Note: We are presenting in this posting an article by Christian Jürs.. Mr. Jürs has a large collection of original German military decoration documents and is currently preparing a heavily illustrated book on the subject. ADR
Wehrmacht and SS Orders and Decoration documents

by Christian Jürs

Called by the Germans ‘Verleihungs-urkunden’ or Presentation documents, when a member of the German military was presented with a decoration, he received a document attesting to this.

These documents were printed on paper and were usually 150×210 mm in size. The awardees name and unit were typed onto the paper (hand-lettered in some cases) and the document was signed by authorized personnel and most generally had the so-called ‘Dienstsiegel’ or unit stamp, on the lower left side.

It should be noted that original documents were always printed on paper which did not contain chemical whiteners and are non-reactive to an ultra-violet light (or black light). As paper whiteners were not used until 1951, any document purporting to be of an earlier date that reacts positively to the black light should be considered as not authentic.

We show here five sample original documents.

The first is a presentation paper for the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross. It is 150×210 mm in size. This is the first style used by the Heer and is for a Major attached to the DAK and is signed by Field Marshal Keitel’s brother, head of the Army Personal Office

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The second, upper left, for the Bandenkampf or Guerrilla Warfare badge in Bronze for 20 combat days. It is 150×210 mm in size. This is the original form of the award. Others exist but this is the only official document. It is for German cadre with a Siberian Cossack unit.

The third, upper right, is a presentation paper for the Italian medal for combat in Africa. It is 150×210 mm in size. It is for a Luftwaffe member.

The fourth, lower left, is a presentation paper for the Kriegsmarine’s  E-Boat badge . It is 150×230 mm in size and is signed by the head of the Commanding Officer of the E-Boat Division.

The fifth, lower right, is a presentation paper for the Fallschirmjäger badge. This is a later war document. It is 150×210 mm in size.