Vol. 62, No. 6 (November-December 2011) 5 Anhalt
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in 1934. An example of an "added-on medal can be seen mostly below NCO in rank, although some of the medals in Figure 10. were actually awarded to men ranking from private on up. For information on the states, refer to Janet and Joe The Iron Cross Second Class originally dates to the Robinson’s Handbook ofImperial Germany. This book is Napoleonic Wars. It was reinstituted for the Franco- filled with excellent information on each of the respective Prussian War in 1870 and yet again in 1914 for World War states and more. An interesting aspect when looking at I. Over five million were awarded. There were numerous a German trio is the population of each of the states that makers who followed strict parameters so that all would can give an idea of scarcity or rarity. be uniformly made. Most, but iaot all, iron crosses were made of iron and are magnetic. It takes precedence over The third medal in the trio is officially a Third Reich state medals and the Cross of Honor, but there are times medal that came out in1934. In 1933, when Hitler became when a medal bar with a state medal preceding the Iron Reichs Chancellor, he arranged for President Paul von Cross, 2nd Class is encountered. The majority of them Hindenburg to institute a national award, The Cross of seem to have been made for proud Bavarians and Saxons, Honor 1914 - 1918 as a way of recognizing World War but as is always the case when people are involved, I service and reining in the myriad of veteran’s medals. there will be cases when medals are mounted on bars There were three types; one for combatants in bronze that do not follow the official order as designated by the with crossed swords; one for non-combatants in bronze government. It is no wonder that the Iron Cross, 2nd Class without swords; and one of blackened iron without swords is ubiquitous. According to Stephan Previtera who wrote for parents and widows. According to Lumsden, as of the definitive reference on the medal: The Iron Time, "By 1937, there were 6,202,883 combatant crosses awarded war’s end, the Iron Cross Second Class would find itself and 1,120,449 non-combatant crosses awarded. There pinned on the chest of one out of every three soldiers were 373,950 and 345,132 crosses awarded respectively fighting for Germany." That means that over five million to parents and widows. The cross itself was designed after combatants and 3,000 non-combatants were awarded the the 1870-71 War Commemorative Medal and actually Iron Cross; this is not to diminish the importance of the used the same ribbon. It is ubiquitous and is often seen lnedal, but rather to underline the ferocity of the war. on medal bars dating from the mid-30s to the late 50s. The Iron Cross, 2nd Class is a black-painted iron cross An interesting aspect to collecting the Cross of Honor, patee about 42 mm square set in a 4.5mm silver rim. The commonly known as Hindenburg Cross, is that there obverse consists of a crown at the top of the upper ann and were nmnerous makers who stamped their maker’s marks 1914 at the bottom of the lower arm with a serif capital on the reverse of the medal. In fact, it’s the unmarked W in the center. The reverse has a crowned FW at the top ones that are scarce. Maker’s marks are incuse-relief (an of the upper arm and 1813, the year of its foundation at impressed design area), relief or stamped. New maker’s the bottom of the bottom arm with three oak leaves on marks are found every year and as of yet, there is no stems and with acorns in the center. It is suspended from a comprehensive list of all the makers. The cross patee is 30ram wide unwatered black ribbon with two 5mm white between 37 and 38mm across and consists of four arms strips set 2mm in froln each side. The colors are reversed that start from a central medallion with a laurel wreath for the non-combatant ribbon. surrounding the dates 1914/1918. The arms are straight as they widen. For combatants, the cross is bronzed iron Regarding the state medals in the trios, 24 medals will with swords placed salter wise at each angle. A similar be discussed on an individual basis in alphabetical order cross was made for non-combatants without swords and by state with a corresponding illustration of a trio usually an oak wreath. Rarely is it possible to come across a non- consisting of the Iron Cross Second Class, the state medal magnetic variation made of tombak, which is an alloy of followed by the Cross of Honor 1914-1918 in that order. copper, tin and zinc. The combatant medal is suspended According to Dave Danner, there are three types state from a black, 28 or 30mm wide silk and watered ribbon medals when it comes to Iron Cross equivalents. Iron with a red central stripe of 4mm flanked by two white Cross equivalents fall into three categories, based on 3ram stripes. Those for parents and widows were white how many of the following criteria they satisfy: (1) The with a red central stripe flanked by two black stripes. It basic military decoration of the particular German state, estimated that there were over six million awarded while (2) awarded to officers and enlisted men without regard there were over a lnillion for non-combatants and just to rank, (3) awarded in two classes, one that is pin-back, fewer than million for next-of-kin. Of course most of with lower class a prerequisite for the higher award. the medal bars found will have the combatant version, Again this article is solely concerned with Iron Cross but occasionally it’s possible to find the non-combatant Second Class equivalent state medals awarded to men version as seen on the Lippe-Detmold trio in Figure 11. Vol. 62, No. 6 (November-December 2011) 5 Anhalt The Duchy of Anhalt was a hereditary constitutional monarchy and was a very small duchy that had been a part of the North German Confederation of States. Because the Duchy was so small, the Fredrick Cross is one of the more difficult medals to find; especially mounted on a bar. It was instituted by decree on December 12, 1914 by Duke Friedrich II. It is a bronze cross patee that measures 37 mm across (Figure 1). It is dark toned and has a gothic capital F surrounded by a wreath of oak leaves in a central medallion on the obverse. The upper arm has a crown at the top while the lower one has 1914 Figure 2: Full-size Baden traditional medal bar trio. at the bottom. The reverse is plain with a central medallion that reads "For merit in the war" (F~R/VERDIENST/ Bavaria IM/KRIEG) surrounded by an oak wreath. The ribbon is watered silk with dark green (or Anhalt green) (30ram) The Kingdom of Bavaria has existed since the 10th with red edges (2ram). century and even had its own ambassadors. By 1914, it had a population of 7.1 million, making it one of the largest German states. The Military Merit Cross is one of the most common medals seen on medal bars and comes in a myriad of different classes with the same ribbon. It is not unusual to see a bar as shown with the Bavarian medal taking precedence over the Iron Cross. The cross shown is the Military Merit Cross 3rd Class with swords issued for bravery in the field (Figure 3). Figure 1: Full-size Anhalt traditional medal bar trio. Baden The Grand Duchy of Baden has existed since the 12th century and by 1914 had a population of 1.8 million. It is not surprising that around 100,000 Merit Medals were awarded during the war. The Medal of Merit was instituted by Grand Duke Friedrich I in September 1866 (Figure Figure 3: Full-size Bavarian traditional medal bar trio. 2). In World War I it was worn from the ribbon of the Karl-Friedrich Order, which consits of three equal 4mm The cross is a 40mm Bath Cross with a 18mm central strips of yellow, red and yellow with lmm white edges. medallion with a stylized L for King Ludwig III centered The obverse of the medal has left profile of Friedrich within a garter belt with the Latin MERENTI ("Merit" in II with FREIDRICH II GROSSHERZOG VON BADEN English) centered within the belt over the L. The reverse (Freidrich II Grand Duke of Baden) below the upper differs from the obverse only in the central medallion edge of the thin rim. The reverse has an oak wreath with where a rampant Bavarian lion is surrounded by the garter FOR/VERDIENST (For Merit) in the center of the wreath. belt with the date 1866 centered above the lion. There The medal has an interesting ribbon suspension that is a were three classes when the war started: 1 st Class in gilt, long soldered bar with curved ends and approximately 2nd Class in silver and 3rd Class in bronze, and it was the same width as the ribbon. They were initially made awarded with, or without, swords and a crown. Initially of silvered bronze, but as the war continued were struck the crosses were made of bronze, but later they were made in iron and zinc, which were silvered.