{"product_id":"saxony-landwehr-long-service-award-2nd-class-bar-king-albert-ar-cypher","title":"Saxony Landwehr Long Service Award 2nd Class Bar King Albert AR Cypher","description":"\u003cp\u003eA Kingdom of Saxony \u003cem\u003eLandwehr-Dienstauszeichnung 2. Klasse\u003c\/em\u003e (Landwehr Service Decoration, Second Class) in its original form as a rectangular clasp mounted on ribbon, bearing the crowned cypher \"AR\" of King Albert of Saxony. The gilt clasp measures approximately 1⅞ inches (4.8 cm) wide, and the piece as mounted stands approximately 1¼ inches (3 cm) high including the ribbon above and below the clasp.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe clasp is an open rectangular frame of gilt base metal. At the centre stands the raised Roman cypher \"AR\", for \u003cem\u003eAlbertus Rex\u003c\/em\u003e (King Albert), beneath a royal crown set on the upper bar of the frame. At each end the frame carries a stylised rue leaf between two small raised pellets, with scalloped inner corners. The rue is the emblem of the Saxon royal house of Wettin, taken from the \u003cem\u003eRautenkranz\u003c\/em\u003e (crancelin, or wreath of rue) in the Saxon arms. The clasp is set over a short length of ribbon wrapped around a gilt metal backing plate. Read across the face, the ribbon shows a narrow dark green edge, a white stripe, a broad dark green stripe, a narrow white centre stripe, a second broad dark green stripe, a white stripe, and a narrow dark green edge. On the face the green reads very dark and may appear nearly blue in some light; the reverse shows the green plainly. On the back, the ribbon ends are turned in and laced across the plate with white thread in a zigzag pattern. Silver-coloured end tabs, apparently part of the clasp, fold behind the plate at left and right. A horizontal silver-coloured pin runs from a gilt tubular hinge at one end to a round C-shaped catch at the other. No maker's mark is visible in the provided images.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Landwehr Service Decoration was instituted in Saxony on 23 April 1874 under King Albert, who had come to the throne in October 1873. The \u003cem\u003eLandwehr\u003c\/em\u003e (territorial reserve) was the second line of the army, made up of men who had completed their active service and their time in the reserve and remained liable for call-up in wartime. The Saxon decoration recognised service in the reserve and Landwehr, and it was awarded in two classes: a first class, a cross awarded to officers for twenty years' service, and a second class for non-commissioned officers and men. From 1874 until 1913 the second class took the form of a gilt clasp on ribbon, as here. In 1913 it was replaced by a round medal, which by then carried the cypher \"FAR\" of King Friedrich August III. Saxony was the third most populous state of the German Empire and kept its own army, which formed the XII Army Corps in the imperial order of battle and, from 1899, the XIX Army Corps as well.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKing Albert reigned from 1873 until his death in 1902. Before his accession he had commanded the Saxon Army Corps in 1866 and in 1870–1871, rising during the latter campaign to command of the Meuse Army, and he was made a Prussian field marshal in 1871. The clasp carries the cypher of King Albert, under whom the award was instituted. The bar appears to have kept the \"AR\" cypher throughout its issue from 1874 to 1913, so the cypher does not by itself date this example to his reign. The bar is not named, and no recipient, unit, or accompanying document is known.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCondition is good. The gilt finish on the clasp is largely intact, with light wear to the high points of the crown, cypher, and frame edges. The ribbon is complete and clean on the face, with the green showing as very dark on the front. On the reverse the gilt backing plate shows scattered dark spotting, the lacing thread is complete, and the upper left corner of the ribbon is slightly creased where it turns in. The pin, hinge, and catch are present and intact.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLong service clasps were the everyday recognition given to reservists and Landwehr men across the German states, and they record the obligation that kept the imperial armies at strength in wartime. This example carries the cypher of King Albert, and it suits a collection built around the Kingdom of Saxony or the long service awards of the German states.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Derrittmeister Militaria Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51417212027119,"sku":"05-1460","price":75.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/9169\/5855\/files\/05-1460_2.jpg?v=1793910847","url":"https:\/\/derrittmeister.com\/products\/saxony-landwehr-long-service-award-2nd-class-bar-king-albert-ar-cypher","provider":"Derrittmeister Militaria Group","version":"1.0","type":"link"}