Germany – Imperial, Imperial States and Third Reich: Fine mounted group of 8 medals comprising: Imperial: Iron Cross 1914 2nd Class; Lubeck Hanseatic Cross 1914-1918; Third Reich: War Merit Cross 1939, 2nd Class without swords, early bronze example; Honour Cross 1914-1918, with swords, maker marked ‘E.S.L’ to reverse; Austria: War Commemorative Medal 1914-1918 with combatants cross swords; Third Reich: Faithful Service Decoration for 25 Years Service; Social Welfare Medal; Hungary: Commemorative Medal for Combatants 1914-1918.
Group of 8: Germany – Imperial: Iron Cross 1914 2nd Class; Lubeck Hanseatic Cross 1914-1918; Third Reich: War Merit Cross 1939, 2nd Class without swords, early bronze example; Honour Cross 1914-1918, with swords, maker marked ‘E.S.L’ to reverse; Austria: War Commemorative Medal 1914-1918 with combatants cross swords; Third Reich: Faithful Service Decoration for 25 Years Service; Social Welfare Medal; Hungary: Commemorative Medal for Combatants 1914-1918. Mounted continental style for wear.
Condition: Mounted continental style for wear, Nearly Extremely Fine
The three ancient Hanseatic Cities – Bremen, Hamburg and Lübeck – jointly decided to issue a cross of similar design in World War I for bravery and merit in war, differing only in the arms on the central medallion of the face, that for Lubeck being instituted on 21 August 1915. Lubeck was much the smallest of the three Hanse cities and its cross is thus the rarest, with between 8-10,000 awards having been made. The Cross was suppressed at the end of 1918.
The Faithful Service Medal was founded on 30th January 1938 in two classes and one class to reward civilians in the employ of the public services, and in exceptional cases private concerns, for long and faithful service. All officials, employees, and laborers at any level of the public service (local, regional or national) who completed 25 or more years service were eligible for the Faithful Service Medal in Silver.
The Social Welfare Decoration (Ehrenzeichen für deutsche Volkspflege) was a German Civil Award created by Adolf Hitler on 1st May 1939 for services in the social sector. The decoration was issued in three classes and was awarded for a wide variety of service, in the social sector, to the German state. Qualifying service would have been with Winterhilfswerk, National Socialist Volk Welfare, medical and rescue work, or care of foreign and ethnic Germans. As a replacement for Red Cross awards, it was conferred in four classes consisting of a white-enameled gold Balkenkreuz with Reich eagle and swastika. A "Medal of Social Welfare" was also issued for lesser degrees of service, not warranting the higher presentation of a class award. The main requirement for the award was that the service rendered should be to the benefit of the civil population. Reinhard Heydrich was awarded the decoration for his running of the Gestapo in the 1930s and for providing "security" to the German people. The infamous Doctor Joseph Mengele was also awarded the decoration in 1941, for providing medical services to wounded soldiers and civilians alike on the battlefields of the Eastern Front
