UC 34 was among the most successful German submarines in World War I in terms of operations and sinkings.
Large medal bar with Iron Cross 1914, Hamburg Hanseatic Cross, Honor Cross for Combatants, Olympic Commemorative Medal, Long Service Medal 12 Years with ribbon eagle, Long Service Medal 4 Years with ribbon eagle, Austro-Hungarian Silver Merit Cross, Liakat Medal with clasp. With matching ribbon bar and miniature chain.
Iron Cross 1914 with reverse engraving "24.Mai 1917"
U-Boat War Badge, gilt tombac
Iron Crescent - Gallipoli Star, 925 silver
War Merit Cross 1939 1st Class with Swords

Telegram transcript with envelope from the Chief of the Admiralty Staff of the Naval War Command 7 Op.II to the Commanding Officer UC 34 Oberleutnant zur See Schüler dated September 2, 1918 "after 26-day operation, mines laid off Port Said, sunk in the eastern Mediterranean... totaling approximately 19,800 gross register tons"

Chronicle Crew 1911 with listing of all comrades and their known whereabouts, partially with photographs and death notices.
Presentation gift album for the inspection of the Marine-Nachrichten-Arsenal Rathenow on May 5, 1944 with approximately 75 captioned photographs.
Included: a worn Imperial German naval war ensign marked "Sturm Fl." and a captured Italian national flag.
Assignments: SMS Kaiser, Torpedo Boat School, Torpedo Boat Half-Flotilla, U-Boat School training 1916, UC 34 Watch Officer, UC 34 Commanding Officer, UC 74 Commanding Officer 1918, internment Spain until April 1919. Civilian 1919 to 1933. Kriegsmarine Communications Department Officer, 1938 Department Head Kiel Shipyard, from war entry commands in northern France and Brest, 1941 Department Head OKM, 1943 Chief of Office Group NWA. British captivity, release 1948.

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World War I Submarine Service: Estate from the Property of Kapitän z.S. Hans Schüler - Commanding Officer UC 34

The U-Boot-Kriegsabzeichen 1918 (U-boat War Badge 1918) stands as one of the most distinctive symbols of the German submarine force during the First World War. Instituted by Kaiser Wilhelm II on 1 February 1918, this decoration recognized the crews of the Imperial German Navy submarines during the height of the unrestricted submarine warfare campaign. The badge's introduction came at a critical moment when German U-boats played a decisive role in the maritime strategy of the German Empire.

The example described here, crafted from gilt tombak (a brass alloy), comes from the estate of Hans Schüler, who served as Oberleutnant zur See (Lieutenant at Sea) during World War I and later rose to the rank of Kapitän zur See (Captain at Sea). Schüler's career embodies the continuity of German naval officers through two world wars and the interwar period. The badge was awarded in a single class without grades or variations, featuring a horizontal oval wreath of laurel leaves with the Imperial crown on top and a German submarine in the center facing right.

The award criteria reflected the dangers of submarine warfare. Initially, the badge was conferred upon officers, non-commissioned officers, and enlisted crew members who had completed at least three successful war patrols or had been wounded in combat. The criteria were later simplified to include those who participated in two patrols, provided they had accumulated at least 150 days of active open sea service, with coastal waiting periods excluded from the calculation. The badge was worn on the lower left side of the uniform.

UC-34, the submarine on which Schüler served, was a Type UC II minelaying submarine commissioned on 25 September 1916, operating primarily in the Mediterranean. Over nine patrols, UC-34 was credited with sinking 21 ships. A particularly consequential action occurred on 30 December 1917, when the boat torpedoed the British troop ship HMT Aragon and the destroyer HMS Attack off Alexandria, resulting in 610 fatalities. The submarine was scuttled at Pola on 28 October 1918 upon Austria-Hungary's surrender.

An illuminating document from Schüler's estate is a telegram transcript from the Chief of the Admiralty Staff dated 2 September 1918. This telegram confirms a successful 26-day patrol during which UC-34, under Schüler's command, laid mines off Port Said and sank vessels totaling approximately 19,800 gross registered tons in the eastern Mediterranean. This patrol documents the far-reaching operations of German U-boats extending into the eastern Mediterranean theater.

Schüler served first as a watch officer and later as commander of UC-34 before taking command of UC-74 in 1918. UC-74, which sank 37 ships over ten patrols, was interned at Barcelona on 21 November 1918 when it ran out of fuel. Schüler remained in Spanish internment until April 1919. UC-74 was surrendered to France on 26 March 1919 and broken up at Toulon in July 1921.

Following the First World War, Schüler lived as a civilian from 1919 to 1933 before rejoining the Kriegsmarine. His Second World War career focused on communications: in 1938 he became a department head at the Kiel shipyard, from the outbreak of war he held commands in northern France and Brest, in 1941 he became a department head in the Oberkommando der Marine (High Command of the Navy), and in 1943 he was appointed head of the NWA office group. After British captivity, he was released in 1948.

Holders of the U-Boot-Kriegsabzeichen 1918 retained their badges after discharge from the Imperial Navy. The badge was re-instituted in modified form on 13 October 1939 for the Second World War, with the Imperial crown replaced by the Nazi eagle. The early examples in tombak remained testimonies to a bygone era of German naval history, shaped by the devastating submarine campaigns of the First World War.