Germany, Wehrmacht. A War Merit Cross, I Class With Swords, By Julius Bauer & Söhne certificate_of_authenticity built on a large hunting

built on a large hunting estate northeast of Berlin in the Schorfheide forest between the lakes Grossdöllner See and Wuckersee in the north of Brandenburg

soiling evident on the tip of the left wing

showing a picture of “Recipient of [Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with] Oak Leaves and Swords SS-Gruppenführer and Lieutenant General of the Waffen-SS” Herbert Gille

In the rout

Germany, Wehrmacht. A War Merit Cross, I Class With Swords, By Julius Bauer & Söhne certificate_of_authenticity built on a large hunting(Kriegsverdienstkreuz I. Klasse mit Schwertern). Constructed of silvered feinzink, consisting of a Maltese Cross, with crossed swords piercing the centrepiece, the obverse with pebbled arms and a central wreathed mobile swastika, the reverse with a raised barrel hinge and flat vertical pinback meeting a flat wire catch, the pinback maker marked with Prsidialkanzlei code 43 for Julius Bauer & Shne, Zella Mehlis, measuring 47. 33 mm (w) x 47. 72 mm (h),