Mounted as originally worn Prussian style, comprising: Iron Cross 2nd Class 1914, magnetic center, silvered frame; Prussia, House Order of Hohenzollern, Knight's Cross, in silver gilt and enamels, bottom arm marked "W 938 ", (for Wagner, Berlin), an official WWI issue, no chipping to enamels, in extremely fine condition; Mecklenburg, Military Merit Cross 2nd Class 1914, in fire gilded bronze; Hamburg, Hansetic Cross, silvered and enameled (slight enamel chipping); Hindenburg Cross with Swords, magnetic; Third Reich, Army Officer's Cross for 25 Years of Service, official issue in fire gilded iron; Third Reich, Army Award for 12 Years of Service, official issue in fire gilded iron; ribbons showing age and wear, awards in generally extremely fine condition except for Hamburg cross, which grades as very fine. A nice worn Army Officer's medal bar.
This is a unique combination of awards attributed to Thomas-Emil Wickede who entered the German Imperial Army on September 2, 1913 as part of the Mecklenburg Fusilier Regiment “Kaiser Wilhelm” No. 90. He was promoted to Lieutenant on August 6, 1914 and served on the eastern front, where he received the Knight’s Cross of the Royal Prussian House of Hohenzollern, both classes of the Iron Cross 1914, as well as the Hamburg Hanseatic Cross. Following Germany’s defeat, Wiedecke stepped into the Reichsheer, where he was deployed within the Transitional Army in the spring of 1920 in the Reichswehr Infantry Regiment 17, where he rose through the ranks until September 1939, where he led a battalion into the Polish campaign, after which he was transferred to the western front, where he received the clasps to his Iron Crosses. He was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross on August 15, 1940 for his achievements as commander. As Colonel he later led the Infantry regiment 409 during the eastern campaign in Northern Russia. Again rising through the ranks until he reached the rank of General of the Infantry on January 1, 1944 as the commander in chief of th3 10th Army Corps. On June 23, 1944, he flew with Generaloberst Dietl, and Generalleutnant Rossi to a meeting in Austria, where their plane crashed into a mountain in Styria.