The Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918
The Cross of Honour, also known as the Honour Cross or, popularly, the Hindenburg Cross, was a commemorative medal inaugurated on July 13, 1934 by Reichspräsident Paul von Hindenburg for those soldiers of Imperial Germany who fought in World War I. It came in three versions:
- Honour Cross for Combatants (Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer) - for soldiers who fought on the front.
- Honour Cross for War Participants (Ehrenkreuz für Kriegsteilnehmer) - for non-combatant soldiers
- Honour Cross for Next-of-Kin (Ehrenkreuz für Hinterbliebene) - for the next-of-kin of fallen soldiers
After the annexation (Anschluss) of Austria in 1938, Austrian veterans of World War I were also eligible for the Cross of Honour.
A total of 6,250,000 Crosses were awarded to combatants, 1,200,000 were awarded to non-combatants and 720,000 medals were awarded to next-of-kin.
Design
The medal was designed by Eugene Godet, its shape is similar to the Iron Cross (although smaller in size), in the center of the obverse are the dates of the First World War (1914-1918) surrounded with a wreath of oak leaves, the reverse of the medal in plain.
The Honour Cross for War Participants differed from the Honour Cross for Combatants by not having the crossed swords. The Honour Cross for Next-of-Kin also lacked swords, was lacquered in black, and had a different ribbon.
The medal is suspended from a ribbon with a thin black lines of its sides, a red line in the center and next to it a black and white lines on each side, on the next-of-kin medal the ribbon colors are reverse.