Ostvolk Decorations

[Tom Yanacek]

Hi guys,

I bought Second Class Bronze and Silver Ostvolk Bravery Decorations while at the SOS. I was especially happy to get the packet for the Bronze Bravery Decoration Second Class. The seller had it paired with a Romanian Crusade against Communism Medal, so when I explained that to him he allowed me to buy just the packet.

Best regards,
Tom

[Tom Yanacek]

Here is the silver:

[Tom Yanacek]

packet title & maker markings:

[Antonio Scapini]

You made a good business Tom! Lovely set, expecially for the packet, really rare to see around, more than the medal itself!

[Woolgar]

Another nice pick up! Great to see the packet

Nick

[VonPeter]

Nice medal.
But its hard to keep up with all the things you bought at the SOS, did you leave anything for the others?

[luftkrieg]

Another great pick-up Tom!

Best regards
Pierce

[Allan P.]

Very nice packet and award, good catch.

Allan

[petopoint]

Very Nice

Good Score at the SOS. I guess your prowess and situational awareness are still at their peak in snagging a sweet looking Silver Ostvolk and Bronze W/packets.

[andrei1774]

Silver grade is nice and original Rudolf Wächtler & Lange marked "100".

I understand your opinions guys about bronze set , but in IMHO the bronze Keller is questionable, some collectors accept it, some not.
This type always raises 2 questions:
1. Why Keller made only bronze grade with the swords and nothing else in Ostvolker line (not logical)
2. All other packets for Ostvolker award, observed by myself, has Antiqua fonts and only this, Keller type, has a Fraktur font. (medal was instituted on 14 July 1942 and Fraktur fonts was prohibited from early 1941).
Again, it's only my opinions, which build on my experience of collecting Ostvolker awards.
Andrei

[Ralph Arndt]

Nice.

[Tom Yanacek]

Silver grade is nice and original Rudolf Wächtler & Lange marked "100".

I understand your opinions guys about bronze set , but in IMHO the bronze Keller is questionable, some collectors accept it, some not.
This type always raises 2 questions:
1. Why Keller made only bronze grade with the swords and nothing else in Ostvolker line (not logical)
2. All other packets for Ostvolker award, observed by myself, has Antiqua fonts and only this, Keller type, has a Fraktur font. (medal was instituted on 14 July 1942 and Fraktur fonts was prohibited from early 1941).
Again, it's only my opinions, which build on my experience of collecting Ostvolker awards.
Andrei

Hello Andrei,

Thank you for sharing your opinion. I have never heard before that Frakturschrift was prohibited from early 1941. I find that very interesting. The Westwall Medal was re-instiutued in 1944 and Frakturschrift packets were still being used. In fact, some of the second issue Westwall Medals were awarded in converted East Medal packets, having paper glued over the East Medal designation and with the Westwall designation still in Frakturschrift. I have also seen original (or what I believe to be original) packets for the Spanish Blue Division Medal done in Frakturschrift and that medal wasn't instituted until sometime in 1944.

As far as Friedrich Keller only producing Bronze Ostvolk Medals with Swords, I would agree with you that that does seem odd. I would assume that if they made one type, they would make the others as well. From my own experience, I can't really say that Keller only made the one type. (Maybe I have just never studied them enough.) I can say that I have owned unmarked examples of the bronze, silver, and gold second classes, both with and without swords. I have only ever seen marked second classes to Rudolph Wächtler & Lange '100'. I am sure that some of the unmarked examples were also made by Wächtler & Lange as well, but I wouldn't think that they were the sole manufacturer of these medals.

I agree with you that my silver example posted is probably a Rudolph Wächtler & Lange, although it is not marked on the suspension ring. As far as the bronze example is concerned, I don't really know whether that one is a Keller or not, as it is not marked on the suspension ring either. As I mentioned in my first post, I did not buy that bronze medal with the Keller packet. That packet was bought separately and then paired with a medal that I bought later. Do you believe that both the medal and the packet are fake, or are you just suspicious of the packet? The medal and the packet both seem real to me, but I can always be wrong of course. If these Keller packets are fake, I would expect to see more of these around. They seem to be very scarce.

Best regards,
Tom

[Rommel1933]

Tom, These look good w/ the packets... great to see you posted it on here and some great feedback from the forum folks. The Romanian Crusade against Communism this guy had was one of the best I have ever seen. The ribbon was perfect too. If it was priced better I would have picked up the medal. I am glad you told me the packet and medal didn't belong together.

Thank you,
Scott

[Tom Yanacek]

Here is a Gold Second Class for Merit in the more common and (I think) indisputable type of packet. But even these packets are hard to come by.

Best regards,
Tom

[Tom Yanacek]

And a few other Second Classes from my collection. I have always liked these medals and I especially like the ribbon colors: so atypical for German-issued decorations. I prefer these Second Classes to the pin-back First Classes. The ribbons really make these, IMO.

Best regards,
Tom