Military medical cross

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Military Medical Cross (1870)

The military medical cross was on August 25, 1870 by Grand Duke Ludwig III. Donated by Hessen on the occasion of the war against France and could be awarded to women and men who had made a name for themselves in the field of medical services, in the care and transport of wounded and sick soldiers.

Medals

The award, which consisted only of a class, is a gilt bronze -made cross . On the front you can see the lettering Für / Pflege der / soldiers / 1870 and on the back Den / 25th / August / 1870 and in the center the initial L (Ludwig) surmounted by a crown . The design is neo-Gothic in keeping with the style of the time and therefore rather rare, unique among Hessian orders.

The award was worn on a ponceau red ribbon with two silver border stripes on the left breast, by women on the lady's bow.

After the outbreak of World War I , Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig reactivated the order on August 12, 1914. He kept the statutes and created a clasp with the year 1914 , which was attached to the ribbon , for previous owners who had again distinguished themselves . People who were newly awarded the medal received the distinction with the modified purpose inscription for / care of / soldiers / 1914 . Medical officers, NCOs and men received the cross on the so-called war ribbon, all others on the conventional ribbon from 1870.

Due to the prevailing scarcity of raw materials, the medal was made from an embossed and then copper-plated zinc alloy from January 1918 .

Award statistics

Military medical cross (1914) on war ribbon with award bag

According to the specialist literature, 911 awards can be proven. However, the evaluation of all official publications of the Grand-Ducal Hesse gives a slightly different result. Initially, the awards were published in a summarized form - but only for awards to military personnel - in the Grand Ducal Hessian Military Ordinance Gazette for the year 1871. A first compilation of all awards up to the middle of 1874 can be found in the list of persons decorated with Grand Ducal Hessian orders and decorations . The given first names of the bearers were also given once. Furthermore, the awards were published in the Court and State Manual of the Grand Duchy of Hesse for the year 1878 and finally or finally in the Court and State Manual of the Grand Duchy of Hesse from 1879. According to this, officially and officially published a total of 877 awards of the Military Medical Cross can be proven, which took place in the period from 1871 to 1876. A total of 37 award dates have been recorded, starting on January 30, 1871 and ending on December 23, 1876. Most of the awards, however, took place on two dates. On June 22, 1871 alone, no fewer than 372 and on May 8, 1872 another 318 crosses were awarded. The high proportion of women (257 crosses, 29%) among the 877 awards is remarkable.

A detailed award list with biographical information on the sponsors was drawn up by Lars Adler .

literature

  • Maximilian Gritzner : Handbook of the knight and merit orders of all civilized states of the world within the XIX. Century. Weber, Leipzig 1893 (reprint: Reprint-Verlag Leipzig, Holzminden 2000, ISBN 3-8262-0705-X ), pp. 153–154.
  • Jörg Nimmergut : German medals and decorations until 1945. Volume I: Anhalt – Hohenzollern. Central Office for Scientific Order Studies , Munich 1997, ISBN 3-00-001396-2 , pp. 481-482.
  • List of persons decorated with Grand Ducal Hessian orders and decorations: 1875, p. 84 ff., Digitized .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Maximilian Gritzner: Handbook of the knight and merit orders of all civilized states of the world within the XIX. Century. Weber, Leipzig 1893, p. 154.
  2. ^ Kurt-Gerhard Klietmann : The Franco-German War of 1870/71 in its decorations and medals. In: Journal Europeen du Collectionneur d´Orres et Decorations. No. June 10 / July 1973. The figures are based on v. Hessenthal / Schreiber.
  3. ↑ GHMV 1871, pp. 26-29, 70f., 86f.
  4. ↑ List of dekorirten with Grand Ducal Hessian medals and decorations people. Darmstadt 1875, pp. 84–126.
  5. ^ Court and State Handbook of the Grand Duchy of Hesse. Darmstadt 1878, pp. 138-161.
  6. ^ Court and State Handbook of the Grand Duchy of Hesse. Darmstadt 1879, pp. 146–172.
  7. ↑ Award list