General Badge of Honor (Prussia)
The general decoration was one on January 18, 1810 by the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III. Donated award for civil merit.
Until 1814, the award was given as a general badge of honor 1st class in the form of a gold medal and as a general badge of honor II class in the form of a silver medal; in the year mentioned, the first class gold medal was replaced by a silver cross. This cross was raised to the fourth class of the Red Eagle Order in 1830 , so that only the silver medal remained.
In 1890, a gold medal was donated as a general badge of honor in gold as a higher level of the general badge of honor , which was replaced on January 27, 1900 by the cross of the general badge of honor , which was in the form of a silver cross on a 28 mm wide orange ribbon with two white stripes was carried. This could also be awarded for special merits with a golden royal crown over the silver cross. The general badge of honor in silver was worn in the form of a silver medal on a 35 mm wide white ribbon with red stripes on the left chest. On 27 January 1912 added Wilhelm II. Nor the General decorations in bronze added, was to wear a bronze medal as the silver medal with General 35mm wide white ribbon with red border strip in shape.
This award was given for a long jubilee in office or for special merits of people who were not eligible for the award of an order due to their rank. As a rule, these were lower and middle officers and NCOs . The medals and crosses were made of silver or gold. A few specimens were made from zinc during the war in 1918 .
The front bears the three-line inscription MERIT - UM - DEN STAAT , which is surrounded by a laurel wreath . On the reverse the crowned monogram FWR III (Friedrich Wilhelm Rex III.). The reverse of the bronze medal bears the year 1912 under the monogram of its donor WR II (Wilhelm Rex II) .
literature
- Jörg Nimmergut : German medals and decorations until 1945. Volume 2: Limburg-Reuss. Central office for scientific ordination. Munich 1997. pp. 971-978. ISBN 3-00-00-1396-2 .
- FW Hoeftmann: The Prussian order herald. Berlin 1868 (reprint). Pp. 141f., 2nd supplement pp. 6–8. ISBN 978-3-934743-45-8 .
- Tilo Wahl: The Prussian General Decoration in Gold from 1890 - a cast reproduction. In: Orders and Medals. The magazine for friends of phaleristics, publisher: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Ordenskunde , Issue 81, 14th year, Hof / Saale 2012. ISSN 1438-3772.