Hessian 1917 Bravery Medal Group to Alfred Marr, Infantry Regiment 118

This is a particularly desirable named First World War Hessian bravery award group issued to Unteroffizier der Reserve Alfred Marr of the 9. Kompagnie, Infanterie-Regiment “Prinz Carl” (4. Großherzoglich Hessisches) Nr. 118. The group consists of Marr’s Großherzoglich Hessisches Allgemeines Ehrenzeichen mit der Inschrift “Für Tapferkeit” (Grand Ducal Hessian General Honor Decoration with the inscription “For Bravery”), its large official 1917 award certificate, and the gray-blue wartime issue packet specifically printed “Tapferkeits-Medaille.” The survival of the medal together with its named decoration document and wartime packet gives this group considerably greater historical and collector significance than an anonymous Hessian bravery medal alone.

The circular silver-colored medal is suspended from its original-style loose ring and presents the left-facing portrait of Ernst Ludwig, the final Großherzog von Hessen und bei Rhein (Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine). Around the portrait appears the inscription:

“ERNST LUDWIG GROSSHERZOG VON HESSEN”

This translates as:

“Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse.”

The medal belongs to the final Ernst Ludwig model of the Allgemeines Ehrenzeichen and, in this wartime configuration, was awarded specifically for bravery before the enemy. The accompanying certificate explicitly identifies the reverse inscription as:

“FÜR TAPFERKEIT”

This translates directly as:

“FOR BRAVERY.”

The decoration is accompanied by its gray-blue paper issue packet, printed in black Gothic lettering:

“Tapferkeits-Medaille”

This translates as:

“Bravery Medal.”

The packet is an especially appropriate component for an award made in 1917. Earlier Hessian decorations were commonly presented in fitted cases, but the enormous demands of the First World War and increasing shortages of material led to simplification. By approximately 1915–1916, the Hessian Bravery Medal was increasingly delivered in compact gray-blue paper packets rather than the earlier fitted presentation cases. Surviving packets of this type are an important component of a complete wartime award group and are frequently separated from their original medals.

The centerpiece of the group is Marr’s large official award document. It is a horizontally oriented, multicolored certificate surrounded by a broad decorative border reproducing the colors and appearance of the Hessian Kriegsband, or war ribbon. A Grand Ducal crown appears at the upper center. The main text combines black and red typography with handwritten recipient information entered specifically for Marr.

The certificate begins:

“ERNST LUDWIG
VON GOTTES GNADEN
GROSSHERZOG VON HESSEN UND BEI RHEIN.”

This translates as:

“ERNST LUDWIG
BY THE GRACE OF GOD
GRAND DUKE OF HESSE AND BY RHINE.”

The recipient information is entered by hand:

“Unteroffizier d. Res. Alfred Marr
der 9. Kompagnie Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 118”

Expanded and translated, this reads:

“Unteroffizier der Reserve Alfred Marr
of the 9th Company, Infantry Regiment No. 118.”

Unteroffizier was a noncommissioned rank in the Imperial German Army, while “d. Res.” is the abbreviation for “der Reserve,” identifying Marr as a reserve noncommissioned officer.

The central award wording continues:

“WIR HABEN DEM
Unteroffizier d. Res. Alfred Marr
der 9. Kompagnie Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 118
UNSER
ALLGEMEINES EHRENZEICHEN
MIT DER INSCHRIFT
FÜR TAPFERKEIT
VERLIEHEN UND ERTEILEN HIERÜBER GEGENWÄRTIGE URKUNDE.”

In English:

“WE HAVE AWARDED TO
Reserve Noncommissioned Officer Alfred Marr
of the 9th Company, Infantry Regiment No. 118
OUR
GENERAL HONOR DECORATION
WITH THE INSCRIPTION
FOR BRAVERY
AND HEREBY ISSUE THE PRESENT CERTIFICATE THEREOF.”

The document is dated:

“DARMSTADT, DEN 15. MAI 1917”

or:

“Darmstadt, May 15, 1917.”

At lower right appears the large signature of Großherzog Ernst Ludwig. On this wartime form the Grand Duke’s signature was reproduced as a facsimile rather than individually signed by him, an important distinction in accurately cataloging these documents.

The certificate itself is an interesting late-war variation. Rather than simply printing “FÜR TAPFERKEIT” directly into the original field, the words appear in red within a silver-colored overprinted rectangular panel. This corresponds to a documented wartime expedient used by the Hessian authorities as award volume increased: existing stocks of certificates intended for other forms of the Allgemeines Ehrenzeichen were adapted for bravery awards by overprinting the original award designation. The surrounding ribbon color on these converted documents also tends toward the greenish-blue appearance seen here. This seemingly small printing detail makes the document a useful physical illustration of the administrative and material pressures affecting the German states by 1917.

The reverse adds another important layer of provenance. It bears the typed or stamped notation:

“Ausgestellt, im Felde den 24.5.17”

This translates as:

“Issued in the field, May 24, 1917.”

Immediately below is the circular regimental seal reading:

“INFANTERIE-REGIMENT PRINZ CARL
(4. GROSSHERZOGL. HESS.) NR. 118”

Expanded in English:

“Infantry Regiment ‘Prince Carl’
(4th Grand Ducal Hessian) No. 118.”

The accompanying designation:

“Major und Regimentskommandeur”

translates as:

“Major and Regimental Commander.”

This reverse field endorsement is particularly valuable because it demonstrates that the award was not simply recorded administratively in Darmstadt. The certificate was processed and issued through Marr’s actual regiment in the field only nine days after the award date.

Infanterie-Regiment “Prinz Carl” (4. Großherzoglich Hessisches) Nr. 118 was one of the historic infantry regiments of the Grand Duchy of Hesse and one of the more interesting constituent-state formations incorporated into the Prussian Army system following German unification. Its lineage reached back to January 23, 1791, when Landgrave Ludwig X of Hessen-Darmstadt established the Regiment Erbprinz.

During the Napoleonic period the regiment underwent a succession of reorganizations and fought through the extraordinary political changes that transformed Hessen-Darmstadt from a landgraviate into a grand duchy. Its soldiers served during the revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, and the regiment subsequently participated in the nineteenth-century conflicts that shaped the German states.

Following the military convention that placed the Hessian contingent under Prussian military organization, the regiment entered the Prussian Army system. In 1871 it became the 4. Großherzoglich Hessisches Infanterie-Regiment Prinz Carl Nr. 118, and in 1906 received its final Imperial-era title, Infanterie-Regiment “Prinz Carl” (4. Großherzoglich Hessisches) Nr. 118.

Its traditional patron was Prince Carl of Hesse, Karl Wilhelm Ludwig von Hessen, father of Grand Duke Ludwig IV. The regiment maintained its strong Hessian identity despite functioning operationally within the Prussian Army. Prior to the First World War it was garrisoned at Worms, where the Prinz-Carl-Kaserne became closely associated with the regiment.

In the peacetime Imperial Army, Regiment Nr. 118 belonged to the Hessian contingent and formed part of the broader military structure associated with the Großherzoglich Hessische 25. Division. Hessian troops wore Prussian-pattern uniforms but retained distinctive state insignia and numerous local traditions. Regiment Nr. 118 was particularly recognizable through its gold-yellow facing and shoulder-strap distinctions, which reportedly resulted in the nickname “Die Kanarienvögel,” or “The Canaries.”

The First World War brought the regiment into sustained combat almost immediately. Mobilized in August 1914, it entered Belgium and fought during the opening campaign before participating in operations associated with the Meuse and Marne. It subsequently endured prolonged positional warfare on the Western Front.

In 1915 the regiment transferred temporarily to the Eastern Front, where it participated in the Gorlice-Tarnów campaign and fighting associated with Lemberg before returning west. It later fought in Champagne, at Verdun, in Flanders, Artois, and on the Somme.

The timing of Alfred Marr’s bravery award is especially compelling. During April 1917, Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 118 became heavily engaged in the Osterschlacht bei Arras, the Battle of Arras. The regiment’s I. Bataillon fought around Vimy beginning on April 9, and on April 23 the complete regiment was committed to the battle.

Marr’s official award was dated May 15, 1917, less than a month after the regiment’s full commitment at Arras, and the certificate was issued through the regiment in the field on May 24. This chronology makes an association between Marr’s award and the regiment’s fighting during the Arras period distinctly possible. No surviving citation or award recommendation accompanying this group identifies the exact action for which Marr received the decoration, however, and the award should therefore not be represented as conclusively earned at Vimy or Arras without additional documentation. The close chronological relationship nevertheless provides an important avenue for future research.

Marr served in the 9. Kompagnie, placing him within the regiment’s III. Bataillon under the standard twelve-company infantry organization of the period. As an Unteroffizier der Reserve he occupied a junior noncommissioned leadership position at a time when experienced NCOs were critically important to maintaining the effectiveness of infantry companies subjected to enormous wartime losses.

The Hessian Allgemeines Ehrenzeichen had a history extending well before the First World War. Its origins lay in the Allgemeines Civil-Ehrenzeichen established by Grand Duke Ludwig II in 1843 to recognize distinguished civic service. Grand Duke Ludwig III revised the award in 1849, expanding the scope under which the decoration could be granted. Different reverse inscriptions identified the particular reason for an award.

The “Für Tapferkeit” form developed into Hessen’s principal decoration for personal military bravery. Following changes made in 1902, the bravery issue was distinguished by the Hessian Kriegsband, or war ribbon, traditionally composed of light blue with ponceau-red stripes near the edges. During the First World War the decoration assumed much greater importance and was awarded for bravery before the enemy without the earlier emphasis on social or military rank.

This was particularly significant within the federal award structure of Imperial Germany. The German Empire was not a completely centralized state, and its constituent kingdoms and grand duchies retained their own rulers, military traditions, and systems of decorations. A Hessian soldier might therefore receive both Prussian and Hessian awards for wartime service. The Allgemeines Ehrenzeichen “Für Tapferkeit” stood alongside the Iron Cross as one of the principal decorations available to Hessian combatants.

By 1917 wartime shortages were affecting even the materials used to manufacture decorations. Earlier examples of the Ernst Ludwig medal were struck in higher-fineness silver, but Hessen, like the other German states, progressively reduced precious-metal content as the war continued. Contemporary research records a substantial reduction in silver fineness during 1917, followed later by the use of silvered base-metal alloys. Without an assay or a clearly observed fineness mark, the precise alloy of Marr’s medal should not be stated more specifically than its silver-colored wartime construction.

The obverse portrait represents Ernst Ludwig Karl Albrecht Wilhelm, who reigned as Grand Duke from 1892 until the collapse of the Hessian monarchy in November 1918. He was both the last ruler of Großherzogtum Hessen and an important patron of architecture and the decorative arts, particularly the artists’ colony at Darmstadt. His reign therefore occupied an unusual place at the intersection of traditional dynastic government and modern artistic experimentation.

The design of this certificate reflects that aesthetic interest. Its unusually clean horizontal arrangement, restrained lettering, colored ribbon border, and central crown depart substantially from the more ornate nineteenth-century award documents that preceded it. Even amid wartime bureaucracy, the Hessian award system retained a distinctive graphic character.

Condition of the medal is quite pleasing. The portrait of Ernst Ludwig remains strongly defined, with clear facial modeling and a readily legible surrounding inscription. The surface has developed an even gray patina with darker toning toward the lettering and perimeter, together with scattered light contact marks and handling wear consistent with age. The integral suspension and loose ring remain present. No ribbon accompanies the group.

The gray-blue “Tapferkeits-Medaille” issue packet remains with the award and displays age-related rubbing, creasing, edge wear, and handling marks. The black printed Gothic lettering remains strong and readily legible. The presence of this fragile paper component materially enhances the completeness of the group.

The award certificate exhibits considerably heavier service and storage wear. There are pronounced horizontal and vertical creases, edge tears, several small punctures and holes, localized paper losses, staining, foxing, surface soiling, wrinkles, and numerous short tears along the lower and outer margins. Portions of the bottom edge are particularly fragile and show old splitting and loss. Despite these flaws, the essential document remains complete enough to preserve the recipient’s name, unit, award designation, May 15, 1917 date, Grand Ducal facsimile signature, colored border, and the highly significant May 24 field endorsement and regimental seal on the reverse.

For the advanced Imperial German collector, the historical value of this group lies in its association of the actual decoration with a named recipient and a specific front-line Hessian regiment. Anonymous Hessian bravery medals survive in meaningful numbers, while a medal reunited with its wartime packet and full named award certificate offers a much richer historical record.

The direct identification of Reserve Unteroffizier Alfred Marr, 9. Kompagnie, Infanterie-Regiment “Prinz Carl” Nr. 118, together with the May 1917 award date, field-issued regimental endorsement, unusual converted wartime certificate form, and the regiment’s contemporary involvement in the Battle of Arras make this a particularly researchable First World War Hessian bravery group.