Medal Identification

[psbaker21]

I have a picture of my ancestor and am trying to determine what the various medals are on his jacket, unfortunately it is a B&W photo. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

He was born William Fredrick KRIEDEMAN(N) in 1840 Lutzlow, Germany. I believe he was in the Franco-Prussia War of 1870-1871 but am looking for confirmation of this as well.

Since I cannot post attachments, please email me and I will forward on the pic. Thank you for any assistance you can provide me!

[François SAEZ]

you can send the pics to me, I will post them

fsaez@noos.fr

[Frank Heukemes]

Hi psbaker21,

Don´t want to doubt your information on your relative, but that´s surely Wilhelm Friedrich Kreidemann, isn´t it?

Cheers, Frank H.

[psbaker21]

Hmmm... more than likely. It was probably Americanized when he emmigrated to the United States in 1875. Thank you! : ) Is there such a last name as KRIEDEMANN? Versus the spelling you gave of KREIDEMANN? Once he arrived in the United States I have two spellings... KRIEDEMAN and KRIEDEMANN although the recent descendants use KRIEDEMAN and live primarily in the Wisconsin area.

[Frank Heukemes]

Hi psbaker21,

Of course a name like Kriedemann COULD exist, but is it likely? No.

Given the fact that his first names were Americanized AND the fact that almost no American is comfortable spelling a German name containing "ei" right (it is almost always the case that it is turned into "ie", the way Americans phonetically pronounce "ei" in SPEECH), I would say his name is more likely Kreidemann. Kreide = chalk, Kriede = no German word at all.

Cheers, Frank H.

[aenobarbo]

posting for psbaker21...

[McCulloh]

Nice,nice bar!!

Great googly mooglies...
I shall post a note on the imperial forum, but just off the bat i see an Alsan Cross, what might be an 1866 Austrian Cross (can't tell which type, ribbon is wrong),a war honor medal, a Duppel Cross, an 1870 (french war) campaign medal and an at the end-I don't know.
nice.
Rick,Rick? Oh master of smudges??
Cheers,
JeMc

[Rick Research]

Eeeeeeeee. Squinting and staring I think you've got as much as we can ever tell, Jeff--

Alsen and Düppel Crosses from the 1864 War with Denmark in first two places (can't tell which is which), then the 1864 War With Denmark medal and one of the 1866 War Crosses (each on the other's ribbons), 1870/71 War Medal, and the last one is probably a German-American veterans Society medal of some sort.

He is actually missing the ugly little pin on brooch for a Reserve-Landwher Decoration 2nd Class that all that THREE WAR combat action would have entitled him to.

[McCulloh]

huh? Double Dansk??

one could receive both a Duppel Cross AND a Danish war medal?
Please tell me more, I had supposed otherwise.
Cheers,
JeMc

[psbaker21]

Could you tell me what the various medals would have been for? Was he an officer? Is there any way to get documentation from this time period confirming that they are indeed his? I've read that all military records were destroyed in Berlin in 1945... Any information you can provide would be greatly appreciated!!! Any books out there perhaps? Is it possible the last medal is the Iron Cross? It was reinstated during the Franco-Prussia War of 1870-71.

I'm so excited that you all posted!!! Yippee Skippee!!! : )

[Dave Danner]

Here is a medal bar that Bill M. posted a while back that includes some of the same decorations:



The 1st through 5th medals in your picture would be the same as the 3rd through 7th on the one pictured here.

The first two crosses are campaign crosses from the 1864 German-Danish War, when Prussia and Austria allied to take Schleswig-Holstein from Denmark. They are the Düppeler Sturmkreuz (Düppel Storm Cross), for the storming of the Danish trenches at Düppel, which effectively won the war militarily, and the Alsenkreuz (Alsen Cross), for the capture of the island of Als (Alsen in German) which ended the war. The third medal is the Kriegsdenkmünze 1864 (1864 War Commemorative Medal).

The fourth medal can, as stated above, be one of three crosses awarded for service in the 1866 Austro-Prussian War, also known as the Seven Weeks' War. They are the Erinnerungskreuz "Königgrätz" 1866 (Commemorative Cross for the Battle of Königgrätz), Erinnerungskreuz "Der Main Armee" 1866 (Commemorative Cross for the Army of the Main), and the Erinnerungskreuz "Treuen Kriegern" 1866 (Commemorative Cross for Faithful Warriors). From the picture you can't tell which cross it is.

The fifth medal would be the Kriegsdenkmünze 1870/71 (1870/71 War Commemorative Medal), given for service in the Franco-Prussian War.

The last medal would not be an Iron Cross, since that would be placed first. Rick is probably right about the veteran's cross. Somewhere I recall seeing a medal of a German-American Veteran's Society for veterans of the German Wars of Unification. If I remember correctly, it was similar to the one in the picture.

Lützlow is a tiny village southeast of Prenzlau, itself a small town of 20,000 north-northeast of Berlin. Kriedemann is a German surname. There is an Eel and Fish Smoker named Aalversand Reinhold Kriedemann at http://www.ostsee-net.de/firmen/kriedem/kriede1.htm. It's pretty sick what Germans on the Baltic coast will eat.

I would doubt that he was an officer since Prussian officers back then were of a high social class and unlikely to emigrate to the US. Also, an officer veteran of the three wars would likely have gotten some order or other higher decoration. I would imagine it would be difficult to document unless someone could figure out which regiment recruited in Lützlow, and then find out if there are regimental records. Prenzlau was home of the Infanterie-Regiment General-Feldmarshchall Prinz Friedrich Karl von Preußen (8. Brandenburgisches) Nr.64, so that's a possibility.

Regards,
Dave

[psbaker21]

Ok... so who would have issued the last medal? The US or Germany? My Great-Aunt has some recollection of him standing outside the Jefferson County Court House (Jefferson, Wisconsin, USA) and receiving "something". Perhaps that something was the last medal? Unfortunately I don't know when this took place but it has to have been between 1875 and and 1924 when he died. I have that he married in "Bietenow" in 1872. But couldn't find such a place.

[Dave Danner]

Bietekow is a village about halfway between Prenzlau and Lützlow. That seems like a good bet.

The award would have likely been from an organization like the Kriegerbund ("Warrior's League"), an organization of German-American veterans of the Franco-Prussian War. It would predate World War One (and, to judge by the women's dress in the photo, it would likely be pre-1900).

Dave

[McCulloh]

Probably a Centenial medal

If your Great-Aunt remembers him receiving something, it might well be the Centennial medal-which the consulates did award to vets who appled after 1897. The medal isn't pictured in the photograph, but for her to remember anything else that far back would be amazing.
Does the family have any other documents?
Cheers,
JeMc