German Awards - 2.Form Silver Cross of Merit (W E)

On April 15, 1902, Grand Duke Wilhelm Ernst established the Merit Cross with its cipher on the front. At the same time, he expanded the cross to the gold step as a higher step. Other extensions included the Sword Fund for the Merit Cross and the division of the Knights into 1st and 2nd grades. the Silver Cross of Merit was to be awarded when awarding the Golden Cross of Merit and returned to the Order Office. The manufacturer of the crosses continued to be the court jeweler Theodore Muller from Weimar. There are also bronze silver-plated crosses. Since 1909, the Cross of Merit in Gold and Silver has been worn on the ribbon of the Knight's Cross. By the end of World War I, crosses were also made of silver-plated metal. Source: Lutz Fritsche, Order and Badge of Honor of the Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach 1815-1918, 2012.

Eight-pointed cross made of silver. Cruciform shoulders with wide, raised, smooth edges. The inner sides of the cruciform sleeves are fine-grained. Front and back with an embossed circular central shield. Between the tips of the upper cruciform shoulder, the usual eye with a ribbon ring is soldered.

Front side:

• Medallion with a small raised border. On the edge is a wide ring.
• Inside it is bounded by a small circular line. In it, the decoding:
• - VIGILANDO - ASCENDIMUS - (thanks to vigilance we
going up)
• Below is a 6-beam star.
In
• the closed field, enchanted letters are W E -.
• Above the cipher is the ducal crown.

Downside:

• The edge is formed from an elevated, dense circular oak-leaf wreath.
• It is cross-tied at the top and bottom and wrapped 1 time on both sides.
• In a nested smooth field, 2-line font: - DEM - VALUES -

Tape:

• Width 39 mm, side stripes green/yellow 5 mm each, central stripes black 19 mm.
with
• 1909: 38mm wide, dark red

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