Description
Original Item: Only One Available. This very fine example of an Orden Pour le Mérite (PLM) Jeweler Wearer’s copy that dates from the post WW I (1919-1939) period. A wearer’s copy was purchased by a recipient for daily wear and to preserve his period-issued cross. [The latter usually had been personally presented by Kaiser Wilhelm II, as it was Germany’s highest honor and his privilege to bestow]. During WWI, a total of 687 PLM’s were awarded to various officers in the German military and to important men from the Central Powers. The award of a PLM was made to both senior and junior officers. If given to a junior officer, it was for supreme bravery or accomplishments in battle. Senior officers usually received the award for “command” achievements. For example, the Imperial German Air Service offered its first PLM for shooting down eight airplanes. Within a year of the first award, it increased the score to sixteen (the level at which Manfred von Richthofen received his PLM). As the war progressed, the tally was increased to twenty, then thirty, kills late in the war. The Kaiserliche Marine also received their share of PLM awards. Several U-Boot commanders, as well as surface vessel commanders, were awarded PLM’s.
This example of the decoration is a pre-1917 “pie slice” suspension-device variation. Its enamel is a medium-blue, while the gold lettering and…
