German Lippe-Detmold WW1 War Merit Cross II. Class Kriegsverdienst Kreuz (2733)

Description

Original German / Lippe-Detmold WW1 War Merit Cross (Kriegsverdienstkreuz) II. Class,
THIS A VALOR AWARD EQUAL TO A IRON CROSS 2ND CLASS
NOT EASY TO FIND PLEASE SEE PHOTOS FOR CONDITION SOME BRONZE COAT LOSS ON BACK
HISTORY OF THE AWARD:
Lippe-Detmold War Merit Cross (Kriegsverdienstkreuz), 1914-1918 - Gilt-bronze cross pattée with laterally-pierced ball suspension; the face with a centrally imposed gilt laurel wreath encircling the Rose of Lippe, the crowned cipher of Prince (Fürst) Leopold IV on the upper arm, the lower arm bearing the date ‘1914’; the reverse inscribed ‘FÜR’, ‘AUSZEICHNUNG IM’, ‘KRIEGE’ (for distinction in wartime) on the upper, central and lower arms respectively. The Cross was instituted by Prince (Fürst) Leopold IV on 8 December 1914 and could be awarded to combatants and to non-combatants who made a significant contribution to the war effort. The population of the Principality of Lippe-Detmold was less than 150,000 in 1914 and only approximately 18,000 combatant awards were made. The Cross is becoming hard to find.