Prussia, Military Merit Cross

In giled zinc with red, white and green paint;horizontal pinback; maker marked "C. Poellath, Schrobenhausen" on reverse; measuring 40 mm in diameter; scattered gilt wear and in overall near extremely fine condition.

Footnote: The Meisterschütze badge would normally have been awarded at the annual Tiroler Landesschiessen held in Innsbruck, Austria. To receive one, a minimum score had to be achieved in three events (Pistol, KK-Gewehr & Wehrmann competitions). A large number of these badges were un-issued and were released onto the collectors market when the old shooting ground in Innsbruck was demolished at the end of the war (they had been stored there since the war).

A second war German “Verwundetenabzeichen”; oval shaped gilded tombac with a protective glossy finish; the obverse pebbled with a Stahlhelm featuring a large mobile swastika on its side superimposed on crossed swords within a wreath of laurel wreaths with a tied bow at the bottom; the reverse plain with a vertical needle style pin, sheet metal hinge, and a round wire catch; measuring 43.75 mm x 36.25 mm; weighing 34.3 grams. Accompanied by its LDO case of issue; constructed of heavy pressed paper with a textured black faux leather (leatherette) exterior; lined interior lid with an golden embossed LDO logo; slotted medal bed for secure seating of the badge; functional spring catch with stud release; intact interior fabric hinge cover; functional external metal hinge; light scuffing on the case from storage; catch of the badge slightly bent - not allowing the pin to close; overall better than very fine condition.

Black rayon with machine-woven gold-coloured celleon threading, inscribed "T.D. Tannenberg" flanked by the blue, white and gold embroidered Hamburg America Line (Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft ' HAPAG) flag at the left and the red, white and gold embroidered Szczecin Oderwerke Shipyard (the builders of the ship) flag at the right, 33 mm x 990 mm, scattered pin holes, light tape residue on the reverse from previous mounting, extremely fine. 

Footnote: The T.D. Tannenberg was a ferry owned by the Hamburg America Line (Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft = HAPAG), built at the Szczecin Oderwerke Shipyard at Stettin (now Szczecin, Poland) and launched in 1935. The Hamburg America Line was a transatlantic shipping enterprise established in Hamburg, Germany, in 1847. Among the founders were prominent citizens such as Albert Ballin (Director General), Adolph Godeffroy, Ferdinand Laeisz, Carl Woermann, August Bolten and others, and its main financial backers were Berenberg Bank and H. J. Merck & Co. It soon developed into the largest German, and at times the world's largest, shipping company, serving the market created by the German immigration to the United States and later immigration from Eastern Europe. On September 2, 1939, with the advent of the forthcoming war, the Kreigsmarine took possession of the Tannenberg and converted it into a mine layer, for service in the Baltic Sea. In August 1940, it had become the flagship of the mine ships. In the following six months, it served as a training ship for cadets, until it was sent into the North Sea in preparation for Operation Seelöwe. After cancellation of this operation, the Tannenberg worked on the so called "Westwall" mine barriers in the North Sea, laying minefields with "SW2", "SW3" and "Pomerania". On July 9, 1941, the ship came together with the mine ships Prussia and Hanseatic City of Danzig to the east of the southern tip of Öland, Sweden and ran into a Swedish minefield, with all three ships sinking.

A textbook example of a Waffen-SS EM’s belt buckle by this maker; in nickel-silver steel (magnetic); maker marked “RZM 155/44 SS” for “F. W. Assmann & Söhne, Lüdenscheid” on the reverse; the reverse with standard double-claw prongs and soldered catch (of note is the unevenly stamped upper catch arm signature to Assmann manufacture); measuring 64 mm x 48 mm; contact marks throughout from light use; in overall very fine condition.