Austrian medal grouping

[R. Schmitt]

Having introduced the Austrian Pilot badge in another thread ( http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=465356 ),
I hereby present the full group of Austrian Badges I recently received from a private source
Field Pilot Badge and War Merit Cross are both cased (cases marked Zimbler, Pilot in the back also marked Zimbler)
I appreciate your comments as I know only little on the Austrian awards so far.
Cheers
Rainer

[haynau]

IMHO nice junior officer group (Leutnant, Oberleutnant) , i hope you have the papers aswell because k.u.k. Luftfahrtruppe is sought after.

The AH combat decorations are all for officers:

Military Merit Cross 3rd Class with Wardecoration and Swords
Bronze Military Merit Medal (Emperor Franz Joseph) with Swords
Silver Military Merit Medal (Emperor Charles) with Swords

The Box with the prussian Iron Cross 2nd Class belonged originally to a
1908 Militär-Jubiläums-Kreuz Allthough the Iron Cross was an all-rank-decoration it was given ONLY to AH officers. Only a handfull of exceptions of this rule are known. There existed a kind of order-awarding-convention between the central powers.

The AH Karl-Truppen-Kreuz was given to soldiers of all rank for at least 90 days
dfrontline service. Our man survived the war and was still allive in 1934 as the ribbon bar shows the german Frontkämpfer-Ehrenzeichen founded in 1934.

Our man had already achieved officers rank by end 1916 as he has been awarded the Bronze Military Merit Medal Typ Emperor Franz Joseph and got a Franz Josef-Typ Feldpilotenabzeichen. The old emperor died on 21st November 1916 and was followed by his GrandnephewCharles (reigned 1916-1918).

It seems he also received a Silver Military Merit Medal (Emperor Franz Joseph). Also a known war variant where the crown is made of Bronze (was in stock) and the medal is zinc (Kriegsmetall) therefore this medals habe 90 years later such a curious appearance of mixed oxydation processes.

The Silver Military Merit (Emperor Charles) and the Military Merit are very late war issues - so this young officer got this decorations 1918.

Why there is no bar on the Silver Military Merit Medals indication a second award of the medal - who knows



regards

haynau

[römischIX]

i agree - haynau said all.

i very nice grouping. especially the pilot`s badge is very very lovely.

[R. Schmitt]

Wow - now that's what I call a quality post! Thanks a lot for the detailed information, highly appreciated!
Unfortunately, there were Zero Papers with the lot, I received it from a lady in my hometown, and this was handed down within the family, her children (mid 30s) had no interest in these and apparently the papers were not taken as much care of as the decorations... Either way, I'm happy I finally ended up with these
Thanks again!
Rainer

[Tim B.]

Hi Rainer,

As Josef has already detailed everything in great detail, I won't repeat everything but, would like to add that this is the second grouping I have noticed where a member had two different silver Military Merit Medals (one from Franz Joseph and one from Charles (Karl)).

Perhaps some thought getting a second medal, with the different emperor, was more appropriate than just adding a bar to the ribbon denoting a second award of the Signum Laudis?

Some general information for you on these:

Also known as the "Signum Laudis" medal, these were decorations ONLY for officers.

The bronce Signum Laudis was given from 1890 to 1918.
The silver Signum Laudis from 1911 to 1918.

As you can see by your examples, there were two different medal types, one showing Emperor Franz Josef (1890-1916) and the other showing Emperor Charles (Karl) (1917/18).

Prior to 1890, officers only received a document of recognition but this was made into an actual medal after 1890. Then in 1911, the silver merit medal was created for a second award.

There are two types of ribbons found on these; Peacetime awards have a red tri-fold ribbon; Wartime awards have the typical "Kriegsband" ribbon as do all bravery medals, military merit crosses, merit crosses, iron merit crosses, etc. Wartime ribbon bars can look confusing as the ribbons are all identical.

In April 1916, a decision was made for muliple awards of the silver Military Merit Medal. It had a maximum of three awards and these pieces would have silver bars attached to the suspension ribbon (two silver bars max, denoting three actual awards). ONLY the silver medal should have these bars as if you received a second award, it was automatically the silver version of the merit medal to be awarded. There was no 2nd award at the bronze level.

In December 1916, the swords device was introduced for decorations awarded for frontline service. If the member was awarded a subsequent award and had swords authorized, we should see the swords mounted on the silver bar instead of the ribbon directly. I think this mgiht be what Josef noticed here on your examples as well, that this member sported two different silver medals vice a single with a bar & swords. Again, not the first time I have seen this and I feel this grouping coming from the family supports the idea that two medals were often awarded to members as the medal design changed with the change in emperors.

On the bars, the wartime merit medals rank before the peacetime awards. I/e: Military Merit Cross IIIrd class, Silver Merit medal, Bronze Merit medal, Bronze Merit medal on red (civil) ribbon, etc.

Hope that might add some useful information here. Superb group!!

Congrats again!
Tim

[stross]

Thanks for sharing the grouping and the info. Excellent!!! Wouldnt mind it myself!