Zimmermann Knights Cross - burned

[Dietrich Maerz]

Fair enough

Dietrich

[johannes post]

i love the free world !

regards johan

Fair enough

Dietrich

[JustinG]

One of these burned KC Zimmerman's is now mine.

Greetings all,

I recently acquired one of these Zimmerman crosses that has been resorted and that was part of the initial Detlev Niemann purchase and restored. I am very eager to own this piece because as the KC has gone out of my price range for the other fine examples that members share on this forum. I am looking forward to sharing my pictures of the zimmerman that I have purchased.
The factory was located in LUDENSCHILD, Germany from the information that was on Detlev Niemann and from the collector whom I purchased the RK from. ( I don't have the umlaut key but it should go over the "U")
As it seems that from reading, many are curious how the crosses came to be discovered and what structure and the use of said building was.
I was pondering a possible front line quartermaster post set up. (this is purely a guess) Seems to make sense, they would have the necessary paperwork and documents and stash of many medals, from wound badges, Iron crosses and other decorations and awards. Ludenschild seems to be maybe an estimated 80Km from Dusseldorf East. The COA that I will get from Detlev is before the restoration process. I would be very curious to see what date the fire took place. Until, I did some inquiry's here on WAF, I did not realize that there was a find of Grand Crosses.
I look forward to sharing my picutres and scans of documents with you gentlemen in the near future.
Oh, I am looking for a bit of KC ribbon to purchase; the medal I have coming doesn't have it included. I will post a request on the "Wanted" forum as well. Never hurts to ask in other places as well.

With regards
2dresq907 Justin G.

[Dietrich Maerz]

Justin,

the factory of Zimmermann was not located in Lüdenscheid but rather in Pforzheim. To my information - which could be wrong - the crosses were also found in Pforzheim. But that doesn't matter at all.

For sure it was not a German quatermaster (or such) set up since all awarded crosses came from the Präsidialkanzlei in Berlin. The burned crosses were most likely some kind of seller's storage - not an official army post.

At any rate - the crosses are perfectly OK Zimmermann examples and I had the pleasure to talk to the gentleman who did some of the restoring. After a nice exchange he agreed that in the future he will try to get a better type of paint - not such a thick chocolate like type.

Dietrich

PS: The example on page 176-177 in my book is also from this hoard. However, it was left unrestored (which I prefer).

[Roglebk]

C F Zimmermann Company lot

Hi Justin, i have a interest in this too since i bought the alledged EKII -39 Prinzen from the same lot. This quote is from Barry at E-medals:

"This piece - and so much more, found at the location of Zimmerman company"

The location of the company was as Dietrich says in Pforzheim but i've too read somewhere (i think on Detlev N's site) that the lot was found in Lüdensheid, maybe Detlev just mixed it up? I tried to search for the location of the company in Pforzheim and when it was burned but no luck so far. The town was severly bombed during the war and streets seems to have changed names. Can not find the Dr. Fritz-Todt Strasse where the company was situated for example, which is not very strange when considering he must have been Persona non grata after the war. To me it seems as the lot is from the actual factory, mainly because of the finished, half finished and "spare parts" awards found in the lot, see the pic below that Barry at E-Medals sent me.

[Chris Boonzaier]

hello biro

the amont of kc's ,the type (zimmerman),the very strange story.
not for me! but if you are happy with this pieces buy them !

All you need are the ruins of a building on an old military bases tailor, a couple of guys doing illegal detecting or digging...

And already you have a realistic possibility of finding something and a reason why noone "Knows".

Our village is full of people (mainly builders) who have a small Roman collection in the basement, spearheads, pottery, etc. etc.... they also keep quiet about it because it is forbidden...

[JustinG]

Yeah, Barry at emedals is the person whom I purchased my zimmerman through and he purchased from Detlev.

Pretty interesting. I had my facts backward. Thanks for the info on where these awards were issued.
Like I said in earlier posts, I was just taking a "shot in the dark". Very interesting. Pretty cool that you met the person doing the restoration on some of the pieces.
Tell me if you could. What kind of person specializes and what makes them able to restore historical medals? What are the certifications and is there a license and bonded process?

I am interested, and have no prior knowledge. Thanks for responding.

2dresq907 JustinG

[Mike P.]

There was an earlier comment questioning why the frame didn’t melt from the fire . Here is an EK that was in a House Fire here in NY. This Cross was obviously exposed to much higher temperatures than the RK …you can see where the Solder is gone and the “C” catch actually started to melt …but, the frame still survived .<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o></o>

[Mike P.]

Back --

[Ludwig]

Whatever the story is, I think that these crosses are quite charming. In a way.

[JustinG]

My KC zimmerman from the same lot

[Darrell]

Yeah, Barry at emedals is the person whom I purchased my zimmerman through and he purchased from Detlev.

2dresq907 JustinG

Barry and Detlev have a "working relationship". I doubt either "buys" anything from the other, but work to sell a number of items between them ...

[Jon Fish]

I realise this thread is a couple of years old now but could any one help me out with a before restoration and after restoration value on these burnt crosses?
Thanks!