121 Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen, the legendary Red Baron, mounted group of medals presumably put together for the funeral cushion on the occasion of his funeral ceremony on May 2, 1918 or November 20, 1925.
1. Prussia, Iron Cross 2nd Class 1914; 2. Prussia: House Order of Hohenzollern, Knight's Cross with Swords (clasp in bronze - gilded version); 3. Saxony: Military St. Henry's Order, Knight's Cross, silver-gilt and enamelled; 4. Saxony's Duchies: Saxony-Ernestine House Order, Knight's Cross 1st Class with Swords, gilt and enamelled. 5. Bavaria: Military Merit Order 4th Class with Crown and Swords, silver and enamelled; 6. Württemberg: Military Merit Order, Knight's Cross. Silver-gilt and enamelled; 7. Saxe-Coburg-Gotha: Oval Silver Duke Carl Eduard Medal with Swords - Ribbon Bar 1914/7 (Bar piece); 8. Hesse - Darmstadt: General Badge of Honour for Bravery ; 9. Schaumburg-Lippe: Cross for Faithful Service 1914-1918 on the Combat Band; 10. Brunswick: War Merit Cross 2nd Class; 11. Lübeck: Hanseatic Cross; 12. Bremen: Hanseatic Cross; 13. Hamburg: Hanseatic Cross; 14. Austria: Order of the Iron Crown 3rd class with Knight's Cross, one laurel branch loose; 15. Austria: Military Merit Cross 3rd class with Knight's Cross.
In addition, field clasp in the same configuration.
On 22 April 1918, Richthofen was buried with military honours in Bertangles by Australian flying officers. During the following night, the resting place was desecrated by French villagers, who tried in vain to dig up the body and make it disappear.
After the news of the death of the national hero became public, the vice president of the Reichstag read the following statement to the plenary assembly:
"Our flying ace, Baron von Richthofen, has not returned from his last combat flight. You all know that, although he was only a quarter of a century old, he had become a national hero, a role model for his troop, an example of what a capable man can achieve in the field."
The central memorial service took place on 2 May 1918 in the presence of Empress Auguste Viktoria and the highest-ranking military officers in the Old Garrison Church in Berlin.
Five years later, at the instigation of the French military authorities, he was reburied at the German military cemetery in Fricourt. Since the family wanted to repatriate the remains, they turned to the Reich Ministry of Defence with this request. The ministry then entered into negotiations with the French and was ultimately able to persuade the family to agree to a burial at the Invalids' Cemetery in Berlin rather than at the cemetery in Schweidnitz, where his father and younger brother Lothar were already buried.
On 20 November 1925, the body, which had been brought back from France by his brother Karl-Bolko, was repatriated to Germany for a state ceremony. After a short ceremony in the Church of Grace in the presence of President Paul von Hindenburg and numerous members of the government, including Chancellor Hans Luther and Minister of Defence Otto Geßler, he was buried in a grave of honour in the Invalids' Cemetery after a funeral procession of hundreds of soldiers and officers, with great sympathy from the people of Berlin.
The medal bar offered here was probably put together for for these funeral ceremonies or the mourning ceremony on 2 May 1918.
Important, highly interesting and impressive medal bar of one of the most important fighter pilots of all time.