Military Awards of USSR - Dr Herfurth - DDR

[new world]

This book was published a while ago - 1987 in DDR. Author - Dr Herefurth, well known for his little white price guide.

[Dat Nguyen]

Originally Posted by new world

This book was published a while ago - 1987 in DDR. Author - Dr Herefurth, well known for his little white price guide.

No kidding about his "little white price guide." I remember when the "price guide" first came out. All the vendors at the fleamarkets in Germany had one and they expected to get the prices quoted in that "little white price guide." The vendors had no clue on how the condition of the medal affect the final price. All they saw was the picture of the medal and the price.

I personally believed that "little white price guide" did more harm than help in the field of soviet militaria collecting.

I'll get off my soap box now,
Dat

[new world]

That could have been true in the old days, but compared to the current market situation prices from the Herefurth book are cheap.

I wish I can buy at the prices he's qouting! :)

William

[DougD]

I love this book : )

It was the first book on militaria i ever bought, while a jr. in college. The photos of the Marshals inside wearing their M1945 uniforms amazed me...I wondered if I would ever see one in person.

I sold my DDR stuff many years ago, but i still have this book.

DougD

[new world]

DougD,

How is the content of the book? Is it worth buying one?

I've heard that Dr Herefurth was considered the best expert in DDR on awards at the time.

We all may critique Dr Herefurth today, but keep in mind that he was quite good for his era - back in the 1980s - way before McDaniel and all the wealth of publication we have available these days.

Thanks,
William

[DougD]

not being a medals expert i am not really qualified to say if its a great reference; i just remember the shot of Konev in his M1945 that took my breath away...i can't imagine that it comes close to the 2 Pauls book.

DD

[sovvisor]

this guide was the first. It was great. Pictures of medals no one outside of russia had ever seen. It was pretty bad with reference material in 1990-1991.
Today I use it for quick look up of ribbons. He haven´t as many types and variations as mcDaniel. Still a nice book in a good format for the not quite so experienced collector.
Best

[Taz]

Originally Posted by new world

DougD,

How is the content of the book? Is it worth buying one?

I've heard that Dr Herefurth was considered the best expert in DDR on awards at the time.

We all may critique Dr Herefurth today, but keep in mind that he was quite good for his era - back in the 1980s - way before McDaniel and all the wealth of publication we have available these days.

Thanks,
William

William,

This Herfurth book along with his price catolog were the first two Reference books that I brought.
My Opinion is if you can get one, buy it! I still look at and read parts of this book today.
Not the best Reference Book by any means but its worth it for the photos of the Marshalls alone.

Eddie.

[charlet]

Originally Posted by sovvisor

this guide was the first. It was great. Pictures of medals no one outside of russia had ever seen. It was pretty bad with reference material in 1990-1991.
Today I use it for quick look up of ribbons. He haven´t as many types and variations as mcDaniel. Still a nice book in a good format for the not quite so experienced collector.
Best

I find you a bit severe about this book...first, it is not expensive for a DDR book (militarverlag der ddr books about NVA are expensive in Germany).
I think it is quite comparable to Durov' book: it was published in the time of USSR, well before the massive fabrication of fakes.
The pics are very correct but they show 100% genuine awards at the time they were "sacred" objects and not collectable stuf for western collectors.
Still usefull, a good amount of propaganda photos of veterans.
Not a scientific tool like McDaniels or Muzhalevski, but it did not pretend to be so.
And Dietrich Herfurth is still an authority in Germany about soviet stuff, as an expert I think.

sebastien

[HuliganRS]

Originally Posted by charlet

...The pics are very correct but they show 100% genuine awards...

Charlet,

I believe there are pictures of fakes in that book. I do agree that at the time this was bar-none best book out there.

Rusty.