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Today, we are going to change the army, again. If previously, we were flying above Verdun with the Farman F.40., now I am going to show a big and heavy Austro-Hungarian Medal Bar.

It contains the following decorations:

– Militärverdienstkreuz III. Klasse. (Österreich-Ungarn)

– Silberne Militärverdienstmedaille. (Österreich-Ungarn)

– Bronzene Militärverdienstmedaille. (Österreich-Ungarn)

– Karl-Truppen-Kreuz. (Österreich-Ungarn)

– Verwundentenmedaille. (Österreich-Ungarn)

– Kriegsmedaille 1873. (Österreich-Ungarn)

– Jubiläumkreuz 1908. (Österreich-Ungarn)

– Eisernes Kreuz II Klasse (Preußen)

– Militärverdienstorden 4. Klasse mit Schwertern (Bayern).

– Deutsche Ehrendenkmünze des Weltkrieges. (Alemania).

As this is no my field, I will be more than happy to be corrected, if you see something wrong with my explanation. I will start from left to right.

It is the „Ordensspange“ of an Austro-Hungarian Officer; the first cross on the left and second last one confirm that. The “Militärverdienstkreuz“ was given for a distinguished service to the Empire. The swords added to the band is a clear sign, that this “Orden” was given for his actions during the war.

The following 2 Medals (Signum Laudis at the back) were introduced for bravery and honourable recognition. The clasps in the medals are also the swords, in the bronze one (also awarded during the war) and a bar in the silver one. This means, that this officer was awarded twice with this medal.

The Karl-Truppen-Kreuz was a really prolific medal. It was awarded for taking part in a battle or been 3 months in the front. So, it is a very common cross to be seen in Medal Bars or soldier groups.

The Verwundentenmedaille was received for being injured during the campaigns. As you can see in the band, he was just injured once. There is a small red line between two black ones. This means, he was injured once. There are bands with 2 or more red lines, depending on the number of times injured.

This person has a medal of 1873 (Kriegsmedaille 1873), this one was given for participating in one or more campaigns, from 1848 well including 1901. So, this person may have been part of the Austro-Hungarian soldiers sent to fight the Boxers Rebellion. It could also be, this person added the medal for his actions during the First World War. Some people may have thought, that during this period, they were entitled to wear it.

The Jubiläumkreuz 1908, the last one of his Austro-Hungarian medals in this bar, confirms us, that this person was already in the army by 1908.

And now, we go to the German part of the “Ordensspange”, and I guess, the Iron Cross Second Class doesn’t have to be introduced.

The next one is the Bavarian Orden, which has a bit of damaged, but still, it is a beautiful “Weiss & Co” made after 1916/17. This tells us again, that our person was a Lieutenant or even Captain.

Finally, the last one was introduced in a previous article. It was also vastly awarded by the “Verband Nationalgesinter Soldaten”, another German Veteran association. I haven’t seen many of these in Austro-Hungarian bars.

This officer had contacts with Bavarian troops at a late stage (remember, that the Bavarian Orden can be dated after 1916). For example, he may have fought along the 8th Reserve Division in Romania and Gallize, or the 10th Division in Rusia/Gallize or many others in Romania (10th, 12th or 14th). But without forgetting the Alpenkorps in Romania or even in Italy. Difficult to say.

So much speculation, this is why, it is one of my favourite Medal Bars in my collection.

***Antonio Wednesday’s Wonders ***

An Austro-Hungarian – Bavarian Connection.