| Order of Merit | |
|---|---|
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| Awarded for | Military or Civil merit |
 Military Class  Civil Class | |
The Order of Merit (Verdienstorden) was an Order of merit founded by George Victor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont on the 3rd of July 1857 and was expanded between 1871 and 1899 by Georg Victor and his successor Friedrich, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont.
The Order was originally founded in 1857 as a medal of merit to reward those who had distinguished themselves through meritorious actions for the Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont, both in the civil and military spheres. With the entry of the principality into the German Empire, the Order was "re-founded" and upgraded on January 14, 1871, and officially took the name of "Order of Merit". [1]
The end of the war brought the German revolution, which ended the Principality and brought about the Free State of Waldeck-Pyrmont. With this, the order became obsolete.
The original order consisted of a single class (the Medal of Merit). With the re-founding of the Order, the Grade became the 2nd class of the new order and a higher grade of 1st class was introduced. On September 26, 1878, the 3rd class Gold medal was established, which altered the 2nd class medal to a cross, then in 1899 a 4th class silver medal, finally in 1912 a 5th class officers cross [2] was added, which left the order as follows:
Karl Eberhard Herwarth von Bittenfeld was a Prussian Generalfeldmarschall. He served in many military conflicts throughout the 19th century and was given major commands throughout each conflict.
The Royal Order of the Crown was a Prussian order of chivalry. Instituted in 1861 as an honour equal in rank to the Order of the Red Eagle, membership could only be conferred upon commissioned officers, but there was a medal associated with the order which could be earned by non-commissioned officers and enlisted men.
The Order of the Red Eagle was an order of chivalry of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was awarded to both military personnel and civilians, to recognize valor in combat, excellence in military leadership, long and faithful service to the kingdom, or other achievements. As with most German other European orders, the Order of the Red Eagle could be awarded only to commissioned officers or civilians of approximately equivalent status. However, there was a medal of the order, which could be awarded to non-commissioned officers and enlisted men, lower ranking civil servants and other civilians.
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The House and Merit Order of Duke Peter Frederick Louis or proper German Oldenburg House and Merit Order of Duke Peter Frederick Louis was a civil and military order of the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, a member state of the German Empire. The order was founded by Grand Duke Augustus of Oldenburg on 27 November 1838, to honor his father, Peter Frederick Louis of Oldenburg. It became obsolete in 1918 after the abdication of the last grand duke.
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The Order of the Württemberg Crown was an order of chivalry in Württemberg.
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Alexis was a lieutenant general, statesman, and the Prince of Bentheim and Steinfurt from 28 September 1890 to 21 January 1919.
This is a list of orders, decorations, and medals of Austria-Hungary.
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The Order of Merit of Philip the Magnanimous was an order of chivalry established by Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse on 1 May 1840, the name day of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, in his honour to award extraordinary military or civil merit. It was the second-highest order of the Grand Duchy of Hesse before 1876, when it was displaced to third by the revived Order of the Golden Lion, the former paramount order of the Electorate of Hesse.
The Princely Reuss Honour Cross was an Order of merit common to the principalities of Reuss Junior line and Reuss Elder line. It was founded by Heinrich XIV, Prince Reuss Younger Line in 1869, and in 1902 became a state order of the Elder Line Principality as well.