Prussian 7-Place Medal Bar (non-combatant)

[Tom Yanacek]

Hello to all,

I bought this seven-place Prussian medal bar over the weekend. Looks completely original as best I can tell but a bit unusual too. The bar is to a career Prussian non-combatant: a senior NCO for sure if not an NCO that became a commissioned officer during WW1.

I find it a bit unusual that the Hindenburg Cross is placed before the Cross for War Aid, although I have seen this on other real bars. The low placement of the Silver General Honor Decoration seems strange too, although I suppose it is this way because it was awarded in peacetime? And to see it sandwiched between two Prussian Long Service Crosses is strange too. For that matter, the wear two Prussian Long Service Crosses is not often seen on an Imperial bar. Also of note is that both the Prussian Cross for War Aid and the Prussian General Honor Decoration are mounted back-to-front (reverse side showing).

Despite the unusual features of this bar, I think it is a completely genuine bar to a long-serving, Prussian administrative pencil-pusher. All opinions welcome.

Best regards,
Tom

[Tom Yanacek]

Here is the reverse:

[Scott Powell]

GREAT bar!! I love the condition of it,it was obviously worn with great pride
I believe that with the creation of the Hindenberg cross coinciding with the re-introduction of Long Service medals and the rules of wearing two Long Service medals there was a bit of confusion amongst Imperial soldiers about the mounting of Imperial LS medals. I have seen several period bars with dual Imperial LS medals,so while uncommon it isn't unheard of . This is my period bar with two LS medals

[Tom Yanacek]

Thanks for your comments, Scott. As nice as the medal bar looks in the photos, it looks even better in-hand. The pictures just do not bring out all the subtle signs of natural aging that are present.

Thanks for posting your Prussian four-placer. It looks really nice. I sure would like to figure out what manufacturer used that I.C.M. logo.

Best regards,
Tom

[Brian R]

Great Bar, Tom. It was actually in my collection a few years ago. I let it go as I was purging and upgrading. It's a sweet, original bar. It originally came to me via Rick V. (stogieman) about 7 or 8 years ago.

[Brian R]

I had a similar bar at the time and decided to sell one in order to afford some other purchase I was working on. It was a tough decision as I really liked it. But, I decided to keep this one as it had the Red Cross medal and was pre-1934. They used to display nicely together - I've often wondered if I made the right decision!

[Tom Yanacek]

Hello Brian,

Thanks for the information. You let a real nice bar go but the one you decided to keep is a gem too. Thanks for posting that one. What is your take on the placement of merit decorations between two long service decorations? Seems unusual to me yet I have seen even stranger things on some Imperial bars. I have also seen another original bar where a Kaiser Centenary Medal was placed between a Prussian 25 LS and Prussian 15 LS.

Best regards,
Tom

[VtwinVince]

That's a very nice spange, Tom. I think the style of mounting is unusual, but nothing that would concern me. I have several bars with fairly outlandish mounting precedence, and they are absolutely genuine.

[Tom Yanacek]

Thanks, Vince!

I have always wondered too why certain medals (Cross for War Aid, General Honor Decoration) were often mounted back-to-front. It is encountered so frequently with certain medals that it is hard to dismiss it as just a simple mistake by the assembler. Maybe some recipients wanted the wording on the reverse of the medals visible rather than royal ciphers?

Best regards,
Tom

[Don D.]

Nice bars. I think you see the reverse mounting of medals after the royalty abdicated at the end of WW1. I guess since they were illrelevent after that it made more sense to mount the awards reverse side out. JMHO.

[römischIX]

i think it´s a good one, too.

very nice - but in the wrong hands

[saschaw]

For that matter, the wear two Prussian Long Service Crosses is not often seen on an Imperial bar.

It's against the rules, and keeping that in mind, seen quite often. It might often be influenced by the new Wehrmacht longs service awards from 1936, but is seen as well before that.

Also of note is that both the Prussian Cross for War Aid and the Prussian General Honor Decoration are mounted back-to-front (reverse side showing).

Actually that's how they were ment to be worn. Both are mounted properly. On both bars. While some were worn wrong even back than, I think many wrong mounted ones are changed by collectors...

[Tom Yanacek]

Thanks for the comments, Don, römischIX, and Sascha.

[Tom Yanacek]

Actually that's how they were ment to be worn. Both are mounted properly. On both bars. While some were worn wrong even back than, I think many wrong mounted ones are changed by collectors...

Hello Sascha,

I find this very interesting. Are you saying, then, that the sides with the royal ciphers are actually considered the reverse of the medals or just that they were supposed to be worn with the reverse side showing? Was this basically a Prussian thing, because you seldom see it on medal bars of other Imperial
German States?

Best regards,
Tom

[saschaw]

Tom, this question cannot be answered for all imperial awards at once, but must be asked for any award alone. Regarding these two Prussians, the reverse is the one with the cypher. That's what written in the "Statuten", and can be found in monographs.

I think we had the discussion just recently, and Wild Card posted much to show it.

PS: There it was: http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=452504