Original Item: One-of-a-kind. This is very nice a 100% genuine medal bar brought home by an American soldier as a war trophy. The medals and ribbons are attached to a very nice metal backing, with a hinged attachment pin. It is housed in felt lined case along with a mother of pearl NSDAP Swas on a small stick pin. All three of the awards are in very good condition, showing light age and some degradation due to exposure.
The set of 3 German medals consists of the following:
- German WWII Iron Cross 2nd Class 1939 (Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse, or EKII)
- German WWII Faithful Service Decoration 2nd Class Cross for 25 Years of Service
- Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 Pre-WWII German Legion Condor Volunteer Medal
Iron Cross (Eisernes Kreuz) 2nd Class:
The Iron Cross (Eisernes Kreuz, abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and NSDAP Germany (1933–1945). It was established by King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia in March 1813 backdated to the birthday of his late wife Queen Louise on 10 March 1813 during the Napoleonic Wars (EK 1813). Louise was the first person to receive this decoration (posthumous). The recommissioned Iron Cross was also awarded during the Franco-Prussian War (EK 1870), World War I (EK 1914), and World War II (EK 1939, re-introduced with a swas added in the center).
The Iron Cross was normally a military decoration only, though there were instances of it being awarded to civilians for performing military functions. Two examples of this were civilian test pilots Hanna Reitsch who was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class and 1st Class and Melitta Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg, who was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class, for their actions as pilots during World War II.
Please note the edge seam for authentication, which is not present on reproductions. Iron crosses were commonly constructed from an iron core sandwiched in a surrounding two part silver frame, normally the seam of these two silver parts is visible around the edge of the cross as is seen on this fine example.
Faithful Service Decoration Second Class Cross for 25 Years of Service - A fullsize frosted silver with an oak leaf wreath and black enameled swas on original ribbon.
The Civil Service Faithful Service Medal (Treudienst-Ehrenzeichen für Beamte Angestellte und Arbeiter im öffentlichen Dienst) was a NSDAP Germany medal of honor that was founded on 30 January 1938, in two grades, to reward civilians and military in the employ of the German public services for long and faithful service.
All officials, employees, and laborers at any level of the public service (local, regional or national) who complete 25 or 40 years service were eligible. The second class award was for 25 years of service was a silver cross, with a silver wreath and a black enameled swas in the center of the cross. The first class award was for 40 years of service was a gold cross, with a gold wreath and a black enameled swas in the center of the cross.
The reverse of both classes was stamped with Für treue Dienste (For faithful Services). in German black letter typeface. The ribbon for the medal is cornflower blue.
Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 Pre-WWII German Legion Condor Volunteer Medal - These very scarce medals were awarded to German combatants fighting with Franco's Nationalist forces against the Republican Loyalists during the Spanish Civil war, just prior to the outbreak of WWII. Germany sent combat troops, mainly Luftwaffe and Tank personnel, to fight in this Spanish civil war, known as the German Condor Legion. It was the testing ground for its new Blitzkrieg tactics to be used in WWII. All the German troops that fought in this internal Spanish Civil War between 1936 and 1939 were awarded this very same stunning looking medal by the Spanish Government.
The bombing of Guernica was the most infamous operation carried out by the Condor Legion. Hugo Sperrle commanded the unit's aircraft formations and Wilhelm Ritter von Thoma commanded the ground element.
