Grand Duchies

KNIGHTS CROSS 2nd CLASS WITH SWORDS OF THE ZÄHRINGER LION - BADEN. This is a very fine example of the Zähringer Lion Knight's Cross 2nd Class with Swords from the Grand Duchy of Baden. The arms are made of a green crystal or cut glass. This makes a real change from the more commonly seen enamel arms.

KRUEZ FÜR FREIWILLIGE KRIEGSHILFE - BADEN. This decoration comes from the Grand Duchy of Baden. It was issued from 1914 to 1916. The obverse of the decoration, which is gilt-toned bears the dates, "1914-1916", a cross for the Red Cross, and the crown for Baden. The reverse has the Royal Cypher of Friedrich, the Grand Duke of Baden. This decoration was presented to volunteers who served in Red Cross efforts.

After 1893, most awards of this order to military personnel were without swords.

Awards with swords remained uncommon even during World War One, where it might have been expected that they would have become more common.

Instead, the grand duchy appears to have relied on its General Honor Decoration and, later, the Warrior Honor Decoration, to reward bravery and military merit.

Knight's Cross 1st Class of the Order of Philip the Magnanimous

Silver Cross with Swords


WAR HONOR MEDAL - HESSE DARMSTADT. This small circular decoration would have served as the Iron Cross 2nd Class equivalent for Hesse-Darmstadt. The obverse has the initials "ECE" with a crown over them. On the reverse is "War Honor Medal." The decoration is copper colored.	FIFTEEN YEAR LONG SERVICE AWARD - HESSE. This is a fifteen-year long-service award from Hesse for an unterofficer, which is set up as a one-place decoration. The gilt-toned cross, which has a "XV" on the reverse, is suspended from a court or parade mount cornflower blue ribbon.

Order of Philip the Magnanimous KNIGHTS CROSS 2nd CLASS - HESSE-DARMSTADT. The Phillip Knights Cross 2nd Class from Hesse-Darmstadt is not a commonly-seen decoration. It features the golden-striped Lion of Hesse-Darmstadt.

GENERAL SERVICE AWARD - HESSE-DARMSTADT. This is the General Service Award "Für Tapferkeit" from the Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt. The obverse has a profile of Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig. The reverse depicts the legend "Fur Tapferkeit." This decoration is made of silver. It was awarded from 1894-1918 during the reign of Ernst Ludwig. The decoration was awarded during both peacetime and wartime. See below.

The General Honor Decoration (General Service Award), founded in 1843, was the grand duchy's default award for a variety of situations. The obverse was the same, while the reverse differed depending on what the award was for. The following reverses existed during the reign of Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig:

Für Tapferkeit For Bravery

Für Kriegsverdienste For War Merit

Für Verdienste For Merit

Für Treue Dienste For Faithful Service

Für Langjährige Treue Dienste For Long-standing Faithful Service

Für Fünfzigjährige Treue Dienste For 50 Years' Faithful Service

Für Rettung von Menschenleben For Saving of [a] Human Life

Für Wiederholte Rettung von Menschenleben For Repeated Saving of Human Life

Für Treue Arbeit For Faithful Labor

The General Honor Decoration was awarded without regard to rank, and the "For Bravery" and "For War Merit" were the grand duchy's standard military awards, equivalent to the Prussian Iron Cross. It was a relatively common award - although limited by statute to subjects of Hesse or to those serving in Hessian units, this was commonly ignored. Also, receipt of the Iron Cross was not a prerequisite. As the archives in Darmstadt were destroyed in the Second World War, it is unknown exactly how many were awarded, but an estimate of 150,000 for the "For Bravery" version has been made.