Five Place Medal Bar

Product Description: This is a very desirable five place medal bar for a man who was decorated for bravery in WWI, and had an extended career in civil service that extended into the Third Reich. The overall condition of this five place bar is excellent, showing only minor age and patina. The first award is a beautiful 1914 pattern Iron Cross Second Class, which retains lots of bright silvering and frosting on the frame, and nealy all of the original black enamel paint on the core. The next medal is a Hessian bravery medal for WWI service, a great example with loads of original silver finish. After this is a Hindenburg Cross for combatants. This retains nearly all of its original dark brown lacquer, and is neatly maker-marked to the reverse. Next, is the 1913 pattern 12-year long service medal, which is in outstanding condition, with lots of original luster. The final medal on this rack is a Third Reich era 25-year Civil Service long service award, which shows some minor wear. This last award is held in place with a few stitches affixing it to its original cornflower blue ribbon. The long pin and catch on the reverse are intact and functional, with no damage. This five place medal bar is a really interesting set of awards for one person. There is a lot of history here.

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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