German Awards - Pitchen Cross

The Pitchensky Cross was established by the Civil Committee of the city of Pitchen after the 3rd Polish uprising of 1921. It was a sign of gratitude and memory to the freikor fighters who showed themselves in the defense of the city in 3. Polish uprising. Contrary to the previous assumption that the cross was presented by the commander of the Hundred Crozet volunteer corps, Lieutenant Crozet, modern documents show that the cross was issued by the civil committee of the city of Pitschen. Freikorpus Crozet awarded another red and white enameled cross. Members of other volunteer corps, such as Freikorps Rossbach, Selbschutz Pilsen, as well as members of the Krose volunteer hundred, also received this award. The manufacturer was Max Reich of Breslau.
At the plebiscite in Upper Silesia on March 20, 1921, 97% of the inhabitants of Pitchen decided to stay in Germany. Pitschen had a population of 87% German. After the vote from May to July 1921, the 3rd Polish uprising took place, during which it was supposed to force the division of Upper Silesia in favor of Poland. The occupation of Upper Silesia by Polish troops under the command of Colonel Maciej Melzhinsky was opposed by German free corps, united in self-defense of Upper Silesia. The uprising ended with the armistice of July 5, 1921 and the partition of Upper Silesia on October 20, 1921.
Today Pitschen (Bychyna) belongs to Poland in the Opole Voivodeship (Opole).

An eight-pointed cross made of broken, silver-plated non-ferrous metal. The transverse arms of the front have a wide. silver border. The inner sides of the cruciform sleeves are red, translucently enameled. Under it you can see a ray-shaped pile. In the center is a round medallion. 2 crossed silver swords pass through the center. Back side with perpendicular pin with mating hook. In the center is a round sheet indicating the manufacturer.

Front side:

• The round medallion is smooth silver with a narrow, inner, red border.
In the
• middle part of the city coat of arms of Pitchen. On a silver background is a city wall with 2 towers.
• The towers symbolize the Polish and German towers .
• On the city wall there are 3 teeth, one each on the left and right and between the towers.

Downside:

• The reverse is engraved with a shrub, depicts a band of cruciform arms.
• Embossed round central sign with manufacturer's designation: semi-circular above - MAX - REICH -,
• Central - WROCLAW -, lower bent - RING - 55 -. There are 4 points between them.

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