Hello all,
This bar was recently given to me by a fellow forum member. It originally came with an eight year SS long service medal on it that turned out to be fake. The October medal and Memel medals are obvious reproductions. My question is if this is an authentic bar that perhaps lost it's original awards and was pieced together with fakes or if it is an all out postwar put together in it's entirety. Is the placement and order of the awards correct for the configuration? I would like to know as if it is actually original I would like to restore it to it's original glory. The Spange is an authentic L/11 marked Deumer in tombak and some of the other awards look completely fine to me as well. So, a parts bar composed of originals and fakes or authentic and improperly restored after the war?
William Kramer
This bar was recently given to me by a fellow forum member. It originally came with an eight year SS long service medal on it that turned out to be fake. The October medal and Memel medals are obvious reproductions. My question is if this is an authentic bar that perhaps lost it's original awards and was pieced together with fakes or if it is an all out postwar put together in it's entirety. Is the placement and order of the awards correct for the configuration? I would like to know as if it is actually original I would like to restore it to it's original glory. The Spange is an authentic L/11 marked Deumer in tombak and some of the other awards look completely fine to me as well. So, a parts bar composed of originals and fakes or authentic and improperly restored after the war?
William Kramer
I agree with JC on the 1939 EK2 Spange. That one is way too thick. Most of the ribbons look okay, but the two long service ribbons are clearly modern reproductions. Of course the Anschluß and Memel Medals are horrible fakes and, since the eyelets of those two medals are tied down with thread, they were likely there when the bar was first made. There are also some errors in the order of precedence, although nothing that would necessarily disqualify the bar in and of itself. But seeing the backing cloth visible along the top of the bar when viewing from the front is not a good sign and that is a trait I've seen on many a fake bar. That sloppiness would make the bar look horrid when worn on a uniform. Not a bar worth trying to restore as it was never legitimate in the first place. Probably best to take it apart. Then, at least, you would have some original pieces.
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