German Awards - 1st Class Buckle 1847 Anhalt-Köthen

Service Award 1 presented here. The class is extremely rare. Failed to determine destination number. In the Duchy of Anhalt-Köthen, service awards were first established by Duke Henry on October 29, 1847. Along with service award crosses for officers, these service awards were presented to non-commissioned officers and soldiers in the form of buckles. Buckles were awarded in 3rd grade. 1st grade became after 21. The length of service was gilded with silver, granted after 15 years with silver, and after 9 years of service - blackened with silver. Non-commissioned officers and soldiers were awarded after impeccable years of service in the ducal-Köten contingent, as well as gendarmerie officers. Periods of service in other states counted, and periods in military campaigns counted doubly. After leaving active service, the service award was allowed to continue to be worn. The presentation included a certificate of ownership. The award was stripped for shameful behavior. A court order or sentence is enough for this. After the promotion or death of a captured person, the buckle was to be returned to the military command. With the introduction of the 2nd form of service award buckles, the award was discontinued. It can be assumed that at the date of establishment, that is, in 1847, only those awarded received this award. In connection with the sudden death of Duke Henry on November 23, 1847, new service awards were established by his successor, Duke Leopold Friedrich. In memory, however, the awards were made with the initials - N. The data on the award and the exact time of issue have not been confirmed. Source: Gerd Scharfenberg, Order and Badge of Honor of the Anhalt States, 1999 .

Rectangular gold-plated silver buckle with enlarged silver border. They are applied to a sheet associated with the ribbon. On the back is a horizontal pin.

Front side:

• Buckle with a convex, worn, silver rim.
• The midfielder's underground is finely combed.
In the
• center of the pointed coat of arms, Anhalt is overestimated by the ducal crown.
• To the left of it, the letter - H - is increased in fractional font.
• To the right of it is the Roman number 21 - XXI. -, both are polished.

Downside:

• The tape is sewn up at the back.
• Horizontal needle with hinged bracket and lock nut is soldered.

Tape:

Width from 36 to 40 mm, watered light green.

Photo: Private collection of Maximilian Ferdinand Leopold Prince of Anhalt