Originally posted by tgn
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I can post an example later.
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No, the '57 comes from a type printed and given out in certain areas along with the award document.
I can post an example later.Collecting German award documents, other paperwork and photos relating to Norway and Finland. -
Here is the shield type design from which the '57 was produced. This particular one comes from the grouping to Generalarzt Dr.Rudolf Lipf, one of the very first recipients of the award on 1 july '45 when it was authorised for award.Collecting German award documents, other paperwork and photos relating to Norway and Finland.Comment
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Hi Simon,
what do you mean with the " '57 types "?
Copies of the Lappland-Schild had been produced several years before the German law from 1957.
In the law from 1957 it had been decided, that the Lappland-Schild was not allowed to wear.
And if there had been the allowance, it must not been changed in the design, because there was no NS emblem.
Therefore a copy of a Lappland-Schild has absolutely nothing to do with the 57ers.
It can not be a " '57 version " or a " '57 type ", never.
UweComment
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I know that very well Uwe but as you also know veterans bought and wore them anyway. In this case '57 is a useful and easy way of distinguishing between the 45 produced shields and those manufactured for veterans later. Shields which are thus not fakes, copies or fantasy items.Collecting German award documents, other paperwork and photos relating to Norway and Finland.Comment
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Shields produced after 1945 are not originals, they are replacements, "fakes, copies or fantasy items", and please accept, that they had been produced (not only for veterans) long before the law from 1957.
They were there in 1955 or 1956 for example. And no veteran in 1955 could call them '57er, to differentiate them from the originals. Normally they called them in 1955, in German, Kopie.
Therefore it is simply wrong, to combine a term like '57 with the Lappland shields.
UweLast edited by speedytop; 08-21-2016, 06:38 PM.Comment
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Unfortunately not everything is quite as black and white as we'd like. Like i said, '57' is used as a convenient and quick way of describing the manufactured shield types that never existed in 1945, they are neither copies, fakes or fantasy items and it saves writing an entire essay on the history of the shield (which by the way has yet to be published as all the documentation for it lies in the Norwegian national archives) every time that particular type turns up as most people can understand that a '57' is a term used for de-nazified versions of legitimate awards, which is exactly what the lappland is and does not specifically refer to the year 1957. In fact it was the very first of the de-nazified award designs and i've even seen the very first proposals for formal de-nazified awards from 1945. What you might call the pre-cursor to the eventual designs from the 50s.Originally posted by speedytop View Post
Yes, i know full well the post-war government came up with laws in it's efforts to distance itself as much as possible from everything pre-8 may 1945. However i take the view from the veterans perspective and from the perspective of other nations which awarded and instituted many decorations long, long after 1945.
The last British campaign medal wasn't instituted until 2012 and yet the Lappland which was approved in march 1945 and awarded from july '45 until at least the end of that year should somehow be less legitimate than that?
What you have to accept is the the Wehrmacht did not cease to exist after 8 may 1945 and it continued to function as a working military organisation in Norway for many months further, i would refer you to the various threads i have written on the subject here over the years.
'Original' to what? The Lappland was never factory manufactured. The orders given out by AOK 20 even specified that the shields could not be produced at that time and would follow on when conditions permited. I'd love to know who and when the so called '57s' were designed and ordered, it could very well be the early 50s and my suspicion is that one or several of the former senior officers of AOK20 were involved with the initial design and ordering of their production, Hermann Hölter for example has an illustration of the '57' style in his 1953 book 'armee in der Arktis'.Collecting German award documents, other paperwork and photos relating to Norway and Finland.Comment
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Simon, it is hopeless.
UweComment
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