Tons of tinnies and a Russian? one I need help to ID

[Richard]

Here is a link to a thread I started about our trip to Germany this year where I scored on a large amount of tinnies, among other things. Tinnies start to appear in the thread in post 5 and are interspersed throughout the thread. In post 62 there is what appears to be a Russian tinnie. Does anyone have any information on it such as a translation and approximate age? Thanks for any help and I hope you enjoy the tinnies.
Richard V

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=349692

[James Noble]

Richard,
Looks like you and your family had a real nice trip thank you for sharing it with us. I really like the three Turnerbund tinnies you picked up. The one from 1898 is outstanding.

[Richard]

Thanks James. I liked the 1898 the moment I saw it. It is really nice when in hand. Any idea on the Russian/Eastern Bloc tinnie? I'll have to see if I can get some of Russian members to take a look.
Richard V

[torstenbel]

That Russian tinnie in post 62 is a strange one. It says on it Bad Elster - 100 years ... what is strange is that Bad Elster is a Spa Town in East Germany and it is strange to get a Russian Tinnie for it? Could you post a reverse of the tinnie here please? Cheers, Torsten.

[Richard]

Torsten, nice to know it is Russian on the tinnie. Is it possible that it was produced during the communist period and that this may be some commemorative produced for Russian visitors? Here is the reverse of the tinnie. As you can see, nothing unusual.
Richard V

[torstenbel]

you did not get that many russian tourists coming to east germany during communist times...of course, we had about 2Million soviet army soldiers in the country but there were no tinnies like that produced for them, that I am aware of. it is a bit of a mystery really?? Cheers, Torsten.

[Richard]

Intersting information Torsten. Do you have an guesses as to an approximate age? This doesn't appear to be cr*ppy production but seems to mimic the production of pre war German tinnies.
Richard V

[Chris Lee]

Tinnies

PM sent

[torstenbel]

Intersting information Torsten. Do you have an guesses as to an approximate age? This doesn't appear to be cr*ppy production but seems to mimic the production of pre war German tinnies.
Richard V

Hi Richard, I am more inclined to think that this is a pre-war made tinnie ... but, I do still not understand why and when it was produced? It does actually look more like a German made tinnie rather than a russian or soviet made tinnie. Cheers, Torsten.

[Richard]

Torsten, I could more readily believe that this was post war after E. Germany was under Russian influence but the construction and quality do look much like pre - 1945 Germany. What leads you to believe it may be pre-war and why would there be any reason to produce such a tinnie at that time? Perhaps the fact that it is a 100 year celebration or commemorative tinnie might help to place the time of production. A Google seach indicates that the town used the name Bad Elster since 1875 which might indicate the age of the tinnie at 1975 when this region was still under Russian influence.
Richard V

[James Noble]

The search I made came up with this possibility, in 1848 the town Elster was promoted to be the offical royal spa of Saxony, so that would make 1948 the year the tinnie was made.

[Richard]

Also an interesting possibility. The strange thing would still be why the language used is Russian. I gather from Thorsten's posts that this wasn't so popular a spot for Russian tourists that they would have made any type badges in any language other than German.
Richard V

[torstenbel]

It was certainly not made for Russian tourists .. there really were virtually none .. but with James's additional information in mind I would now think that it was commissioned by the Russian Garisson stationed in Bad Elster to give to the local population as a kind of little token to try and make friends and show that they appreciate the 100th anniversary being celebrated in the town. Also looks like it was made locally, i.e. in East Germany using the same techniques and tools as would have been used for pressed tinnies made there in the 1930s. Cheers, Torsten.