A Mint Social Welfare Decoration; 3rd Grade in its Original LDO Case of Issue

A certificate, measuring 210x298mm, extremely fine condition with light scuffing. It states that Major of the General Staff Heinz Gaede (also known as Heinrich Gäde) is awarded the 3rd Grade of the Social Welfare Decoration. The document is dated to August 2, 1939 and carries a facsimile of A.H. and of Chief of the Presidential Chancellery of the Führer and Chancellor, Otto Meissner.

Footnote: Heinz/Heinrich Gaede/Gäde was born in 1898. He joined the Prussian Army in 1916. In December 1917, he was promoted to Lieutenant. Shortly before the end of the war, he became a Battery Leader. Gaede won both classes of the Iron Cross. After a short period of working in agriculture, he joined the Reichswehr in 1923. His promotions to Oberleutnant (Senior Lieutenant) in 1926 and to Hauptmann (Captain) in 1933 followed. In 1936, he was appointed Battery Chief in Artillery Regiment 30, where he was promoted to Major in late 1937. His next deployment was with the Supreme Command of the Army as First Officer of the General Staff (known as Ia) of the Inspection of the Artillery. When the Second War broke out, Gaede became Ia of Infantry Division 255. In late 1939, he received his promotion to Lieutenant Colonel. About a year later, he was made Ia of Infantry Division 110. After another year, in November of 1941, Gaede was appointed Chief of the General Staff of the General Command Army Corps 13. In March 1942, he was promoted to Colonel. A few months later, Gaede became Chief of the German Staff at the Royal Bulgarian Supreme Army Command. At the beginning of 1943, he was appointed military attaché in Sofia, the Bulgarian capital. At the end of the year, he received his promotion to Major General and became the German General for Bulgaria. In late 1944, Gaede took command of Infantry Division 719, fighting British forces in Belgium and Northern France. He was taken prisoner on March 30, 1943 by the American army. Gaede died in 1983.