✚8642✚ German WW1 mounted medal group War Aid Cross Baden War Medal Red Cross

Original Original German / Prussian WW1 mounted medal group: Prussian Red Cross Medal III. Class, Merit Cross for War Aid, Baden War Merit Medal & Honour Cross With Swords, VERY NICE CONDITION, GENUINE RIBBONS, PERFECT PIN DEVICE, the Honour Cross is maker marked: "R.V. PFORZHEIM 18", A NICE GROUP OF WW1 AWARDS

HISTORY OF THE AWARDS:

Medal of Honour of the Prussian Red Cross, III class (Medaille für Verdienste um das Preußische Rote Kreuz, III Klasse) - Circular gilt bronze or zinc medal with loop for ribbon attachment; the face with a Greek (Geneva) cross with vertical hatching denoting the heraldic colour gules (red), a Prussian crown at the end of each arm, the letters ‘WRAV’ (for Wilhelm II, Emperor of Germany, King of Prussia); the reverse inscribed ‘FUER VERDIENSTE UM DAS ROTHE KREUZ’ (For service to the Red Cross), an oak branch to the. Prussia was officially represented at the conference held in Geneva from 26 to 29 October 1863 and its Red Cross Society was formed shortly after, making it one of the earliest societies. In 1864, Prussia was one of the original twelve signatories of the Geneva Convention. The medal was created in 1897 for service to the Prussian Red Cross Society and issued until 1917.

Merit Cross for War Aid (Das Verdienstkreuz für Kriegshilfe). War metal cross with on the obverse medallion the intertwined letters WR (Wilhelm Rex, Wilhelm King of Prussia). The reverse medallion bears the text: "FÜR / KRIEGS- / HILFSDIENST". The cross was awarded to men and women, irrespective of rank or status, for special merit connected with patriotic war aid. It was instituted by King Wilhelm II of Prussia on 15 December 1916. The first recipient (after the King himself) was Field Marshall von Hindenburg. 

Baden Silver Medal of Merit (Silberne Verdienstmedaille), Friedrich II, 1916-1918 - Circular silvered medal with integral bar for ribbon suspension; the face with the head and shoulders portrait of Grand Duke Friedrich II in uniform facing left circumscribed ‘FRIEDRICH II GROSSHERZOG VON BADEN•’, SIGNED ‘R.M.’; the reverse inscribed ‘FÜR VERDIENST’ (For Merit) within a circular oak wreath. The medal can trace its origins as far back as 1769 when Grand Duke Karl-Friedrich instituted a large and small silver medal of merit. The version showing Grand Duke Friedrich II was issued from his accession in 1907 until his abdication at the end of World War I in 1918. This example, dates from the latter years of that conflict, 1916-1918.

Cross of Honour, also known as the Honour Cross or, popularly, the Hindenburg Cross, was a commemorative medal inaugurated on July 13, 1934 by Reichspräsident Paul von Hindenburg for those soldiers of Imperial Germany who fought in World War I. It came in three versions: Honour Cross for Combatants (Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer) - for soldiers who fought on the front, Honour Cross for War Participants (Ehrenkreuz für Kriegsteilnehmer) - for non-combatant soldiers, Honour Cross for Next-of-Kin (Ehrenkreuz für Hinterbliebene) - for the next-of-kin of fallen soldiers. After the annexation (Anschluss) of Austria in 1938, Austrian veterans of World War I were also eligible for the Cross of Honour. A total of 6,250,000 Crosses were awarded to combatants, 1,200,000 were awarded to non-combatants and 720,000 medals were awarded to next-of-kin. The medal was designed by Eugene Godet, its shape is similar to the Iron Cross (although smaller in size), in the center of the obverse are the dates of the First World War (1914-1918) surrounded with a wreath of oak leaves, the reverse of the medal in plain. A variation with an anchor in the center, and referred to as the Naval Cross, was issued to veterans of the Imperial German Navy. The Honour Cross for War Participants differed from the Honour Cross for Combatants by not having the crossed swords. The Honour Cross for Next-of-Kin also lacked swords, was lacquered in black, and had a different ribbon. The medal is suspended from a ribbon with a thin black lines of its sides, a red line in the center and next to it a black and white lines on each side, on the next-of-kin medal the ribbon colors are reverse.