Please I.D. this Cross

[John F.]

Hello,

Can someone please tell me what this item is, it country of origin, and what it was awarded for?

Thanks in advance!
John

[paddywhack]

its the baltic cross! not sure what country its from i think its finland sweden but dont quote!

[Ponomarev]

It's a Germany Baltic cross(1918-1920).
For defense of Kurland.

Alex Ponomarev

[Vadim K]

hi John,

Das Baltenkreuz (Baltic Cross) Awarded to the members of the Baltic militia (Landeswehr) and the German volunteer units in the Baltic area that, before 1 July 1919, had been for at least 3 months "under fire" (i.e. on active service and having participated in fighting) in the Baltic countries.
It is a black oxydized metal cross with a gilt 'Hochmeister" of the German Knighthood Order cross, ending in lilies, on top of it. The reverse is plain.
There was only one "class" of this award, but it could be worn as either a breast pin or from a white ribbon with a central blue band and blue stripes near the ribbon's edge. This gives rise to some notations as the ribbon-hung issue being a "2nd Class", similar to the Iron Cross, but there was only the one class.

The Baltic cross was instituted in the summer of 1919 by the "Baltische Nationalausschuß" in commemoration of the Baltic liberation fights in 1918-19 (in Südlivland and Kurland). This Nationalausschuß was the political representation of the German Baltic population in Latvia at the time. In total 21,839 crosses were issued. It was only on 16 May 1933 that the Baltic Cross was officially recognized as an offical German award.

Source: http://www.gwpda.org/medals/germmedl...dl/weimar.html

Also, if you do a search here on "baltic cross" or "baltenkreuz", you will find tons of information.

[John F.]

hi John,

Source: http://www.gwpda.org/medals/germmedl...dl/weimar.html

Also, if you do a search here on "baltic cross" or "baltenkreuz", you will find tons of information.

Vadim:

I'm already on top of it . Do you know what the market price is on these items? I found one in Dec in AZ, but passed on it because I didn't know what it was. I don't think the dealer knew what it was either because he told me it was from Turkey, which I found odd since Turkey is predominatly Muslim. He was asking $75. I had forgotten all about it until recently when I came across one on eBay (by accident). Now that I had a picture I wanted to identify and learn about because I liked the piece. Once I make myself smart, I plan on seeing if the dealer still has it.

John

[Vadim K]

If it is original, I would say anything under a $100 is a good price. I bought the two I have for $60-70 on Ebay. Keep looking through back pages here. there were a few threads discussing different types of these: BCs were made in the 1920s, then throughout 3rd Reich period, then issued in 1957, and of course there are fakes.

[JensF.]

Can you post a picture of the back?

Here are more informations:

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...ht=baltenkreuz

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...ht=baltenkreuz

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...t=baltic+cross

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...t=baltic+cross

[John F.]

Can you post a picture of the back?

Unfortunately I can not. I took the pic off an auction on eBay. Thanks for the additional references

John