Medals and Honors of the German Federal Army

Here is some info on their Bundeswehr decorations.

Ehrenmedaille der Bundeswehr
Honor Medal of the German Federal Army, I suppose it is their version of the ww1 pour Le Merite and the ww2 Knights Cross.

Ehrenkreuz der Bundeswehr Drei Klasse.
Honor Cross of the German Federal Army 3 classes 1)Bronze 2)Silver 3)Gold.

Bundesverdienstkreuz
Military Service Cross??

Verdienstmedaille
Merit Medal

Verdienstkreuz 1 klasse
Merit Medal 1st class

Verdienstkreuz am Bande
Merit Medal on a string

Grosses Verdienstkreuz mit Stern
Big Merit Cross with Star

Grosses Verdienstkreuz mit Stern und Schulterband
Big Merit Cross with Star and Shoulderstring

Its a far cry from the badges of the old days



I aint going to collect any but I would accept free ones to laugh at



[ 26 May 2001: Message edited by: C.Evans ]

 

Carl, some of these are military medal, but the Bundesverdienstkreuz and the Verdienstkreuze are more civilian than military decorations, which basically means there is a lot of bearers of these, so collecting is not worth it. I do not know much about the Bundeswehr decorations but I suppose there is only a handful or none who ever received those. Certainly none of my conscript buddies or myself ever had the chance to get close to one.
Regards

 

Hello Miro and thanks for the information on them. Since I made this posting--I have changed my mind about not collecting any of them--I will collect the crosses however.

Still though, the new versions of decorations are not in the class of the lowest classes for the ww2 and Imperial decorations. I think if im not mistaken--I think there is also a group of military decorations that are enameled with red enameling on them.

Im not downplaying the significance of the awards, I just personally (as a collector only) dont care for their style.

I myself have a few friends who served in the "new" German Army and in the Marine, and not one of them recieved anything other than merit medals.

I was happier to note that they still have sort of a version of their classic bravery cross--known as the Iron Cross--though not near as visually attractive as the Imperial and ww2 versions and look almost nothing like these versions. They also have different methods of construction for these medals too--some are solid 1 piece crosses and others are 2-and 3 piece medals--which look nicer.