Military Order of Merit (Hesse)

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Pour la vertu militaire
Military Order of Merit (replica)
Ribbon

The order Pour la vertu militaire was founded on February 25, 1769 by Landgrave Friedrich II of Hessen-Kassel in a class and was intended for the award of officers for bravery. In peacetime the medal was only awarded from staff officers upwards. On October 22, 1820, the name was changed to Military Order of Merit .

Order decoration

The medal is a rose-colored enamelled Maltese cross made of gold . A massive princely crown (from 1803 a royal crown) is attached above the cross. Golden crowned Hessian lions standing in the corners of the cross. On the upper arm of the cross is the intertwined monogram FL (Friedrich Landgraf). After the death of the donor in 1785, this monogram was changed to his successor WL (Wilhelm Landgraf) and after his status increase to Elector in WK (Wilhelm Kurfürst). The letters VIR TU TI (for bravery) can be read on the other arms of the cross (right / bottom / left) . The back of the cross is without an inscription.

Carrying method

The medal was worn on a sky-blue ribbon with silver stripes around the neck.

Others

After the owner's death, the decoration had to be returned to the order's chancellery by the heirs within three months.

With the annexation by Prussia in 1866, the order was no longer awarded and expired on December 15, 1888 with the death of the last knight, Prince Alexander of Hesse-Darmstadt .

literature

  • Jörg Nimmergut : German medals and decorations until 1945. Volume 1: Anhalt – Hohenzollern. Central Office for Scientific Order Studies , Munich 1997, ISBN 3-00-00-1396-2 .
  • Philipp Losch : The order Pour la Vertu Militaire and its knights. In: Journal of the Association for Hessian History and Regional Studies. New series 41, volume, Kassel 1917, pp. 23–62.
  • Gerhard Große-Löscher: The Hessen-Kassel order “Pour la Vertu Militaire” with special consideration of the order decoration. In: Orden-Militaria-Magazin. 50 11th year, October 1992, publisher Werner Sauer, (Association of German Ordensammler) 6497 Steinau 1992.
  • Kassel University Library, handwriting: Sig 4 Ms Hass 270 contains the statutes, a list of knights up to 1795 and a contemporary drawing of the order cross by GF Thalmann.