Offered is an original Prussian Order of the Red Eagle, 4th Class, awarded pre November 1918.
Features a 38mm wide silver cross pattée with stippled arms and with eyelet for ribbon suspension; the face with a circular central polychrome enamel medallion depicting the Brandenburg crowned red eagle, the Hohenzollern arms, being a quartered black and white shield, on its breast; the reverse with the crowned cipher of King Friedrich Wilhelm III; maker’s mark ‘FR’ on the cylinder between the upper and left arms of the cross for Falkenberg & Richter of Koblenz, on full length of original ribbon.
The Order can trace its origins back to the Ordre de la Sincerité founded by on 17 November 1705 by Margrave Georg Wilhelm of Brandenburg-Bayreuth. It was revived in 1734 in the Principality of Brandenburg-Ansbach as the Order of the Brandenburg Red Eagle. In 1777 it was renamed the Order of the Red Eagle. In 1792 when both Principalities were annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia it became the second- ranked order of the enlarged kingdom. In 1810 King Friedrich Wilhelm III revised the order, expanding it from one to three classes and in 1830 a fourth class, as in this example, was added for junior officers and civilians of equivalent rank. The Order was awarded for bravery in combat and excellence in military leadership. It is interesting to note that the 3rd and 4th classes of the Order were awarded only 116 times during World War I in order to maintain its prestige, Manfred, Freiherr von Richthofen (the ‘Red Baron’) being a noted recipient of the 3rd class.
