Prince Friedrich of
Brandenburg, the later King Friedrich I of Prussia,
issued the “Ordre de la Générosité” in 1667. After
Friedrich II (The Great) claimed the thrown in 1740 he
changed the “Ordre de la Générosité” into the Order
“Pour le Mérite” and awarded this renamed order for
civil merit as well as for military merit. Finally on
January 18, 1810, under King Friedrich-Wilhelm III the
order became limited to being a reward for merit in
battle. For exceptional merit the order was awarded with
oak leaf. The decoration was then worn on a black ribbon
with three silver stripes. On July 18, 1844, Friedrich
Wilhelm IV issued a crown for those who wore the order
decoration for more than 50 years. As a higher grade for
Army Generals and Field Marshals King Wilhelm I issued
the grand cross of the Order Pour le Mérite in 1866.
All Prussian order
decorations were made of gold until 1916. On November
16, 1916, Wilhelm II signed a decree, ordering all
formerly gold-based medals and order decorations to made
in gilt silver.
The total number of
awarded Pour le Mérite decorations, including the silver
gilt ones, adds up as follows:
Pour le Mérite |
Pour le Mérite with
oak leaf |
687 |
122 |
The Pour le Mérite
decoration below is one of the pieces awarded between
1916 and 1918. The piece is made from gilt silver and
blue enamel. It still has its original shellac
protection coating to prevent oxidation of the silver.
The piece has the maker’s mark “J · G · u · S” for “Jean
Godet und Söhne” as well as the by law required silver
content mark “938” punched into the ring loop.
Obverse
(click on picture to
super size) |
Reverse
(click on picture to
super size) |
|
The order decorations
weights 33 grams and measures 52.5 x 54.5 mm.
The above-pictured Pour
le Mérite decoration is a fine example made by the court
jeweler Godet during the last 2 years of the First World
War and is a contemporary original.
In 1761 the Godet firm
was founded by Jean Godet. The Godet firm was one of the
earliest order decoration jewelers in Germany. Under the
management of Jean Fredric Godet the company became
court jeweler to the Prussian Kings in 1828.
The Godet family ran the
business as J. Godet & Söhne from approximately 1864 to
sometime after 1924, when the name changed to Eugen
Godet & Co. In the late 1920th early 1930th
the name changed again to Gebrüder Godet & Co.
Other Godet reference
pieces:
- Identical piece at the
“Zeughaussammlung” - the Historical Museum in Berlin.
This piece also has an oak leaf attached. It was
displayed in the museum before the German unification
on a uniform worn by Kaiser Wilhelm II.
- An identical designed
Pour le Mérite, but made in gold as part of the
British Royal Collection. Wilhelm I awarded the badge
to the Duke Arthur of Connaught in November 1882 in
recognition of the role played by the Prince in the
battle of Tel-el-Kebir. The suspension ring shows an
engraved “G”. This piece was displayed during the
exhibition in 1996 at Holyroadhouse, Edinburgh and
Windsor castle: “Royal Insignia of British and Foreign
Orders of Chivalry from the Royal collection”. The
piece is also published in the book for this
exhibition as number 39.
- The presentation
Pour le Mérite of
the later Generalmajor Paul Krause, Oberst and
Regimentscommander of IR 158. He was awarded the Pour
le Mérite April 01, 1918. The decoration was made on
request of his officer corps in a very special way.
His comrades did present this specific
Pour le Mérite on his
honorary day of being awarded the decoration. It is
absolutely identical to all other Godet made pieces,
except the fact, that J.Godet did use only the front
part of his coining tooling, to keep the reverse of
the piece blank for the special inscription as well as
the hand detailing of the eagles and pie suspension
loop. The arms of the cross show the names of the
members of the officer corps hand engraved.
- An identical piece in
gilt Silver as offered by Andreas Thies in 1992 as lot
number 119. Medal group of General Major Christoph
Ralf von Egidy awarded October 31, 1918, showing the
identical maker’s mark “J · G · u · S” for “Jean Godet
und Söhne” as well as the by law required silver
content mark “938” punched into the ring loop.
- Another piece is shown
below worn by General Major Otto v.Lancelle. He was
awarded the PlM October 09, 1918.
- The following piece
belongs to Major Karl von Phelwe,
Batalionskommandeur im 2. Garde - Reserve - Regiment. He was
awarded the PlM April 21, 1918. Despite the late date
of the award a real golden Godet made PlM
survived.
© A.
Schulze Ising, I/08 |