Waterloo Medal (Hanover)

The Hanoverian Waterloo Medal was awarded in December 1817 by Prince Regent Georg on behalf of his father, King George III. donated by Great Britain and Hanover as a memorial to the veterans of the Battle of Quatre-Bras on June 16, 1815 and the Battle of Waterloo on June 18, 1815.

receiver

The medal was given to "all warriors of his Guelph hereditary lands who had taken part in the battle near Waterloo on June 18th" regardless of their rank or position. In practice, the Hanoverian soldiers who had not stood in the fire on June 18, 1815 or who had only participated in the battle of Quatre-Bras on June 16, 1815, received the medal. The Hanoverian soldiers who served in the King's German Legion and took part in the above battles under Wellington were entitled to the British Waterloo Medal. The medal remained in the possession of the borrower and did not have to be returned after his death.

description

Obverse : the head of the founder of the medal turned to the right, adorned with a laurel wreath. The inscription reads GEORG PRINZ REGENT 1815 ; in the arm section the name of the die cutter W.WYON .
Reverse : under a small weapon trophy, the words WATERLOO / JUN XVIII in the upper half with the words HANNOVERSCHER TAPFERkeit , in the lower half framed by two laurel branches tied at the bottom.
The medal is embossed with a high rim, on the outside of which the rank, name and troop of the entrant at the time of the award are stamped in Latin capital letters .
There are also worn specimens of this variant that have no edge engraving.
Between 1862 and 1866 the General Adjutantur again commissioned almost 100 Waterloo Medals to replace lost pieces. These were made by the court bronze manufacturer C. Bernstorff & Eichwede in Hanover, which is why the original stamp cutter engraving is missing.
The band ring was attached by means of a stamped iron eyelet. Since this fixation was not very stable and may have seemed ugly to many, it was often replaced by silver frames or brackets.
The medal is made of silver, has a diameter of 35.0 mm and a weight of 26.7 to 30 g; it has been awarded about 23,000 times.
The band is crimson, 37 mm wide and has two 5 mm wide, light blue side stripes.

carrier

The holders of the Hanoverian Waterloo Medals can be researched relatively easily and successfully, as the State Archives in Hanover keep the complete master roles, regimental and award lists and - for a fee - also provide information and make copies. In addition, the events surrounding the campaign in 1815 and the battles of Quatre Bras and Waterloo are described so frequently and in detail that the sources are almost impossible to overlook.

literature

August Finkam: The decorations awarded to Braunschweig and Hanoverians for war, merit and seniority. Lafaire, Hanover 1901.

Waldemar von Hessenthal: 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. Uniforms market Dietrich, Berlin 1940, p. 146f.

Hermann von Heyden: Mark of honor of the extinct and prosperous states of Germany and Austria-Hungary. Keller et al., Frankfurt am Main et al. 1897 (supplement. Ibid. 1898; reprint. Sn, sl 1971).

EC Joslin, AR Litherland, BT Simpkin: British Battles and Medals. 6th edition. Spink, London 1988, ISBN 0-907605-25-7 .

The Medal Yearbook 2006. ZDB ID 2197675-2 .

Jörg Nimmergut : German medals and decorations. Until 1945. Volume 1: Anhalt - Hohenzollern. Central Office for Scientific Order Studies, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-00-001396-2 .

Jörg Nimmergut: Germany catalog medals and decorations from 1800-1945. No. 745. Edition 2005/2006, ZDB -ID 1048446-2 .

Alheidis von Rohr : Earned and Earned. Order yesterday and today. Booklet accompanying the exhibition. Historical Museum am Hohen Ufer, Hanover 1981.

Web links

Commons : Waterloo-Medaille (Hannover) - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

References and notes

^ ^A ^b Hermann von Heyden: Decoration of Honor of the extinct and prosperous states of Germany and Austria-Hungary. Frankfurt am Main, 1897, addendum 1898. Reprint, p. 61 f.
↑ For example the Landwehr battalions Nienburg, Hoya, Bentheim and the field battalions Lauenburg and Calenberg, which were used to secure the right flank and were not involved in the fighting near Waterloo.
↑ ^a ^b Waldemar von Hessenthal: The portable decorations of the German Empire. Berlin 1940, p. 146 f.
^ Jörg Nimmergut : German medals and decorations. Volume 5. Addendum 1997, p. 40.
↑ Alheidis von Rohr : Earned and Earned, medals yesterday and today. Booklet accompanying the exhibition in the Historisches Museum am Hohen Ufer, Hanover, 1981, p. 14.
^ In the work of Hessenthal: The portable decorations of the German Empire. Berlin 1940, p. 147, the weight is given as 27-32 g.

[heyden-1] A ^b Hermann von Heyden: Decoration of Honor of the extinct and prosperous states of Germany and Austria-Hungary. Frankfurt am Main, 1897, addendum 1898. Reprint, p. 61 f.

[2] For example the Landwehr battalions Nienburg, Hoya, Bentheim and the field battalions Lauenburg and Calenberg, which were used to secure the right flank and were not involved in the fighting near Waterloo.

[hesst-3] Waldemar von Hessenthal: The portable decorations of the German Empire. Berlin 1940, p. 146 f.

[4] Jörg Nimmergut : German medals and decorations. Volume 5. Addendum 1997, p. 40.

[5] Alheidis von Rohr : Earned and Earned, medals yesterday and today. Booklet accompanying the exhibition in the Historisches Museum am Hohen Ufer, Hanover, 1981, p. 14.

[6] In the work of Hessenthal: The portable decorations of the German Empire. Berlin 1940, p. 147, the weight is given as 27-32 g.