it was awarded for but the front reads "for the protection of the workers and famers" and the back of it reads something about the Party of the working class and "with the Soviet Union always connected"
I believe you got awarded such things (or certainly a similar one at least) for performing civic beautification - like making a garden around your apartment block. Cant rmemeber what the project was called in German.Comment
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Thanks
Does it have any value??
/JacobComment
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No idea really! DDR stuff is not my main thing - anything I know is picked up from my good friend who seems to have at least one of everything ;-)Comment
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Look up Gowen militaria on the web. They're pretty knowledgable about East German items. If anybody should know, it would be them!Originally posted by Kozlov
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Hi Jacob and Kozlov,
The medal is, as Kozlov rightly pointed out, a "Table Medal".
This particular one is affiliated with the Polizei.
On the front it roughly translates to "Protection of the Workers and Farmers".
On the reverse, it roughly translates to a comment that the East German Leadership must always be aware that their Socialist form of Government is connected to that of the Soviet Union.Michael D. GALLAGHER
M60-A2 Tank Commander Cold War proverb: “You can accomplish more with a kind word and a ‘Shillelagh’ than you can with just a kind word.”Comment
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Michael,Originally posted by Michael D. Gallagher
I hope you don't mind
Lead by the party (SED, my comment)
devoted to the working classes
always allied with the Soviet Union.
In reference to the front, which is the insignia of the Volkspolizei.Comment
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Dag,
Thanks for giving a more specific and better translation. You know how those "Berliners" are, and I have to rely on one.
Michael D. GALLAGHER
M60-A2 Tank Commander Cold War proverb: “You can accomplish more with a kind word and a ‘Shillelagh’ than you can with just a kind word.”Comment
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Quite right! A Volkspolizei table medal because of the VP star on the front. I think the wording on the back was rather generic. I am not certain of the criteria for the award of these table medals but they seem to have come in both gold and silver versions. I have this same version that is cased in gold that is 6cm in size. I have a similar one in silver that has the same wording on the reverse but the obverse is for the 30 year anniversary of the DDR and shows a likeness of a VP and a helmeted worker. Similar table medals come in a smaller 3.5cm size with different wording but have the same VP star that commemorates 40 years of the Volkspolizei.Comment
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Tell you what, as an aside, that "VP star" on that medal, thats the same "star" as you see on British police cap badges...
Is that design a traditional police emblem?
Secondly, these table medals werent just VP though were they?Comment
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Hi Kozlov,
In response to your second question, hundreds of different types of Table Medals were produced during the 40 year history of the DDR. I find them interesting, and now wish in hindsight, I had made a concerted effort to collect more of them, than I did.
Here are a few more examples. These are not specific to the Volkspolizei.Michael D. GALLAGHER
M60-A2 Tank Commander Cold War proverb: “You can accomplish more with a kind word and a ‘Shillelagh’ than you can with just a kind word.”Comment
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RE: Table Medals Reverse
Reverse:Michael D. GALLAGHER
M60-A2 Tank Commander Cold War proverb: “You can accomplish more with a kind word and a ‘Shillelagh’ than you can with just a kind word.”Comment
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Kozlov,
Michael is absolutly correct that these table medals were issued for several organizations and for various reasons. That is why it is now difficult to determine the award criteria. For instance, the Armeesportverein medal that Michael shows is obviously a table medal (AKA, non-portable award) that was awarded for sports activity, but we cannot now tell what sport. In all probabililty it is a generic award for any sport competition sanctioned by the Army Sport Association. Likewise, the large bronze table medal shown is too generic for me to be able to determine its use.
As to the Polizeistern. The Police Star is a traditional German police badge and has been used back to Imperial times. The Brits and Americans also use the police star (in a somewhat modified form) as a symbol of authority and many US police badges are star shaped. Of course shield badges are also used by US law enforcement and you will see this same device on Stasi and Soviet police insignia. This Polizeistern on Jacob's table medal does indicate it is a Volkspolizei award. My gold one is identical and is presumed to be a higher award following the normal DDR criteria of: bronze - silver - gold.Comment
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Here you go, check out the good old British bobby's insignia here and see what I mean:
http://www.aowo42.dsl.pipex.com/badges.htm
Just out of interest really!
So then, do table medals fall under "medals" or "coins"!
Would be nice to have a collection of those - look good I think!Comment
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