✚9834✚ Austro-Hungarian WW1 Karl Troop Cross Truppenkreuz post WW2 made ST&L

Original Austro-Hungarian Empire WW1 Karl Troop Cross (Karl Truppenkreuz), post WW2 German made example, maker: Steinhauer & Lueck (St&L), ON ORIGINAL RIBBON, A MINT PIECE, HARD TO FIND

FEW FACTS ABOUT POST WW2 MADE IMPERIAL GERMAN & FOREIGN AWARDS:

After WW2 wear and display of former Nazi decorations were strictly prohibited in Germany. As Germany split apart into East and West Germany, each of these new countries issued directives concerning the status of former awards and decorations of Nazi Germany. Within East Germany, these awards were all abolished with a new era of German Communist decorations created to take their place. However, in West Germany, pre 1933 issued awards were fully accepted to wear & display, therefore these awards (including foreign awards) were continuously produced after the end of the war by major manufacturers, such as Steinhauer & Lück, Deumer or Souval. In 1957 the West German government authorised replacement Iron Crosses with an Oak Leaf Cluster in place of the swastika, similar to the Iron Crosses of 1813, 1870, and 1914, which could be worn by World War II Iron Cross recipients. The 1957 law also authorised de-Nazified versions of most other World War II–era decorations (except those specifically associated with Nazi Party organizations, such as SS Long Service medals, or with the expansion of the German Reich, such as the medals for the annexation of Austria, the Sudetenland, and the Memel region).

HISTORY OF THE AWARD:

Karl Troop Cross (Karl Truppenkreuz) was instituted on 13 December 1916 by Emperor Karl I of Austria-Hungary. The cross was awarded until the end of the First World War to soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian Army, regardless of rank, who had been with a combatant unit for at least twelve weeks and who had actually served at the front. The medal is of zinc and consists of a cross pattée resting on a laurel wreath. The obverse bears the Latin inscription "GRATI PRINCEPS ET PATRIA, CAROLVS REX", (A grateful prince and country, Karl, Emperor and King). The reverse shows the Austrian and Hungarian Imperial crowns above the letter "C" (for Carolus) with the inscription "VITEM ET SANGVINEM", (With life and blood) and the date MDCCCCXVI, (1916). The design is based on the design of the Army Cross of 1813-1814 (usually known as the ‘Cannon Cross’ – ‘Kanonenkreuz’). The cross was worn on the left chest from a red ribbon with alternate red-white side strips towards each edge. A total of 651,000 were awarded.