1st Pattern Spange 2nd Class – Schickle

Product Description: This 1st Pattern Spange 2nd Class is a desirable and scarce award. This is a high quality, early production, first pattern Iron Cross Spange made by the firm of Otto Schickle. It’s made of a heavy brass alloy (Tombak), as is typical for these early pieces. This Spange is nicely silvered, with a heavy original finish that is almost completely intact. It shows only very slight wear, with minimal age toning and lots of nice luster. The distinctive early design features a scalloped date bar. All of the original detail is intact. This Spange is affixed to a length of correct original black and white ribbon. The ribbon shows slight, typical age toning to the white fibers, with some tiny holes and areas of light soiling. This 1st Pattern Spange 2nd Class retains three of the four original prongs on the reverse. It displays very well, and remains in excellent condition.

Historical Description: When Adolf Hitler reinstituted the historical Iron Cross decoration on September 1, 1939, he also instituted a special new award, the “Wiederholungsspange,” to recognize people who had earned the 1914 Iron Cross during WWI and whose actions in this new war merited being awarded the Iron Cross again. There were two different patterns of this Spange, for the First and Second Classes of the Iron Cross. Both of them took the form of a German national eagle and swastika emblem, with outstretched wings, over a bar with the date “1939.” The First-Class award had a pin attachment or screw back, to enable it to be worn on the uniform pocket over the 1914 Iron Cross. Some combo-type awards are also known, with the Spange fastened to the top arm of the 1914 cross. The Second Class Spange had two or four prongs on the reverse and was affixed to a length of 1914 pattern Iron Cross ribbon. Most of the Spange awards were made of a brass alloy (Buntmetall) with a silver finish, while late war examples were produced from zinc. As with most German combat awards, there were many variations of the Spange produced, including miniature awards for the ribbon bar.

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