I was looking at a picture of a three piece medal bar in wear, with in this order left to right, an EK2, a Schaumburg-Lippe loyal service cross and what looked to be a Bavarian MVK second class. My question is, what leads to one soldier being awarded medals from three different geographical regions? I guess all German soldiers were eligible for the EK2, and perhaps the soldier was from Schaumburg-Lippe maybe attached to a Bavarian regiment.
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Basically, you hit the main reasons, especially for enlisted men.Originally posted by Steve Campbell View Post
Your state of citizenship was probably most important. Not necessarily birth. I have seen quite a few award recommendations rejected because the person was born in a particular state, but moved away during childhood and didn't maintain his citizenship.
Second would be your regiment. This could be either because the regiment was a local regiment for a state (Anhalt's IR 93 or Bremen's IR 75, for example), or because a monarch was the honorary regimental chief or Inhaber (IR 24 for Mecklenburg-Schwerin or IR 43 for Mecklenburg-Strelitz, for example).
Changing regiments also sometimes helped. I know of someone who went from IR 76 to RIR 90 and got both the Hamburg Hanseatic Cross and the Mecklenburg-Schwerin Military Merit Cross as a result. Changing regiments was less common for enlisted men, though.
With Bavarian awards, you also have to remember that the Bavarian Army was separate from the Prussian Army. So Bavarian awards were to soldiers in the Bavarian Army what the EK was to the Prussian Army, and Germany in general. So every Bavarian regiment was Bavarian, and thus awarded Bavarian decorations to its soldiers, but many Bavarian regiments also had a non-Bavarian Inhaber, and thus also received non-Bavarian awards for its soldiers. So, for example, a soldier in Kgl. Bay. 8. Inf.-Rgt. Großherzog Friedrich II. von Baden could receive the EK2 as a German soldier, the Bavarian MVK as a Bavarian soldier, and the Baden Merit Medal as a member of this regiment. If the soldier was a citizen of yet another state, he might even get a fourth state award.
And then there are lots of less common scenarios such as being attached to support another state's units, such as Prussian artillery and support units working under Bavarian command on the Italian front. Or being a native of one state, but having other connections (business, familial, etc.) to another state.
In the case you describe, the soldier probably wasn't in the Bavarian Army, since a Bavarian wouldn't likely put his state award last. The most typical Prussian regiment to receive Bavarian awards was IR 47 (Inf.-Rgt. König Ludwig III von Bayern). A native of Schaumburg-Lippe in that regiment could have received this combo. Alternatively, he could have been a native Bavarian serving in the Prussian Army, and otherwise have a Schaumburg-Lippe connection.
But there is also one really good connection for such a combination. The Kgl. Bay. 29. Inf.-Rgt. was reformed in 1917 with one Bavarian and two Prussian Jäger battalions. One of these Prussian battalions was Reserve-Jäger-Bataillon Nr. 7 (RJB 7), raised in Bückeburg, the capital of Schaumburg-Lippe and the home of the regular Westfälisches Jäger-Bataillon Nr. 7, Schaumburg-Lippe's local unit. RJB 7 was considered a Schaumburg-Lippe regiment, so its soldiers typically received the SLK. Serving as part of a Bavarian regiment then made them eligible for Bavarian awards.
So, as you can see, a number of different possible scenarios. -
Incredibly good explanation, Dave! I really enjoyed reading and learned something new.
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Thanks! It was something I got to thinking about when I was studying some portraits.Comment
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Excellent explanation Dave.
Kind regards
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