German Artillery Officer Medals & Portrait

[F L Clemens]

Hi,

I would like comments on the following pics that were sent to me of a German artillery officer's medals and portrait. I would appreciate identification of the medals and clues about what his uniform shows for specific unit identification/dating.
Thanks!!

[F L Clemens]

portrait top

[F L Clemens]

portrait bottom

[Don D.]

I'd like to see the reverses please. I think you have the awards of at least two people.

[F L Clemens]

I'm sorry, I don't have the medals, only the pics. I was wondering as well as to why there are two different ribbon sets.

I want to confirm if the any of these items plausibly match with the officer pictured - and if the officer pictured could be Prussian field artillery.

Keep in mind that I know next to nothing about Imperial.

[Don D.]

No way to prove it is his or not.

[F L Clemens]

You are correct - there is probably no way to prove that they were his based only on these photos. I have another person checking for a photo of the medals when they were still part of an estate.

What I am asking for is:

a) what medals are represented (I do know EK1 and EK2 - but what are the other medals and ribbons)?

b) are they the medals that could belong to a Prussian artillery officer?

c) do the medals match with the officer in the photo (beyond the obvious EK1 and EK2)?

d) does the photo show a prussian artillery officer? what time period does the uniform suggest?

[Don D.]

Top bar: EK2 1870, Commemorative medeal 1870 for Combatants, Commemorative cross for the 1866 Campaign (can't see which one though, and the Mechlinburg MVK2 (should be for the 1870 campaign also but the date is on the other side. Over all a nice looking bar but without reverse pics who knows.

The second has the ROA or General Honor Medal, a long service or PKO, and the Centenaur Medal.

The EK1 1914 is unrelated to either of there.

[Don D.]

ps- the pic looks to be WW1 so no, not related to any of the medal bars.

[F L Clemens]

Well, well, well...

Below is a summary of the officer to whom the medals SUPPOSEDLY belonged. Now, I am further confirmed in my suspicions that not only the medals but the photo is bogus.

I am doing a biography of this officer's son - and I was going to use the photo as a photo of the father in my book. Is there any chance that the photo is legit based on the uniform?


"Meinrad von Lauchert senior was born 09.09.1865 in Berlin. In 1905, he was the commander of the 2nd horse drawn battery of the 4. Guard Artillery regiment, garrisoned at Potsdam. Should you be interested, I can provide his entire career up to 1914.

As you are writing a biography, Meinrad married Cilly Brockmann and had four children when he died: Elisabeth, Stefanie, Inge and Meinrad jr., all living in Potsdam According to my sources, Meinrad was seriously wounded on 1.07.1915 and died of his wounds the next day. He commanded FAR 18 from 04.03.1915 until his death less than four months later."

Thank you very much for your expertise!

[Don D.]

He would have been 50 years old when this picture was taken. If he had the EK2 from 1870 where is his wiederholenspan on the EK2 buttonhole ribbon? Possibly not wearing it.

The medal bars (at least the top one could not be his as he would have been 1 year old on his first campaign. Could it be his father's?

The second bar could be his pre-war peacetime bar but you would need the rank list entries to verify that.

[F L Clemens]

I think we can rule out Meinrad v Lauchert senior as the owner of the Franco-Prussian medals - since he was born in 1865. His father, Richard von Lauchert, was a court portrait painter so I doubt they were his.

The person who sent me these pics should know better but I think he is just assuming I wouldn't know - or ask other people!

Good point on the approx age in the photo. I do think 50 is plausible for the officer pictured.

[Don D.]

I think we can rule out Meinrad v Lauchert senior as the owner of the Franco-Prussian medals - since he was born in 1865. His father, Richard von Lauchert, was a court portrait painter so I doubt they were his.

The person who sent me these pics should know better but I think he is just assuming I wouldn't know - or ask other people!

Good point on the approx age in the photo. I do think 50 is plausible for the officer pictured.

Possibly. It is hard to tell age in photos. And a military guy will be in better shape (at least if he's not a staff officer) than most his age.

[Ammersee]

On the officers tunic there appears to be a black string/cord running down along the buttons to our left a bit. Is that just a scratch on the photo or is that a lanyard or something? Ammersee

[F L Clemens]

I don't have the original photo - I think it is a scratch based on the enlargement but I can see why you think it is a string.