A 'Study of' the Pour le Merite series

[regular122]

After talking with Charles (epsomgreen), and given the interest in nearly every Pour le Merite thread in the Imperial forum, I thought I would expand on the 'Study of' threads given the great postings in the S&L PlM thread. My intention is to put out basic info that will help forum members identify handy characteristics of each specific PlM types. The S&L thread is already doing well as a handy reference and posting point for examples.

I am certainly no expert but have studied these like many of you and own a couple of examples. Since we are a forum, we can discuss the pieces in these topical threads and thus narrow the loose queries out there. The series will focus on the WWI and post war manufacturers, rather than try to cover the early makers. Besides, Stephen Previtera has covered so much of this so well. Less covered in his seminal work though are the variants and 1918-1945 pieces. Little study is available on fakes.

Here is what will follow to continue the series:

'A Study of the Wagner style PlM' - includes Wagner, Friedländer, and vendor JH Werner
'A Study of the Godet style PlM' - includes Godet, Meybauer, and vendors Hemmerle, & Schickle
'A_Study_of-Rothe_style_PLM' - will cover this important period supplier of non-issued PlMs
'A Study of the Steinhauer & Lück PlM' - covers the type worn by many recipients after WWII and the collector market.
'A Study of the Fake PlM' - will cover the Spanish-Cejalvo, Rothe-like and cheap variants of fakes. Thread will be in the Association Member area only.

'A study of the Arts and Sciences PlM' - will cover this unique 'Peace Class' of the PlM that was instituted in 1842 and still continues to today. Known officially as the Pour le Merite Friedenklasse für die verdienste um die Wissenschaften und Künste (The PlM Peace Class for service in the Sciences and Arts), they are made were made by Hossauer and WILM and are currently made by WILM.

I hope that many of you will continue to help out as with pics of your great examples and your generous digital loans of photos for comparisons, etc. This is where the collective knowledge of members helps us all.

Thanks, Steve

[medalnet]

Please feel free to use pictures from my web page.

[regular122]

Andreas, again thanks as always for your great support. Steve

[epsomgreen]

What a capital idea, Steve. I'll start the ball rolling with something unusual. As with all the examples I intend to contribute to this discourse, I make no representations whatsoever regarding the provenance or purpose of these "Pour le Mérite." My object is not to debate whether they constitute Zweitstück or just plain Schmuck. They are what they are.

Example number one is silver-gilt featuring extremely pale blue enamel. I do not regard it as Rothe, and it more than likely falls outside the scope of the proposed categories.



The "pie slice" suspension is hallmarked with both a crown and "938."



The hanger is hallmarked "800."



The stylized and highly detailed eagles are separate applications to the cross.



The lettering is chased. Note the delicate enamel work at the base of the crown and the chip to the left of le.



The twin of this style PlM appears with a representation of Oberleutnant Max Immelmann's uniform in Aviation Awards of Imperial Germany in World War I and the Men Who Earned Them, Vol. 2 - the Aviation Awards of the Kingdom of Saxony by Neal W. O'Connor.

Regardless of its origins, I consider it quite impressive.



Charles

[regular122]

Well it is impressive Charles. It does look like the Rothe style though. Though the eagles are more ornate, they follow the similar pattern. What makes it look like a Rothe to me though is the scoring, letter style and crown. They are identical to Rothe examples. Beautiful cross that deserves more study. Can we include this one when we get to the Rothe thread? Steve

[epsomgreen]

Hi Steve:

Sure. I do have two pieces that are textbook (if one can call them that) Rothe.
It will make for an interesting comparison.

Charles

[Don D.]

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[Bryan Poon]

Thanks Steve, I learn more and look forward to your update.

Thank a lot
Bryan

[Hohenstaufen]

Everyone,

Hello, This is my first post in the Imperial section, so please bare with my ignorance in this area. I would like to show a PLM that I have had for many, many years now and would like some honest opinions about the piece. It was purchased at a US veterans estate sale almost twenty years ago in Virginia. The rest of the medals/awards were all original WWII items, but this was the only WWI medal. The awards were attached to a red piece of felt and hung on the wall of his den. You will notice that the ribbon has a gilt color to the borders on the front, but the back side is more of a silverish color. There is a little bit of damage to the 6 O'clock arm and to the center. The detail of the eagles are amazing, as all of the wing tips are cut out. The loop is marked 800 and I cannot make out what the marking is on the pie shape wedge. A while ago, I had a local jeweler test the gold content and it came back as 14K - 18K. That is all that I know, so I will now leave it up to the experts. One more thing, I did display it one year ( about twelve years ago) at the MAX show and a Father & Son from Belgium offered me a cased PLM and cash for mine. Naturally I declined, but apparently they had the award document to my cross and they wanted it desperately. Please let me know what you think. I apologize about the pics. Thank you, Grant

[Hohenstaufen]

back side. Oops!! Thumbprints on the cross, sorry. Also, a little damage to the 3 O'clock arm.

[Hohenstaufen]

another shot.

[Hohenstaufen]

another

[regular122]

Thanks Grant for posting. Can you post this in a new thread? Would love to discuss it. Any picture of the markings on the wedge would be most helpful as well. Thanks, Steve

[Hohenstaufen]

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[Hohenstaufen]

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