Social welfare medals for discussion

[LuckyLuudje]

I was investigating my soc. Welfare medals the last few weeks and will put collecting on hold for a while like you probably all know.

I had many questions about these items and didn't find good answers.

Why are they forbidden, it doesn't make sence to me?
Why has it been made anyway or could they have been made shortly before the 57 regulations became active?
Who made them?

I only found one other example on the Forum and there has been said that Deumer is most likely the maker.
Maybe it could be, because the setup reminds me on a GAB that is now in the collection of Mathieu.
http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...highlight=1957

According to some definitions we can argue about what they actually are.
Are they postwar copies because these are not officially 57 issued items (But what are the copies from...don't forget that they are forbidden)?
Are they postwar replacements? Because the originals had a Swass, I don't think this.

So before this will be another thread of definitions, I can say that thedefinition is not really important to me.
For me it is clear that these are too rare, made too early and the level of quality is too high for being made for the collector market.
But what are they?

Whatever these are, I think these will be very interesting for you guys, so I will share these anyway.
I will read your replies in a while.

[LuckyLuudje]

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[LuckyLuudje]

They are uv negative, huge and heavy.

[DavidM]

Hello

These are Ehrenzeichen des Deutschen Roten Kreuzes 1937 - German Red Cross awards. The ones shown here are in the exact format as those issued between 1934 and 1937. Those made and issued from 1937 had a swastika surrounded by a wreath placed over the eagles tail with the wreath clasped by the eagles talons, much akin to the 2nd class EK bar. Although they don't appear on any official list of authorised new form awards that I know of, they were none the less re-struck with the 1957 pieces - but are not a 57 replacement piece per se. The pin/hinge set up on the reverse shows that these are from around the period of the 57 re-strikes, but reverted back to the 1934 - 1937 format. To the best of my knowledge these Red Cross awards are not made anyone today, and haven't been for a while.

While not of any great value, they are very impressive items, of high quality.

Regards
David

[Mike Yokum]

Good to see a post from you Luud!

These are very beautiful and high quality awards.

I believe these to be VERY RARE items which does add value in and of itself. The quality of enamel work and finishing is wartime like. All aspects are just superb. The hardware is very 57esque.

Very fine additions to a post war collection.

[LuckyLuudje]

Thanks David for your explanation.

Mike, I will check here once in a while. I won't be very active, but after collecting for such a long time, it will always stay in my blood.

I did however expect more discussion. I still have many answers.
But I will further investigate them whenever I have more time.

[Alex W.]

To bring this thread back from the dead - is there anything different known today about these compared to six years ago ? IMO these are made by St&L rather than any other maker. The hardware is a rather easy give a away.
I have added the 1st Class Neckcross as well as the breast star with sash to my collection. Still I'm not exactly sure what the purpuse of these were...
No real need for a star award in post war Germany as all the potential wearers were either dead or convicted delinquentes. So IMO they were supposed to be post war made variants of the 1934-1937 DRK crosses(star). I don't believe the bigger eagle design has any special meaning. Any other ideas ?

Regards,
Alex

[Nigel N]

Hi Alex!
A good thread to go back to...I had forgotten this one!!!
I was always told Deumer also made these, but have only seen pieces I believed were S&L's?
Luud's pieces here differ from mine, and the large eagles give them more of a wartime look, though the hardware on the pinback says postwar, maybe these are earlier examples than mine?
There are other differences too, convex shape of pinback, loop/hanger on neck order etc.
The hingeblock on the pinback looks wider than on mine too???
I would love to have these in hand to compare side by side!!!
So are Luud's earlier S&L's, or not S&L's at all or what??????????
-Nigel

[Alex W.]

Hi Nigel,

here are some quick shots of my cased star/sash combo. The Star/sash are the most rare and expensive pieces of this series. I might upload pics of my neckcross later. The hardware of the Star clearly identifies it as a St&L made product. Early St&L BVK-Stars feature identical hardware setups.
The most interesting question for me still is regarding as to what purpose these awards served. As mentioned above, there was no need for a DRK breast star in the post war years. Also it's certainly not a true "1957er". Like I already mentioned above, IMO they resemble a post war made variant of the 1934-1937 DRK Star - rather than anything "1957er" related.

Regards,
Alex

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