Crown Order Medal (Prussia)

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Obverse of the Crown Order Medal

The Crown Order Medal is a general (civil and military) decoration of merit of the Crown of Prussia . Despite the name, it was not affiliated with the Royal Crown Order and therefore did not belong to the Prussian order system.

Foundation, endowment

The foundation of the medal was orally approved by King Wilhelm II on December 1, 1888 , after he himself had suggested its creation on September 23 of the Year of the Three Emperors .

Design / band

At the express request of Wilhelm II, it was designed by the First Coin Medalist Emil Weigand based on the example of the Red Eagle Order Medal. The production was carried out by the Royal Mint in Berlin. The medal consists of a gold-plated medal with a diameter of 25 mm, with the order cross of the Royal Crown Order on the obverse and the monogram W Wilhelm II on the reverse . It is topped by a Prussian royal crown firmly attached to the medal. It was made from gold-plated copper from 1888 to autumn 1915, and from September 1916 in gold-plated zinc.

The ribbon has the color of the Royal Crown Order, which Nimmergut designates as a lightened medium blue.

Classes / way of carrying

The medal consists of one class: medal. It was worn on a 25 mm wide band on the left side of the chest.

Award

The medal was intended for sub-servants (lackeys, body hunters, valets, courtiers, etc.) of non-Prussian court holdings, i.e. for non-commissioned officers, soldiers, sub-civil servants and other servants from the entourage or the state institutions of the sovereigns of the German federal states as well as (from May 3, 1889) foreign imperial, royal or princely houses. From 1893 indigenous civilians in the German protected areas could also receive the medal. According to a decree of the Prussian Minister for Public Works of November 3, 1906, workers who had not reached the required minimum age to be awarded the General Decoration could receive the Crown Medal on proposal.

It was administered by the Secret Military Cabinet and the Secret Civil Cabinet and was issued at the instigation of the King, whose Most High Box also bore the cost of production. It was not given, but given; because it was not subject to return if the recipient died. They were initially issued without a certificate, and from an unknown point in time with a certificate of ownership.

Production and award numbers

From 1888 to the autumn of 1915, a total of 11,300 copies in gilded copper were delivered. These were awarded in full by September 1916, of which the Secret Civil Cabinet recorded 4,794 awards statistically. The other 6,506 awards seem to have been made spontaneously by Wilhelm II, without any prior administrative act.

From September 1916 to September 1918 a total of 3,600 copies in gold-plated zinc were delivered. Of these, around 1,300 had been awarded by November 1918, of which the Secret Civil Cabinet recorded 242 awards statistically. The other approx. 1,050 awards also seem to have taken place spontaneously, without any prior administrative act. The remaining 2,300 medals (including the 2,000 copies made in September 1918) were melted after the war.

meaning

Due to the extensive diplomacy of monarchical state visits and family festivities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Prussian Crown Order Medal can be found in numerous legacies of employees of European and non-European courts. It can thus be seen as a testimony to international diplomacy on the eve of the First World War.

literature

  • Arnhard Graf Klenau and Peter Sauerwald: The orders and decorations of the Kingdom of Prussia . Color catalog, Offenbach am Main 1998. p. 67.
  • Karsten Klingbeil and Andreas Thies: Order 1700–2000 , Vol. III: Prussia . Kirchheim unter Teck 2008. p. 165.
  • Gerd Scharfenberg: The Crown Order Medal. An extraordinary royal Prussian award . Contributions to Brandenburg / Prussian numismatics. Numismatisches Heft 1997. Heft 4, Berlin 1997. pp. 114–122.
  • Lothar Tewes and Elke Bannicke: Kaiser Wilhelm II. The most universal decoration of honor - the royal Prussian crown medal . Orders and Medals No. 46, Hof / Saale 2006. pp. 20–24.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Kurt-Gerhard Klietmann: The Royal Prussian Crown Order Medal . The Herald. Quarterly magazine for heraldry, genealogy and allied sciences. New series, No. 11, Berlin 1980. p. 353.
  2. ↑ a b c d Lothar Tewes and Elke Bannicke: Kaiser Wilhelm II. The most universal badge of honor - the royal Prussian crown medal . Orders and Medals 46 (2006), p. 20 f.
  3. ↑ Jörg Nimmergut: German medals and decorations , vol. 2. Munich 1997. p. 869.
  4. ↑ Waldemar Edler v. Hessenthal and Georg Schreiber: The portable decorations of the German Empire including the formerly independent German states as well as the Empire and the Federal State of Austria, the Free City of Danzig, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Principality of Liechtenstein and the decorations of the NSDAP . Berlin 1940. p. 366, no. 1321.
  5. ↑ Announcement in Deutsches Kolonialblatt No. 9 of May 1, 1893, p. 215.
  6. ↑ a b Jörg Nimmergut: German Orders and Medals , Vol. 2. Munich 1997. P. 873.
  7. ↑ Dietmar Raksch: Award certificates and certificates of ownership from the Kingdom of Prussia and the Republic of Prussia 1793–1972 . Hamburg 2002. p. 186 f.
  8. ↑ a b Lothar Tewes and Elke Bannicke: Kaiser Wilhelm II. The most universal decoration - the royal Prussian crown medal . Orders and Medals No. 46, Hof / Saale 2006. P. 23 f.