G007357 THREE PLACE MEDAL BAR. (Groß Ordensschnalle) A medal bar, approximately 4" across, from which hangs, from left to right, the 1914 Iron Cross, second class, the Cross of Merit for War Aid, and an Imperial Prussian Red Cross award. The order of the Iron Cross was founded by King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia, after the "Freidenskrieg," or war of liberation from Napoleon, in 1813. It was to be an award for gallantry conferred only in time of war, and open to all soldiers, regardless of rank or social status. The Iron Cross was re-instituted at the commencement of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, the First World War in 1914, and the Second World War in 1939. In each of the three latter cases, the original institution date may be seen to the lower reverse arm of the cross, and the specific re-institution date to its lower obverse arm. It is in the form of a 1 11/16" square, "cross Patté," which features, to its obverse, a "W" (for Wilhelm) to its center, beneath a Prussian crown and above the date "1914." The reverse has a spray of three oak leaves to its center, beneath a Prussian crown with "FW" (for Friedrich Wilhelm III - the originator of the Iron Cross) beneath it, and above the date "1813." The magnetic iron core has retained almost all of its original black finish, with light soiling. Its silver frame is typically age tarnished, but should shine up if desired. The medal loop and suspension ring are intact, with what appears to be "R.W" stamped to the ring. The following medal, the Cross of Merit for War Aid, was introduced in December of 1916 by King Wilhelm II, who, after rendering it to himself, made the first award of this medal to Field Marshall von Hindenberg. It takes the form of a die struck zinc Maltese cross, roughly 1 5/8" square, whose central medallion, to the obverse, features a Prussian crown above the stylized letters "W" and "R," for Wilhelm II of Prussia. To the reverse, the medallion features a spray of oak leaves arching beneath the inscription "Für Kriegs-Hilfdienst" (For War-Help-service). A perforation is to the upper arm of the cross, through which passes a loop and then the suspension ring for its ribbon. Its ring is unmarked. The medal does not appear to have had any wash to it, and a photograph of it in "Military Medals, Decorations & Orders of the United States & Europe," by Robert W.D. Ball and Paul Peters, shows it with the same, dull grey finish. The final medal is one of the Imperial Prussian Red Cross awards, which were the predecessors of the German Red Cross awards introduced in 1922. This 1 1/4" diameter, die struck bronze, third class Red Cross medal has, to its obverse, a Balkan cross, each of whose arms terminate in Prussian crowns, with "W," "R," "A" and "V" occupying the negative spaces around it. To the reverse is a branch of oak leaves arching along the left of the inscription, "Fuer Verdienste Um Das Rothe Kreuz" (For Merit At The Red Cross). Typical age soiling and darkening is evident throughout. All of the moire ribbons are wrapped, after the "Parade" style, around an alloy trapezium, 1 5/8" tall, to whose reverse is a horizontal pin-back device and three flanges, unto which the suspension rings of each of the medals is slid. Each of the ribbons are approximately 1 1/8" wide, that for the Iron Cross being narrow black-white-wide black-white-narrow black, that for the Cross of Merit edged with narrow red stripes, between which are six narrow black stripes spaced equidistantly upon a white background, and the Red Cross ribbon being red, with two-toned vertical stripes near each edge, black and white to the left, and white and black to the right. All of the ribbons exhibit light age soiling.

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