✚8643✚ German WW1 mounted medal group Prussian General Honour Dec War Aid Cross

Original German / Prussian WW1 mounted medal group: Prussian General Honour Decoration II. Class & Merit Cross for War Aid, VERY NICE CONDITION, GENUINE RIBBONS, PERFECT PIN DEVICE, GOOD EXAMPLE

HISTORY OF THE AWARDS:

Prussian General Honour Decoration, II class, silver (Allgemeines Ehrenzeichen, II. Klasse, Silber), 1847-1918 - Large silver medal with ring for ribbon suspension; the face inscribed ‘VERDIENST UM DEN STAAT’ (Merit to the State) within a laurel wreath; the reverse with the crowned cipher of King Friedrich Wilhelm III; diameter 39.31mm (1.55 inches). The Decoration was founded by King Friedrich Wilhelm III on 18 January 1810 to reward meritorious service to the State in peacetime (‘zur Belohnung für Verdienste in Friedenszeiten’). New dies were introduced in 1847 and used until the award was suppressed at the end of World War I in 1918.

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.