Bulgarian Award w/ Austrian & Bavarian Medals?

[John F.]

Would this following medal bar been possible? I saw this set-up in an antique mall between San Antonio and Austin, TX. I understand the possibility of Bavarian and Austrian awards being mixed but how would have someone been awarded a Bulgarian Medals?

Austrian Bravery Medal
Austrian Merit Medal
Bavarian MVK3
Bulgarian Bravery Cross 4 class
Austrian WWI Commemorative Medal
Bulgarian WWI Commemorative Medal

Enquiring minds would like to know?

John

[Rick Research]

Without a scan of the actual bar, my immediate reaction is that neither the combination nor the order of mounting are likely.

Were these on trifold ribbons "nested" together?

[Dave Danner]

It's not the juxtaposition of Bulgarian and Austrian awards that's the red flag, it's the particular combination of Austrian awards. Lots of Austrians served on the Bulgarian front and the Bulgarians were relatively liberal with awards.

I'm not sure what you mean by "Austrian Merit Medal". If you mean the Military Merit Medal, AKA the "Signum Laudis," that's an officer's decoration and wouldn't fit with the other enlisted/NCO awards. The Iron Merit Cross, by contrast, is something non-officers would receive.

With the Austrian Bravery Medal and Bulgarian Soldier's Cross for Bravery, I would expect we were dealing with a frontline soldier, so there ought to be a Karl-Truppen-Kreuz.

You didn't mention any long-service cross, another item typically found on enlisted bars, but since the MVK3 and 4th Class Soldier's Cross for Bravery indicate a junior soldier, that's not an issue. Still, that's quite a lot of foreign recognition for a private or lance corporal.

On order of precedence, for an Austrian, a foreign decoration ought to come after the Austrian WW1 commemorative medal, but that is a rule sometimes breached.

Dave

[John F.]

Dumb Mistake

Never mind! I called the shop selling this piece to see if they could read me the inscription on the front of the "Austrian Merit Medal" (to answer the question that Dave asked) and it appears that I made a mistake. The medals were of the tri-fold style, but were singles and not mounted on a bar. The way the medals were arrange in the Rikers Mount they were overlapping each other thus creating the appearance that they were on a bar (I never had them taken from the display case). I guess this would explain the mismatching and sequence of these medals…do I feel like a dumb-ass. However, this now creates a new question... why was the Bavarian MVK3 on a tri-fold ribbon?

John

[JensF.]

If this guy was austrian and got the bavarian MVK he would mount it like his other (austrian) awards on a trifold ribbon. You can find EKs and Hindenburg crosses worn by austrians mounted on trifold ribbons too.

[Rick Research]

The Bavarian piece on a REAL Austrian silk trifold would be nice. Just bear in mind that it should be 40mm wide. A lot of time people just flapped ribbons into that shape but incorrectly.

Austrian trifolds typically have a metal grommet at the bottom point, through which a long hook passes from the back-- allowing the medal to be fastened over the "strings" they wore them on their uniforms with.