This guide will address only the DEUTSCH-NEUGUINEA 1902 clasp which was worn on the Kolonialdenkmünze. The Imperial German Colonial Medal (Kolonialdenkmünze) was established by Kaiser Wilhelm II on 13 June 1912 with revisions on 17 February 1914.  The medal with clasps was awarded retroactively.  

The clasp DEUTSCH-NEUGUINEA 1902 was awarded for actions in the area of the plantation village of Varzin, Kaiser-Wilhelmsland (which is slightly inland near Toma on the northern coast of East New Britain, Papua New Guinea) from April through July1902.  On 2 April 1902, Rudolf Wolff's plantation, the Lutheran Mission, and a number of outlying farms were attacked with a number of people killed and wounded.  Twenty year old Caroline Rasmina Coe was struck on the back of the neck with an axe but was saved by a Buka houseboy before she could be beheaded.  The German residents of Rudolf Wolff's plantation notified authorities and Police Troops were sent to punish the attackers and order was finally restore in July.  A full report of this action is available at the New Guinea Archives as:  New Guinea Collection: Potsdam Microfilms, Reel 11, Volume 2989, pages 126-129. Report concerning the unrest at Varzin in April, May and June 1902 (which is the English translation of the 5 August 1902 Herbertshöde Imperial Magistrate's Report).

 This clasp was awarded only to Imperial German Colonial Police Troops although there appears to be a number of men who were attached.  Less than 200 Police Troops were authorized this clasp and possibly only a third to a quarter actually received the DEUTSCH-NEUGUINEA 1902 clasp in 1912.  While the medal is somewhat rare, this bronze clasp is very rare - but documented better than most.  As of November 2006, this bronze clasp is only known in one officially issued type:  same width as the ribbon, wide lettering, flat back, pebbled background and with soldered prong backs.   This is not to say that another type wasn't officially issued as well but that only this one type has been verified. 

• In 1999, a damaged clasp was sold in Germany for €205

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