Military Merit Order (Württemberg)

Military Merit Order (Militärverdienstorden)
Knight's Cross, obverse
Type	Military order
Awarded for	Bravery and exceptionally meritorious deeds in combat
Description	White enameled cross pattée with a white-enameled center medallion ringed in blue enamel.
Presented by	The Kingdom of Württemberg
Eligibility	Württemberg military officers and officers of allied states
Status	Obsolete
Established	11 February 1759 (as the Militär-Carls-Orden; renamed Militärverdienstorden on 11 November 1806)
First awarded	1799
Last awarded	1919
Total	Approximately 3,400 in all grades
Ribbon of the order

The Military Merit Order (Militärverdienstorden) was a military order of the Kingdom of Württemberg, which joined the German Empire in 1871. The order was one of the older military orders of the states of the German Empire. It was founded on 11 February 1759 by Karl Eugen, Duke of Württemberg as the Militär-Carls-Orden, and was renamed the Militärverdienstorden on 11 November 1806 by King Friedrich I. The order underwent several more revisions over the course of the 19th and early 20th centuries. It became obsolete with the fall of the Württemberg monarchy in the wake of Germany's defeat in World War I.

The order came in three classes:

• Grand Cross (Großkreuz)
• Commander's Cross (Kommandeurkreuz) and
• Knight's Cross (Ritterkreuz).

Generally, the rank of the recipient determined which grade he would receive. Between 1799 and 1919, there were an estimated 95 awards of the Grand Cross, 214 of the Commander's Cross, and 3,128 of the Knight's Cross, with the bulk of these awards made in World War I; the numbers may only cover native Württembergers.^[1]

The badge of the order was a white-enameled gold cross pattée with curved arms and slightly concave edges. Around the white-enameled center medallion was a blue-enameled gold ring bearing on both sides the motto "Furchtlos und trew" ("Fearless and loyal"). On the obverse, the medallion bore a green-enameled gold laurel wreath. On the reverse, the medallion bore the monogram of the king of Württemberg at the time of award. The cross was the same size for the Grand Cross and the Commander's Cross, and slightly smaller for the Knight's Cross. The Grand Cross and Commander's Cross, and from 1870 the Knight's Cross, were topped with a crown. On 25 September 1914, the crown was removed from all grades.^[2]

The star of the order, awarded with the Grand Cross only, was a gold-rimmed silver eight-pointed star featuring the ringed medallion of the obverse of the cross.

The ribbon of the order was, until 1818 and after 1914, yellow with broad black stripes near each edge. After November 1917, when the ribbon was worn without the medal, the ribbon bore a green-enameled wreath to distinguish it from other Württemberg decorations on the same ribbon. The ribbon from 1818 to 1914 was blue.^[3]

• Königlich Statistischer Landesamt,Hof und Staatshandbuch des Königreichs Württemberg, 1908.
• Neal O'Connor, Aviation Awards of Imperial Germany in World War I and the Men Who Earned Them: Volume IV - The Aviation Awards of the Kingdom of Württemberg, Flying Machines Press 1995
• Dr. Kurt-Gerhard Klietmann, Pour le Mérite und Tapferkeitsmedaille, 1966.
• Website on the Decorations of the Kingdom of Württemberg