Request for assistance from someone good on graphics

[Paul.Saenger]

Hi everyone.

I have highlighted what needs to be coded for the Ritterkreuz and above and will do so for the lower awards as well.

I hope that helps.

First, here is the Knights Cross:



Here's for the Oak Leaves



Regarding the award names (what needs to be coded into the yellow space):

Oak leaves = Das Eichenlaub - as in the example.


There is a bit of a problem regarding the upper grades (swords, Diamonds) , as I do not know how the urkunden looked. MY best guess would be like the example above, with only the Award names changed.
Like this:


With the words "DIE SCHWERTER" or "DIE BRIllIANTEN" replacing "Das Eichenlaub.

Another possibility is this:

As above with die Schwerter etc. replacing the yellow part, and the green part replaced by

"DES RITTERKREUZ DES EISERNEN KREUZES MIT EICHENLAUB" (for the swords)
"ZUM RITTERKREUZ DES EISERNEN KREUZES MIT EICHENLAUB UND SCHWERTERN" (for the diamonds)
or
"ZUM EICHENLAUB DES RITTERKREUZ DES EISERNEN KREUZES"

For the golden Oak leaves, swords and diamonds replace the yellow part in this image

with DAS GOlDENE EICHENLAUB MIT SCHWERTERN UND BRILLIANTEN.



I will post the lower grades next, since there is no confusion left. If no one has a real example of the Ritterkreuz mit Schwertern and above, I guess you should just pick whatever looks best.

[Boris]

Originally Posted by Paul.Saenger

Are these real documents? What's with the spelling of Fregattenkapitän... here: Fregettenkapitän?

[Paul.Saenger]

Here is the same for the U-Boat War Badge.



The difficulty here is the name of the BDU (which I mistakenly called FDU in the edited picture, which is quite wrong as that was abolished in 1939).

Important information:
- only the surname is printed on the thing (green).

The BDU:
Name: Karl Dönitz until the 30th January 1943, after that Hans-Georg von Friedeburg
Rank: Konteradmiral (after 01 Oct 1939); Vizeadmiral (01 Sep 1940); Admiral (14 Mar 1942) for Dönitz. Friedeburg: Vizeadmiral (01 Feb 1943); Admiral (01 Apr 1943); Generaladmiral (01 May 1945)

I was unable to find a signature picture of Friedeburg, so that will be a problem.


I was unable to find a picture for the U-Boot Frontspange, but I suggest just replacing the top icon and the name of the award (replace the "das" above the part in yellow with "die" and the writing in yellow with Ubootfrontspange.


Regarding the location (highlighted in red):
there is no info on whether it was the base name, but since the commander of the U-boots signed it, I would simply write "Oberkommando der Kriegsmarine" (Navy Command).

[Paul.Saenger]

Originally Posted by Boris

Are these real documents? What's with the spelling of Fregattenkapitän... here: Fregettenkapitän?

They were posted by someone else in this thread. I do not know anything about their origins,

[Paul.Saenger]

I have checked my literature - according to some sources, the documents actually looked like that. As for the typo, I don't know about that, but the general design is correct.

[Paul.Saenger]

Alright, here is the EK template - this is confirmed and authentic



Important information:
- in contrast to the Ubootkriegsabzeichen, the full name is printed on the document.
- ranks should read as : "Eiserne Kreuz 2. Klasse" (EKII) and "Eiserne Kreuz 1. Klasse" (EKI).


The BDU:
Name: Karl Dönitz until the 30th January 1943, after that Hans-Georg von Friedeburg
Rank: Konteradmiral (after 01 Oct 1939); Vizeadmiral (01 Sep 1940); Admiral (14 Mar 1942) for Dönitz. Friedeburg: Vizeadmiral (01 Feb 1943); Admiral (01 Apr 1943); Generaladmiral (01 May 1945)

I was unable to find a signature picture of Friedeburg, so that will be a problem.

I have not indicated the location, since Befehlsstelle means "Command post".

Also, I was unable to find a template for the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold. So I would suggest just a replacement of Iron cross icon with the Deutsches Kreuz and the award name should read as "Deutsche Kreuz in Gold".

[Paul.Saenger]

Regarding the knights cross and above: There were two types of documents. One, the actual document as posted above, the other the "vorläufiges Besitzzeugnis", a document signed by the unit commander, which was valid until the Ritterkreuz was officially awarded in a ceremony. This was mainly done in the case of the Heer when there was no opportunity for such a ceremony (After all, one could not stop fighting just to sent an officer to Berlin to get a medal).

Since this is not the case in the Kriegsmarine, one should probably disregard that. But just to post an example of such a Heer document (I cannot vouch for the authenticity):

[JScones]

Cool stuff.

Originally Posted by ToySoldier

And if somebody preferred a handwriting ... this will be a pain in the ars til 1942, because till then the "official" handwriting was Korrent (mostly false called Sütterlin)
and beginning with 1943 we germans us also Latin Letters.
Here is a free DL for Sütterlin ... but I didn´t check it
Edit: (Upppssss sorry forget the Link *schäm* .... also:
http://www.computerwissen.de/downloa...er-window.html
in the right corner where "Sütterlin" stands)

In diesem Sinne
Gott mit Uns
Frank B. aus K.

Thanks for the font. Didn't realise just how illegible it was though.

Is there a more legible (free) German handwriting font available (for a different reason, not linked to the certificates)?

[ToySoldier]

Hi out there!

@JScones
That´s the problem with Korrent/Sütterlin, because we Germans use this handwriting til 1942. Then the Nazi´s detect in the history of this writing a jew as editor and forbid it ... that´s the reason that in germany now is the roman-letter in use.
So if you would like a more legible handwriting you can use everyone you like

But I will keep an eye open and post the link!

In diesem Sinne
Gott mit Uns
Frank B. aus K.

Edit: maybe you find here one which you like:
http://pagespro-orange.fr/dephitro/telechf1.htm

[Gewehr98]

I suggest www.myfonts.com and their utility, WhatTheFont...although I just ran it and it didn't come up with anything too close.

[sh3rules]

This mod is looking good...

Just a question and a Hmmmm.

Are we gonna get a nice note from BDU if we don't return?

Kind of a "We regret to inform you" thing?

And since I don't know the files involved,
Posthumous Awards?

[ReallyDedPoet]

Just removed the sticky, seems like you got a lot of helpful info. Again, good luck
with it


RDP

[SquareSteelBar]

Originally Posted by JScones

Is there a more legible (free) German handwriting font available (for a different reason, not linked to the certificates)?

These fonts aren't typical german but they look like written by hand:

2 Fonts

Maybe here you'll find something useful:

http://www.webpagepublicity.com/free-fonts.html#Free%20Fonts

So long,
SquareSteelBar

[JScones]

Thanks. Some nice fonts there.