My Most Unique EK2 to Date!

[old siagon]

Hello again,

I recently picked up this EK2 from a collector here on the WAF. It is an EK2 made in Spain and awarded to German Soldiers and Luftwaffe members who served in the Spanish Civil War.

I was wondering how this one rates among others out there? Would you please post yours so I can see others? How rare are these Crosses?

Thank you,
Vince

[StefanK.]

Hello Vince.

I doubt that these crosses where awarded to soldiers who served in the spanish civil war because the iron cross was not present yet at this early point of time.
Some people belive these crosses where made post war for spanish veterans who earned a EK2 during the 2nd WW. It is still a very nice and interestig cross!

Stefan

[old siagon]

Hello Vince.

I doubt that these crosses where awarded to soldiers who served in the spanish civil war because the iron cross was not present yet at this early point of time.
Some people belive these crosses where made post war for spanish veterans who earned a EK2 during the 2nd WW. It is still a very nice and interestig cross!

Stefan

Hello Stefan,

Good point, I cant sleep so I am burning the midnight oil and should have remembered the fact about the date the WW2 EK2 was incepted. I am looking forward to hearing from others about this cross.

Thank you very much for your opinion,
Vince

[Adrian]

I find these crosses quite interesting but it's always a risk buying one without hard provenance. Because of the crudeness of the manufacture and finish it is so hard to say definitively when it was made.

I quote this from the WAF Iron Cross 2nd class homepage:
"These crosses also continued to be made after the war for veterans and collectors alike, since the swastika was not a prohibited symbol in Spain."

I guess it's a situation where you're either happy or not with the cross. If you are then great but for me, unless, as I stated above, it has solid provenance, I won't be adding one to my collection.

[old siagon]

More Information

Hello,

I wish we could get some other members who own these crosses to post some photos. It is just such a unique item and I have never seen another. Thank you for your additional information about the possible maker, very interesting.

This piece is quite crudely manufactured as mentioned. There is no way it could fool even the most inexperienced collector into thinking it was a German made EK2. This lends creedance to my belief that it really is a war time/early postwar piece.

It looks like it was painted with a paint brush! If you look closely you can find spots where the black paint got on the "silver" frame. Even though it is a one piece cross, the workmanship leaves something to be desired. They used brass rings where the German's used silver. A hole was drilled into the top of the cross for the rings. No respectable German EK maker would ever do such a thing, even during the last days of the war.





The pin device is also made from brass and is exactly like other war time Spanish made decorations I have seen. It is very unique to the Spanish. The reverse of this pin device is also quite crudely made. The brass pin is not finished at the point, its just snipped off and perhaps had the sharp point buffed a bit.





This has been a fascinating study for me and would like to put out a call to other collectors to please post photos of their Spanish made EK2s.

Thank you,
Vince