I have personally seen such pieces still affixed to their poles from the period of the Franco-Prussian War. They are definitely Grand Crosses, but this was simply for display purposes to those units that had distinguished themselves. The cross represents an awarding of the Iron Cross, but the Grand Cross was utilized because of its larger size. Original pieces were identical to the Grand Crosses shown on pages 127-128-129. They were made from the sames dies. A similar example appears on the finial cover on pages 126-127 of The Iron Time.
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