The fashion historian Ingrid Loschek, whose previous reference works on fashion were published by Reclam (Reclams Mode und Kostümlexikon, 1999) and Beck (Die Modedesigner, 1998) released her latest work in December 2001 through a different publisher, Battenberg. Devoting three to five pages to each year, Loschek compiles in this work a year-by-year listing of the most important facts from 1900 to 2000, first noting events in politics, lifestyle, art, music, literature, theater, and film in one or one-half page segments, along with sidebars covering the most significant fashion designers and fashion photographers. An overview of the most important fashion trends of the year follows, with subsections for the most significant countries. Men's fashions are covered for the most part, as well. The work also provides an extensive number of illustrations of fashion designs, modeled fashions (with captions including the name of the design and designer but without the name of the models), and accessories. An index includes all names listed throughout the work. This volume, together with Loschek's Reclams Mode- und Kostümlexikon [Reclam's Lexicon of Fashion and Dress], belongs in all public and research libraries for general reading and reference. [sh/bwv]

 

The four-volume Deutsche Orden und Ehrenzeichen, of which the fourth and final volume is discussed here, is an impressive accomplishment, containing some 5,512 detailed descriptions of medals and decorations and 8,500 mostly black-and-white, full-sized illustrations of the fronts and backs of the medals. The set also offers an extensive bibliography of source and secondary materials. Volume 4 follows the format of previous volumes (see RREA 4:127 and 6:168): alphabetical arrangement by German states and territories, longer paragraphs on states' coats of arms, a short survey of regional developments, a history of the military and civilian medals and decorations awarded by a particular state, and a chronologically arranged description of the decorations.

Volume 4 contains the second part of the section on Württemberg and the entry on Würzburg, although these could have easily been included in the previous volume. The majority of volume 4 is devoted to the German Reich, divided into the following periods: up to the end of the Reich, 1918-1933, Free City of Gdansk, and finally 1933 to 1945. This last section, at 590 pages, clearly shows the propensity of the Third Reich to hand out medals, mostly military, to its supporters. The work concludes with an index of foreign and technical terms, but other indexes, which would have been useful in navigating the sheer amount of information Nimmergut has assembled, are missing. Nonetheless, Deutsche Orden und Ehrenzeichen will become a standard resource for dealers, collectors, and scholars. [sh/jb]

 

Ranking below the Iron Cross and the Kriegsverdienstkreuz [War Service Cross], the German Cross was the third highest German military decoration for bravery and military service in the Second World War. It was bestowed on no fewer than 26,987 military personnel, with 95 percent of the recipients receiving the gold cross and the rest the silver cross. This volume of a two-volume work, the first study of its kind, provides information in the form of tables on each German Cross recipient, including name, rank, unit, and branch of the German Armed Forces. The exclusion of birthdates is not exactly understandable, especially given that this information was ascertainable from the index of medal recipients. Volume 1, announced for spring 2002, is to cover the requirements for being awarded the German Cross, decoration, certificate of bestowment, manner of wearing the medal, as well as the awarding ceremony. Until its publication, readers should consult volume 4 of J. Nimmergut's Deutsche Orden und Ehrenzeichen (see RREA 7:149 above) for a comprehensive overview of these subjects. [sh/bwv]

 

This work, written by a retired librarian, focuses on libraries and their treasures as depicted on stamps. Following an introduction, buildings and treasures from 1,704 institutions are noted in four categories: illustrations of buildings; treasures that are associated with a library; institutions to which libraries belong; and treasures from unknown libraries. The overall organization of the work is by continent and then alphabetical by country. The comprehensive section for Germany includes state, university, and governmental libraries. The entries for each stamp include: name and location of the library and its date of opening and building size; and the issue date of the stamp, its value, and its number in the Michel-Katalog. [sh/bwv]