Lot 7210

Description

The unparalleled compilation of awards was mounted in a frame by Walter Forstmann and has been consigned directly from the family estate. Forstmann was taken prisoner at the end of the war on 9 May 1945, and all the medals on his uniform were lost. The following decorations on the plaque were purchased separately in the 1950s/60s: Pour le Mérite order, the „1939" clasp to the Iron Cross 1914, U-boat War Badge 1918 and the War Merit Cross 1st Class of 1939. All other orders are contemporary: Hanseatic Cross Hamburg, Commemorative Medal for Rescue from Danger, House Order of Hohenzollern Knight's Cross with Swords, gold, scratched „W", a minor chip on the back. PLM circa 1960. Austria: Order of Leopold, Knight's Cross with war decoration, gilt bronze, star mark struck in the loop, chipped. Order of the Iron Crown 3rd Class with war decoration, gold, partially enamelled, the back of the pendilia engraved „A. E. Köchert - Wien", the crown circlet with interior iron ring, Military Merit Cross IIIrd Class, partially enamelled silver. FEK: Order of the Red Eagle Cross 4th Class, Iron Cross 2nd Class 1914 with „1939" clasp, 1957 issue. Star of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. Turkey: Iron Crescent, large Imtiyaz Medal in Silver with ribbon bar (inverted) and Liakat Medal in Gold with ribbon bar (inverted). Sports badge in gold, Long Service Award for 25 years, Iron Cross 1st Class (attachment pin replaced), U-boat War Badge circa 1960, neck cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 1st Class, War Merit Cross 1st Class of 1939 in 1957 issue. Russia: Order of St. Stanislaus 3rd Class, gold, partially enamelled, maker's mark „Eduard". Chipped. Walter Forstmann (1883 - 1973), joined the imperial navy in 1900 (crew 00), Leutnant zur See in 1903, Oberleutnant zur See in 1906, commander of torpedo boat D 8. in 1908. From 1909 in the U-boat forces, commander of U 11 in 1910. Order of the Red Eagle IVth Class in 1912 for an 11-day voyage without interruption. When war broke out, he was commander of U 12, with which he sank the gunboat „Niger" on 11 November 1914. From January 1915, commander of U 39. Karl Dönitz was temporarily his watch officer and secretary, and Martin Niemöller his helmsman. PLM on 12 August 1916. From Dec. 1917, at the U-boat inspection in Kiel; from Jan 1918, head of the 3rd U-boat flotilla. He sank a total of 149 vessels. From 1920, he worked at August Thyssen-Hütte in Duisburg, later as director. Reactivated in 1939 and deployed at Rüstungskommando Osnabrück as Head of the Marine Department, then at the OKW as Head of the Copenhagen Liaison Unit, later Chief of the Military Economic Staff in Copenhagen until the end of the war. Thereafter, member of Wohnstätten-AG, vice president of the German Settlers' Association and many other positions, he was involved in the construction of 30 Pestalozzi villages, earning the moniker „Siedlervater" (Settlers' Father) and later awarded the Grand Cross of Merit with Star.

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