Awards of Germany - Order of Military Merit Cross 2nd class with swords

Military Merit Order shown here 2. The class with swords was assigned after the reorganization of the Order of 24.11.1905 by Prince Regent Luitpold until 1918. The 2nd grade was awarded the breast star without it and is the third oldest class of the order after the Grand Cross and the 1st grade. The cross depicted here was originally an ornament without swords made by manufacturer Adam Hausinger. During World War I, Hemmerle added gold swords and again awarded a cross. Silver gilt crosses were also made.
Last extension for Grand Cross, 1st Class and 2nd. The class did not appear until 1918. Now 3 higher classes can also be awarded the crown. For the 2nd class, only 5 crown awards were made.
The Order of Military Merit was established by King Ludwig II. It was created for brave military exploits, which were not enough to be awarded the Order of Max Joseph, but which, nevertheless, should have been appreciated. Initially, the award consisted of 5 classes: Grand Cross, Comtour, Knight 1st Class, Knight 2nd Class and Cavalier Cross for military merit. On February 26, 1900, an officer's cross was added to the order. He takes a place between the knight of the 1st class and the commander. In 1905, Prince Regent Luitpold reorganized the order. The new classes were now: Grand Cross, 1st Class with Star, 2nd Class with Star, 2nd Class, Officer's Cross, 3rd Class, 4th Class with Crown, and 4th Class. The Military Merit Cross was divided into 1st and 2nd class. In 1913, the Military Merit Cross was re-transformed. The Order of Military Merit 3rd class has been awarded since 1914 with and without a crown. Since 1916, all classes except the 4th began to be made of gilded silver. Source: J. Nimmergut, Deutsche Orden und Ehrenzeichen bis 1945, vol. 1, 1997.

Eight-pointed cross made of gold. Cross sleeves with golden edges are dark blue, translucently enameled. Including a herringbone-shaped band. Front and back with a gold middle shield. They are 3 partially made. Between the cross sleeves is a golden flame. Between the tips of the upper cruciform shoulder is an ornamented agraph with a parallel ear. A corrugated elongated bearing ring passes through the eye. 2 crossed golden Roman swords. On swords from behind - G.H.585 - for the Hemmerle brothers and gold.

Front side:

• Round medallion, central black enameled gold, rough - L - under the Bavarian royal crown.
• This is surrounded by a wide white enameled belt hoop at the bottom with a buckle.
• It has a curved gold font at the top: - MERENTI - at the bottom of the antennae and points (belt holes).

Downside:

In
• the black enameled middle part of the medallion is a golden Bavarian lion walking to the left.
• This is surrounded by a wide white enameled belt hoop at the bottom with a buckle.
• On it in the upper part there is a golden number: - 1866 - in the lower part of the antennae and points (belt holes).

Tape:

• Ribbon 1 military: collar 53 mm, white rim 2 mm, side stripes black/white 3 mm each, blue 5 mm central strip white 24 mm.
• Volume 2 Civil: 55mm collar, 11mm stripes black/blue/white/blue/black.

Photos of military antiques Kögl www.mkoegl.de

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