Mixed-up medal bar

[DougO]

Posted by Bernd
At a gun show last weekend I got this mixed -up medal bar .
The medals are right to left , which is correct for a veteran to wear at the lapel of his coat . But the EK WWI should be on the right , etc.

[DougO]

Close-up of the 1939 EK .
Any ideas from this who the maker might be ???

[DougO]

..and backside of the bar .

[Don D.]

The 39 EK2 and Ost medal do not belong on that bar. It is an Imperial bar.

[McCulloh]

yup- sure is.

Big question is, is it an ultra-Bavarian (right to left) or is that a PEACETIME Bav. MVK.......?

I'd like to inspect that HKx ribbon a bit more closely too. If it's the unofficial WW1 Ehrenzeichen, then it

[Don D.]

Based upon the reverse set up I'd say a proud Bavarian who continued to put those foriegn awards to the end behind his State's awards.

[JustinG]

Ok, this just is weird?

This has a Bavaria military merit medal ribbon where the EK1 WW1 is there instead. The Ribbon that has the EK1 Third reich, is on the WW1 Black/White ribbon? Very confusing. Looks like someone just put what ever medals they had to make it look like a completed bar. The medals themselves could be good. Kind of weird. If the Bavarian Merit medal was a 4th class (officer), then I can see it being placed before the imperial EK2.
This is just strange to me.
Regards.
JustinG

[DougO]

Posted by Bernd .
I looked a little closer at the rings of the medals below the ribbons and they are all sewn with different color threads to the backside ribbons with thread colors to match the ribbon color !

I was looking for hooks so I could exchange the medals easely !!--Not so ! I think someone wanted to 'upgrade ' his WWI Veteran's medal bar with the medals he earned in WW II and just interchanged the medals !

[McCulloh]

Based upon the reverse set up I'd say a proud Bavarian who continued to put those foriegn awards to the end behind his State's awards.

...and that happened how often after 1934, when the HKx was promulgated?

The rules were very clear, the EK came first-just like Adolf's medal.

Odd things happened, but the bar would be even more interesting (and correct-and the germans are often quite 'correct') if that was a peacetime MVK.

[Don D.]

Except this guy was probably not on active duty. Where is his cornflower blue LS ribbons? He has his BMVK closest to the hinge of the bar. That is the front end. So we have his medals in pre-34 precedence with the Hindy added in. Perhaps it was put together right after the Hindy was implemeted and before the regulations were clearly articulated.

As for this guy earning any of these other medal- I doubt it. He would be wearing an EK2 spange on the WW1 EK2 ribbon, not a 1939 EK2. He also would have the Ost medal on the proper ribbon and a TR LS ribbon or two. Someone added those other awards at some time, but not the original owner of the bar.

[McCulloh]

I did not say he was on active duty. The NS vats Assn. and the SA Reserve both promulgated the EK2 in first palce regs in 1934 and it was VERY common-as a political statement-before that.