Landwehr Cross
The Landwehr Cross was a badge of the Landwehr of the Prussian Army .
History of origin
The Landwehr cross was placed on the helmets and shakos of the units of the Prussian Landwehr to show the difference to the line regiments . When the Prussian Landwehr was established in 1813, the officers and men were given a peaked cap as headgear, on which a white metal cross with the inscription " Mit Gott für König und Vaterland " was attached to the front, next to or above the cockade . This cross was generally called the Landwehr Cross and then passed on to the shakos, which were later given to members of the Landwehr. Finally, the Landwehr crosses were also placed on helmets (introduced in 1881). In 1857 it was decided that the Landwehr cross should be attached to the cap cockades of the Landwehr and Reserve, which meant that the metal cross that had been worn over the cockade by Landwehr 2 (second contingent) was no longer applicable. On the helmets, the inscription “With God for King and Fatherland” or “With God for Prince and Fatherland” or “With God for Fatherland” (in the Free and Hanseatic cities) was only attached to the Landwehr cross. The officers of the Landwehr carried the Landwehr cross instead of the name on the chest of the helmet eagle, the officers of the reserve a little lower. It was abolished in 1916 as part of the standardization of the new M1916 steel helmet .
Appearance
The paw - shaped badge, embossed from sheet metal, was labeled with the name of the troop type of the respective regiment.
Further designation
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For a long time, memorial crosses of the fallen of the Landwehr are also known as Landwehr crosses. These usually also contained the respective inscriptions of the cross, the crosses can be found both as a paw cross and as a Latin cross .