Leaderboard

Here's a badge for the "Vierbund" of the Central powers of WWI. The leaders of the vierbund (that are also shown on the badge) were: - Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany - Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungaria - Sultan Mehmed V of the Ottoman Empire - Tzar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria More iinformation on the vierbund: LINK The badge front and back:

Hi Bart, I write as another 'Lance Collector' -- and I wonder why it is seen as necessary to assign titles to contributors to this forum based assumedly upon the total number of notes each person writes? Some people are simply more extraverted than others and they find the opportunity to add a word to many discussions; others are more restrictive with their comments. This willingness to add a word -- or not to -- should not be seen in terms of seniority within our hobby, IMHO. For myself, I have been studying and collecting TR history for over 50 years and I try to share some of the experience those many years has brought me with other collectors who have perhaps not had as diverse a background in this exciting hobby as I have enjoyed. But while my years of experiences have been rewarding to me, they have also made me aware of how much I DON'T know, and that has opened my mind to the input of my fellows on this forum and elsewhere. In any event, is it really necessary to go to the trouble of assigning such tltes and categories to contributors; couldn't their contributions speak for them? Br. James

Actually,i do Jerry.

Hi Sven, Nice idea for a topic. I haven't got Sascha Weber's book yet (it's on my soon-to-get list that is waaay too long...), but look forward to adding it to my library in the not too distant future. Since i haven't got the book i don't know what info is in it, but to add to this nice topic here are some interesting pictures regarding this award. The artist and designer of the Ost-medaille was Ernst Krause, he was a member of the Waffen-SS and was a SS-Kriegsberichter. An interesting fact about the ribbon, is that it's colours symbolize the situation at the Eastfront: - Red fr blood - White for winter snow - Black for mourning for the fallen Here are two pictures of Ernst Krause. On the first one he is working on a large plaster design of the medal. The second shows him in his SS uniform. Both pictures are from the long out of print book by K.G. Klietman - Auszeichnungen des Deutschen reiches 1936-1945. I can advice anyone to get this book, it can be found on ebay for not too much money and although it's an older referencework it contains a lot of good information. Best regards, Gaston

My copies of the book arrived today and I have to say that seeing in "in the flesh" it is even more awesome than I had anticipated. Verlag Militaria has always had a high reputation for quality and this set is no exception. Printed on high quality glossy paper, superbly bound and with the highest quality of images, it really is a stunning work. The two volumes, with the slip case weigh well over 5 kilos ! The first volume is a real goldmine of historical information, looking at issue such as the issue of the Iron Cross to German Jews, the inequality in awards to officers and lower ranks, the "devaluation" of the Iron Cross due to the over-liberal awarding of it during WW1, the various manufacturers and sub-contractors for the crosses. Amongst other things Dr Wernitz puts outb a totally convincing argument which (for me at least) finally settles the identitity of the manufacturer of the KO marked crosses as Klein & Quenzer of Oberstein. Another fascinating fact that emerges is that those crosses with an 800, or 835 etc silver hallmark are not special higher grade crosses, better than the unmarked pieces, as the unmarked pieces are actually 938 silver. Without a doubt, the best book on the subject of the Iron Cross ever written and should be a must for every medal collector.