{"product_id":"braunschweig-four-place-ribbon-bar-kriegsverdienstkreuz-ehrenkreuz-swords","title":"Braunschweig Four-Place Ribbon Bar Kriegsverdienstkreuz Ehrenkreuz Swords","description":"\u003cp\u003eA German four-place \u003cem\u003eBandspange\u003c\/em\u003e (ribbon bar) carrying the ribbon of the Brunswick \u003cem\u003eKriegsverdienstkreuz\u003c\/em\u003e (War Merit Cross) of 1914 in its combatants' form, together with the ribbon of the \u003cem\u003eEhrenkreuz des Weltkrieges\u003c\/em\u003e (Honour Cross of the World War 1914\/1918) with the crossed-swords device of the front-line class, the black-and-white ribbon of the Iron Cross 1914 Second Class, and a plain yellow ribbon. It measures approximately 2⅜ inches (6 cm) long and just over ¾ inch (2 cm) high.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe four ribbons are wrapped over a rectangular backing and mounted on a stamped, silver-coloured metal plate with rolled upper and lower edges. Read from left to right on the face, they are: a plain yellow ribbon; a ribbon with black edges, white and black stripes, and a red centre stripe, carrying a small gold-coloured device of two crossed swords; a dark blue ribbon with a yellow stripe set in from each edge; and a black ribbon with a white stripe set in from each edge. Each ribbon is folded over the edges of the backing and turned in at the reverse. On the back, three tabs pass through slots along the centre of the plate, with a further small tab at each end, to hold the ribbons, and a long horizontal pin runs on a hinge at one end to a C-shaped catch at the other. A small stamped mark on one of the centre tabs is not legible, and no maker's name is visible.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe third ribbon is the one that ties the bar to Brunswick. The \u003cem\u003eHerzogtum Braunschweig\u003c\/em\u003e (Duchy of Brunswick) was one of the twenty-five states of the German Empire, an old Guelph territory whose ruling line had died out in 1884. Because the heir, of the House of Hanover, would not renounce his family's claim to the Hanoverian crown annexed by Prussia in 1866, the duchy was governed by regents for almost three decades. The dispute ended with a dynastic marriage: on 24 May 1913 Prince Ernst August of Hanover married Princess Viktoria Luise of Prussia, the only daughter of Kaiser Wilhelm II, and on 1 November 1913 he took up the government of Brunswick as reigning Duke. Less than a year later, on 23 October 1914, Duke Ernst August founded the War Merit Cross to reward merit during the conflict. The cross is a bronze cross pattée bearing his monogram \"EA\" beneath the ducal crown, with \"1914\" on the lower arm, and its reverse reads \"Für Verdienst im Kriege\" (For Merit in War). It was worn by combatants on a blue ribbon with yellow stripes, as here, while non-combatants received it on the reverse colours, yellow with blue stripes. A first class, worn as a pin-back cross, followed on 20 March 1918. Duke Ernst August's reign ended on 8 November 1918, when a workers' and soldiers' council compelled him to abdicate; he was the first of the German monarchs to do so.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe black ribbon with white stripes set in from the edges is that of the Iron Cross 1914 Second Class for combatants, re-instituted by Wilhelm II on 5 August 1914 and awarded roughly 5.2 million times during the conflict of 1914–1918. Non-combatants wore the same cross on a ribbon with the colours reversed, white with black stripes. The same black-and-white combination was also used for a small number of other Prussian awards, so the ribbon matches the Iron Cross without excluding them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe second ribbon, with its red centre stripe flanked by black and white, is that of the Honour Cross of the World War 1914\/1918, instituted on 13 July 1934 by Reich President Paul von Hindenburg as a commemorative decoration for veterans of 1914–1918. It was issued in three forms: with swords for front-line veterans, without swords for those who served away from the front, and in black for the widows and parents of the fallen. The crossed-swords device on this ribbon marks the front-line class, of which more than six million were issued. Because the Honour Cross did not exist before July 1934, the bar in its present form was assembled no earlier than that year, and it likely records the decorations of a front-line veteran as worn in the 1930s or later.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe plain yellow ribbon at the left end is not identified here. It carries no stripes or edging, and its award cannot be confirmed from the ribbon alone. No name, unit, or document accompanies the bar, and the recipient is not known.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCondition shows age and handling. The yellow ribbon has small brown spots near its upper and lower edges, brown staining on its turned-in portion at the reverse, and a light mark near the centre. The Honour Cross ribbon has a small brown spot near its lower left corner. The blue ribbon has a dark irregular stain across its centre and a brown stain on the right-hand yellow stripe, and the black-and-white ribbon shows dulling and a pale scuff across the black field. The edges of the ribbons are rubbed where they turn over the backing. The crossed-swords device is present. The silver-coloured plate shows surface scratching, broad brown discolouration where the plating has worn across the right-hand third, and brown spotting around the tabs and the pin hinge; the pin and catch are intact.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRibbon bars record, in compact form, the decorations a man wore on his everyday uniform or civilian coat. The combatants' ribbon of the Brunswick War Merit Cross places this bar with the Duchy of Brunswick, one of the smaller states of the Empire.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Derrittmeister Militaria Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51417120637167,"sku":"02-320","price":50.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/9169\/5855\/files\/02-320_1.jpg?v=1793909311","url":"https:\/\/derrittmeister.com\/products\/braunschweig-four-place-ribbon-bar-kriegsverdienstkreuz-ehrenkreuz-swords","provider":"Derrittmeister Militaria Group","version":"1.0","type":"link"}