Somebody Write An Imperial Awards ID Article!

[Brian S]

I'd post this on the member's forum but this is where the Imperialists hang out so... I think we could all benefit from a growing article on Imperial awards! Prussian, Saxon, Bavarian... From the lowest to the highest with as many manufacturers as possible! Now a moderator we knew about such things could write such an artile. Hmmmm, whatdayathinkrick? Pepper it with some award docs and period wear and you'd have a best selling book!

[Rick Research]

You've been conspiring with wem, haven't you?

No, actually it Can't Be Done.

Too massive a field.

It took an entire book (on the list thread) with three authors just to do a magnificent job on "only" Saxon Orders.

Andreas Schulze-Ising, God bless him, has an amazing Red Eagle In All Its Bizarre Permutations article on his website.

Our own Dave Danner's website is working on the individual German states, for glorious full color scans by states of awards.

Imperial award documents are in the same category: happily Detlev Niemann is cracking the whip on dedicated German researchers and plans to indeed do each state's award documents.

My own interest centers on World War One, and my budget has confined me to "privates to majors" normally.

1870, or even worse, 1813, are totally outside my knowledge.

That's why WE HERE make a pretty darned great COMBINATION of people with specialized knowledge... each with our own small pieces of the jigsaw puzzle.

I've been at Imperial seriously for almost 25 years... and I'll have to live to be 138 to get anywhere close to figuring it "all" out!

[W McSwiggan]

Hey!

Don't blame me for this...

[Brian S]

OK, Rick, you convinced me, WWI or so only! I have a few above Major items and I'm sure others can contribute.

[Rick Research]

Which is good, because aside from the Supreme Paymaster of the Kriegsmarine, photos, and odd shoulder boards, all I got for the Exalted Ones are ribbon bars!

[Brian S]

So, YOU'VE got my missing ribbon bar! I knew it. So you'll do it?

[Teuton]

You know what I always thought would be neat is one of those big "coffe table books" of Imperial Awards. Im sure you know the ones I'm talkin' about. They are usually pretty big with mainly large photos in them and dedicated to a certain subject like plants, houses, cars, hell I even I saw about "designer" shoes once. So why not Imerial German Awards?

You figure you follow from the earliest awards up until the end of WWI.

Have each chapter devoted to a certain province and show all the awards, orders, etc. With a basic description and some photos of people wearing them.

Nothin' overly detailed but something that certainly looks very appeasing but also a good reference book.

Then you could add appendicies for makers, construction methods, etc. All over time.

I'm still an "amateur" so to speak in the Great Field of Imperial Awards but it seemed like it could work.

-Cole

[Daniel Krause]

OJE !

About this I agree completely with Rick.
A complete Imperial overwiev is simply impossible.

For all who are generally interested, buy the usual available books and it is o.k.
Nimmergut (Ewigschlecht ) tried it with his "opus magnus" and failed. To pay some hundred bucks for such a ....... full of mistakes and questionable pictures!

In Imperial stuff there are too many awards over too long time with too many variants and too many archives burned down in WW2.

Best regards

Daniel

[Brian S]

Daniel, I respectfully disagree. We can begin somewhere and do as much as we can with what we can. I for one am not buying those ridiculous Nimmerbad books. That's the beauty of the Internet that we can add one award at a time and make a contribution and ultimately have a an archive full of wonderful pictures and information.

Never did I suggest we could put it all in one place and get it all but we can certainly start with nothing and build.

[Daniel Krause]

In that point You are right, but there are so many things that we will never come to an end.

Best regards

Daniel

[Brian S]

And there's the fun of it! Always something new to add to the collection. Hence a living document for us to add to and admire and always find some new discovered award added.

[Ralph A]

Cole, there is such a thing.

I have one; here is a link to the pictures. It's like "Cliff Notes" for Imperial collectors. Covers most basics from most of the states.

It's great. The pics are clear and though not comprehesive, this handy "coffee-table size" book is a lot like those "Such-and-Such for Dummies" publications that are so useful for quick reference.

Imperial Awards for Dummies

Detlev Niemann, I think, has a few copies still available.

[Teuton]

Wow!

Thanks Ralph, never saw one like that before.

[Brian S]

I've seen this and appreciate it as a reference but it's not a substitute for photos of the real item.

Well, I tried, I can't do it by myself...

[McCulloh]

wooaw..

This is one of my favorite subjects.
I disagree with perfectionst Professor Rick. I think a great deal could and would be added to the collecting community's "base knowledge" with a simple, Tafrail like, WELL ILLUSTRATED identification only type book. Angolia made a fortune by such a basic book, so why not try an "Orders, Awards and Medals of Imperial Germany" in 3 volumes: Vol.1 1871-1914, vol 2 1914-1918, vol3. 1919-1932.
We can always go back and do earlier awards in a different book and there's always room for deep research-just like in British Medals. It doesn't have to be the final authority and anything that ever attempted to be so would probabaly fail, since exceptions always seem to swallow the rule in the end (much like the law of contracts).
I'm ready and willing. Heck, if nobody wants to join in I'll start a volume myself later this year after I finish PH.D reviews.