The Prussian Rote-Kreuz-Medaille of 1898

[HPL2008]

Three bits of "leftover" medal ribbon:

[HPL2008]

And finally, the unmounted 1914/18 Ehrenkreuz für Kriegsteilnehmer with a length of ribbon. Maker's mark is "R.V. [for Reichsverband] 1, Pforzheim":

[HPL2008]

I would like to close with a period photograph showing the decoration in wear.

Portrayed with his grandchild on 2 August 1930 (it says so on the reverse), here is a a proud veteran member of the German Red Cross, who was decorated with both the 2nd and 3rd Class of the Prussian Rote-Kreuz-Medaille. The third decoration on his medal bar is from the Herzogtum Braunschweig [Duchy of Brunswick]: It is the Kriegsverdienstkreuz 2. Klasse am Nichtkämpferband [War Merit Cross 2nd Class on the ribbon for non-combatants] instituted in 1914 (and not to be confused with the Third Reich KVK of 1939).

This is also a nice uniform study. What could be mistaken for a single large triangle-shaped insignia on his lower left sleeve actually consists of different badges: The upwards-pointing single chevron is the duty-position insignia for a Gruppenführer [Group Leader]. Sewn below this are longevity stripes signifying the wearer's length of service, in this case, two 10 mm tress bars for 25 years.

Partially obscured, the wording around the Red Cross symbol on his armband says "Freiw. [= Freiwillige] Sanitäts-Kolonne vom Roten Kreuz" [Volunteer Medical Unit of the German Red Cross]. Unfortunately, the unit's location given at the bottom is lost in the armband's folds.

[Don D.]

Very nice presentation.

[ccj]

Nice, thanks for sharing

[Mark P]

Very interesting, thanks for sharing

regards Mark

[Heran]

Really interesting Thread. Thank you.

I will add mine along with a Bayerisches Verdienstkreuz für freiwillige Krankenpflege.

Regards

Antonio

[Lambert]

Thanks for this interesting synopsis about an often underrated award!

[tompress]

Great work

As a small addition I like to show the case for Red Cross medal, which was used for 2nd and 3rd Class.

regards
Tomasz

[Green]

Very interesting thread.....thanks

[Valter Gorenc]

Very nice and detailed presentaition indeed! Thank you for your effort, HPL!

If I understand correctly, this medal/cross was awarded only to Red cross members/volunteers? Were army/navy medical personel entitled for these awards? I assume they were, if they were members of Red cross, or not?

[HPL2008]

Thanks, glad you like it!

No; the medal was not exclusively awarded to actual Red Cross volunteers and functionaries (although they surely made up the majority of recipients), but could also be awarded to non-members for work in the interest of the organisation. For example, many politicians and government officials were among the recipients, as were military medical personnel, especially physicans. It was also not exclusive to Prussian citizens, either.

(A totally random example that comes to mind: I live in a town in Bavaria, and on a recent tour of our town hall, I noticed that two of the mayors in the portrait gallery there wore the RKM.)

Sorry; I have no data on award numbers and the percentages of member vs. non-member recipients.

By the way, allow me a bit of self-promotion. I also did threads on post-WW II decorations of the German Red Cross (in the FRG and GDR), which might be of interest for those interested in the organisation:

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=996844
http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=996506
http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru....php?t=1013486

[Wild Card]

HPL2008, thank you for such a comprehensive presentationion. Well done!

[Green]

Here my small adition to this very interesting thread....2-medalbar (Frackspange) from a brave red cross soldier.

Medalbar EK II & Rothe Kreuz (11).jpg

[HPL2008]

Getting back to my remarks in post # 42 about two of the mayors of my hometown (Landshut) wearing the medal...:

Coincidentally, I happened to be at our town hall today and could take pictures of the portraits.

Apologies for the poor quality, but it was the best I could do given the conditions (the portraits hang rather high, the lighting was not good and I only had my phone to take the photographs).

The first photo shows Otto Marschall (Mayor 1892 - 1907 and Lord Mayor 1907 - 1918), who is wearing the 3rd Class medal in the last place on his medal bar, the second one Josef Duetsch (Deputy Mayor 1908 - 1913), whose medal chain has the 2nd and 3rd Class medal (in the 4th and 6th place, respectively):