[MedalFuhrer]

[MedalFuhrer]

[MedalFuhrer]

[HerrScheisse]

Unfortunately I do not. I had bought the Volkspolizei Award and then came across this item later so purchased it to piece together with the previous item. I will try find out about it and post back.

Originally Posted by Little Alex

I agree. Great photos!



Do you know anything about this badge? I don't think it's a Bester (Bestenabzeichen) badge, but maybe it is. It doesn't appear in my awards reference book (printed 1979).

I must put some photos up myself at some stage!

[HerrScheisse]

An amateur border guard - a snitch with a badge

Originally Posted by MedalFuhrer

I wonder did people actually wear these in public? And how many were disposed off after the wall came down?

[HerrScheisse]

Why thank you!

It was indeed a very productive trip, but we should have taken more items. Some of the objects were ridiculous prices and now we are kicking ourselves. It feels like going on a diet while in a sweet shop

Originally Posted by Morlar

Those are excellent & sounds like a productive trip ! Very well photographed too

[HerrScheisse]

[HerrScheisse]

This was more pricey than most of the other items posted so far. I understand it is a hochschule or Academy award but the exact name escapes me at this moment. Any ideas?

[MedalFuhrer]

I like that one. Especially since he is sporting a mean looking beard! Beard power!

[MedalFuhrer]

I bought this as a set:

Banner der Arbeit 3rd Class (The Banner of Labor) in original box,
Original award documents
And the person's ribbon bar.

It was given for "outstanding achievements of many years which stabilized and strengthened the country, and in particular for high results of working in the national economy" and came in three classes.

[MedalFuhrer]

Order of Merit for Service to the People and Fatherland, 3rd Class

[Little Alex]

Originally Posted by HerrScheisse

This was more pricey than most of the other items posted so far. I understand it is a hochschule or Academy award but the exact name escapes me at this moment. Any ideas?

Very nice, HerrScheisse!

That's Friedrich Engels. One of the very biggest of spiritual names in the DDR.

Your Absolventenabzeichen der Militärakademie Friedrich Engels is from 1987 onwards. Check here for more info on graduation badges.

[HerrScheisse]

Vielen dank Genosse!

I am in touch with somebody now and should have the Potsdam Academy award very shortly, also in discussion for some MfS medals - I'll post if the deal goes through! Appreciate the pointer on that last item

[MedalFuhrer]

Originally Posted by Little Alex

Anything interesting in the rolled-up newspaper?

So Little Alex you question made me curious. So I took the newspaper out of the cap in order to have a look. It is dry and verging on brittle from age. My German is not good so I can't read it, but I have scanned the page in on both side:

Neues Deutschland
16/17th of February 1980

Page 11 (well half of it!)


Page 12

[Little Alex]

The first page has an article about illiteracy in Nicaragua, actively being stamped out by the socialist Sandanista regime. The second article on that page is about a Japanese theme park which features an ice sculpture of Mischka, the mascot of the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

The second page has articles covering an advanced production method for radiotherapy medicine in the DDR, research into an automatic translation machine which recognises syllables and allowable letter combinations in each language, therefore accurately translating, again in the DDR. USSR research into volcanoes being the source of life on earth, a joint USSR-US oceanographic research project, analysis of oyster colonisation of anchor chains with the view of using the findings to develop methods of shellfish farming, again in Russia make up the other articles.

There are also the articles without socialist influence: a journal entry from an American medical publication about colon cancer detection and a potential breakthrough in cancer treatment from Switzerland.

The joint USSR-US adventure is very strange, given that this was at the time when the Americans had announced their boycott of the Moscow Olympics.