A couple of years ago, I came across an “Ordensspange” with one medal missing. The combination was somewhat weird, with one of the medals not matching the logical combination of the Bar.
It came with the following combination, from right to left. It is a Medal Bar for Fracks, so the importance of the decoration goes from right to let (please also see a picture attached).
– No Medal – Band of the Red Eagle Orden (Prusia).
– Medal of the Crown Orden (Prusia).
– Centenary Medal 1897 (Prusia).
– Jubilee Medal 1905 (Bavaria).
– Service Cross for 24 Years active service for Officers.
As the second medal from the right (Crown Orden) is not for officers, the conclusion was, that a previous owner sold the most valuable medals and add something to it. The “Spange” itself is original, no doubt at all. The 3 medals from the left, are quite accurate and reasonable to have, the problem was the first 2, as there was a few possible combinations, depending on the Class of the Red Eagle and the Crown Ordens. So I decided to complete the “Schnalle” in the most reasonable way.
To find out the best the most common combination, in order to be more accurate, I decided to go back to one of my favourite books: the “Militär-Handbuch des Königreiches Bayern” for the years 1913 and 1914. As I did in a previous article:
It is clear that this is a pre-war bar, as there is no war medal in it, like an Iron Cross, etc. Also, the recipient was definitely Bavarian (Long Service Cross). And yes, it was common for many officers to receive more Officer Decorations from other German States as for the Bavarian itself. As many Regiments was named after Royal members of other States and Countries, it was normal for the officers serving in those regiments, to receive Orden from those states.
For example, if we have a look at the List of Officers of the Royal Bavarian 4th Infantry Regiment “King Wilhelm von Württemberg” attached to this article, we see that 4 out of 5 Majors had the Friedrichs-Orden from Württemberg. Also 4 captains.
I found a few officers both active and in the reserve with a very similar combination, but just one with this combination: Major Friedrich Bogendörfer, who served in the Royal Bavarian 6th Infantry Regiment “Kaiser Wilhelm, King of Prussia”, a very logical location to receive those medals.
So I decided to add to the medal bar the Red Eagle Orden 4th Class and the Crown Orden 4th Class. I am not saying, that this medal bar belonged to him, but the combination existed and can be proved. Please find also attached how the “Ordensspange” looks like with those 2 Orden. It may also have belonged to an officer, who retired a couple of years before the war and it is not listed.
Even I could be mistaken and belonged to an NCO, so the first medal on the left have been wrongly added and the 1st and 2nd Medals on the right are actually Medal of those Orden above, that means, the lower class to be given to NCO’S, etc. No idea and there are room for plenty of speculation. The fact is, how the bar looks like now matched 100% with, at least one person in 1913 and 1914 and just with that, I am more than happy.
Source: Militär-Handbuch des Königreiches Bayern 1913 – 1914