Condition: Excellent
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Product Description: This is a very attractive 3 place medal bar. The star of this set is undoubtedly the Memel Medal. This award is not a common one in any form, and to find one on a medal bar is really very rare. The original finish on the Memel medal is largely intact, showing a lot of age toning. The other medals on here are a 1939 Iron Cross 2nd Class, and a Czech Annexation Medal. The frame of the Iron Cross retains lots of original silvering, with wear to the corners, and a lovely patina. The original black paint on the iron core is at least 95 percent intact, on both sides. The Czech Annexation Medal has an even toning to the original silver finish. Each medal is on its proper ribbon. The ribbons show toning from age, but no fraying or damage. The stitching used to hold the ribbons in place is tight. The back of this 3 place medal bar retains its original dark blue wool backing cloth. Under the backing, the ribbon support is a typical wartime zinc version. The hardware is intact and functional, with a brass pin. This ribbon bar is untouched, uncleaned, and with the rare Memel medal, extremely desirable. A great example of a 3 place medal bar, with all Third Reich awards.
Historical Description: The German Military had a long tradition of issuing awards for achievements ranging from long service and participation in specific campaigns, to battlefield valor. Some types of awards were to be pinned on the uniform, others were medals that were suspended from ribbons. On the field uniform, only the ribbons for these medals were to be worn. But for dress uniforms used for parade and walking-out purposes, soldiers wore all of their medals in the form of medal bars that would be pinned to the uniform, on the soldier’s chest. Each medal bar was individually custom made by a tailor or a manufacturer of insignia. They were not issue items, they had to be purchased. These ranged from single mounted awards, to long racks of medals indicating a distinguished career of many years, sometimes with medals from both World Wars or even earlier awards of Imperial Germany. German medal bars were also worn on dress uniforms of civil, political, and paramilitary organizations.
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