Order of Military Merit (Württemberg)

The award was founded on February 11, 1759 by the ruling Duke Karl Eugene of Württemberg to be awarded for military and state services, under the name of the “Military Order of Karl”. Soon after Wurttemberg was "promoted" to the kingdom, King Frederick I in 1806 reformed and renamed the order.

Until 1913, the receipt of the order gave the awarded the rights of the nobility. In addition, the pension was supposed to be awarded, which continued to be paid by the governments of the Third Reich and the Federal Republic of Germany. By tradition, the recipients of the order, mostly officers and generals, donated money to help the poor children of soldiers.

The Württemberg Order of Military Merit was awarded to the Russian emperors Alexander I , Nicholas I and Alexander II ^[1] .

The order had three degrees:

• Big cross
• Commander's Cross
• Knight's cross

The first degree was awarded about a hundred times.

The badge of the order was a golden, white enamelled cross-shaped cross ; in the center of the cross there was a medallion with a golden wreath on a white field framed by the motto “Fearless and Faithful” written on a blue background, and the monogram of the reigning king on the reverse of the medallion. The crosses of the first two degrees were of the same size, the cross of the third degree was somewhat smaller. For most of the existence of the order, crosses of the first and second degrees (and from 1870 to 1914 - and the third degree) were crowned with a crown.

The star relied only on the sign of the big cross and was a foot cross made of precious metals with faceted ends and a medallion similar to the cross, enlarged to the size of an order star.

The tape before 1818 and after 1914 was yellow with wide black stripes at the edges. From 1818 to 1914 the ribbon was blue.

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  Badge of the Order of Karl

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  Sign of the Great Cross

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  Sign Reverse

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  Star and sign in the portrait of William I

• Württemberg Ribbon Bar