Hindenberg EK1???

[Marc Garlasco]

Okay, Rittmeister has an EK1 with a box that ostensibly relates the cross to Hindenberg. As I read it might it be saying it was given to the recipient by Hindenberg as opposed to it being his EK1???

[Eric Stahlhut]

Is it just me, or does the writing look like it was done with a ball-point pen?

[George Stimson]

It does look like ball-point.

[PaulR]

I concur the ball point pen theory! They ruined a perfectly good box!

Paul

[Rick Research]

The style of writing suggest post-WW2, that mix of the old Sutterlin and "modern" style that people who learned the old system just couldn't break themselves of. It is crude, awkward, and rolling--

either the hand of an elderly person scrawling a note to the next generation, or a fraud.

In either case, pardon the pun, this is the sort of thing that could be done by anyone at any time and thus "adds" not one cent to a lone unattributed, no award document etc etc etc piece.

[Rick Research]

Also, as far as I know, the "only to be opened by the recipient" outer case was for items MAILED to the recipient. Every "live" presentation of EK1 photo I have ever seen shows the leatherette case being handed over...

so something MAILED home to a wounded person could hardly have been "from the hands of..." in an extra MAILING container, could it?

Here's one I scanned for Rick V of a cased (black leatherette) EK1 being handed over by the Kaiser:

[Marc Garlasco]

Are you saying Hindenberg never owned a BIC!?!?

[Chris Boonzaier]

Rick be right.

I have a Kriegsmarine Soldbuch filled out in ballpoint pen.. without any stamps in it... and a mirror image one filled out in fountain pen with stamps...
Why?

My wifes grandfather wanted to give each of his sons one and filled one in long after the war.... in the end neither of them had interest, so I got both.

I have an WW1 EK one dokument, framed and a bit faded. The family went over the fountain pen part in ballpoint so it would be easier to read....
Think of them as simply "notes for the next generation"

Even if the vet wrote that... what are the chances of it still being the right cross... and anyway, ALL EKs were awarded by someone....