Although a TR collector I do like some Imperial awards, particularly those won by 'vets' and shown on TR tunics.
This is a Hessen Darmstadt award instituted in 1917 and is, I think, their equivalent of the Prussian Iron Cross.
It is shown on my Forestry Tunic.

A nice piece. Krieger-Ehrenzeichen in Eisen. (Warrior Honor Decoration in Iron).

--dj--Joe

WOW! That's a nice looking award! Thanks for showing it.

Tristan,

A simple yet very elegant award for the brave front-soldiers from Hessen, Hessen-Homburg and Hessen-Kassel. On March 13th, 1917, the Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig instituted the award celebrating his 25th anniversary of his rule but chiefly to honor his brave Hessen troops. The badge was meant specifically as a warriors insignia and was presented mainly to those who served bravely and with panache in the trenches closest to the frontlines. The decoration consisted of a pierced-through, silver-crowned monogram, "EL" and having the numeral 25 engraved below it. This is then set/fastened in its entirety into a circlar arrangement of laurel leaves which has been painted in black lacquer. It is fastened by the wearer with a needle/pin device that is attached to the flat back of the badge, to the breast of his tunic, located underneath his ribbon or medal bar.
46mm high, 38mm wide.

I translated this from Dr. von Hessenthal/Schreiber's, "Die Ehrenzeichen des Deutschen Reiches," and thought someone may be interested? A somewhat pricey though very useful reference.

In the meanwhile, good collecting to all !

Bill

Thanks for that info. There does not seem to be many(any?)reference books on WW1 awards, ribbons etc?
Do you know of any in English, or in German but mainly photograhic?

Tristan,

The book that I mentioned is most likely the best reference on the subject that I know of.
The photographic section is a bit smaller than I'd hoped for but nevertheless very well done - on the other hand, the text is excellent for those who can read German. All the imperial state medals are discussed as well as those from the Third Reich years. The book is normally priced at around $85-120 dollars.

My second choice would have to be the cigarette-card book titled, "Orden," which has a large Pour le Merite on its yellow paper cover. Through the use of many, many first-class illustrations and a much smaller amount of text,
the books tells of the origins and history of German orders and medals up to the first World War. It is "Eine Sammlung der Bekanntesten deutschen Orden und Auszeichnungen," published by Waldorf-Astoria G.m.b.H. München. Also written in German, it is more of a 'history lesson' than a dry discussion of dates and measurements. As an added bonus the book contains many black and white drawings by the famous military artist, Paul Casberg, who designed many of the the best known German daggers, flags/standards and awards from the period 1933-1945. This book is also priced in the $80-120 range.

For those who might read some German, both of these titles would make wonderful additions to your reference libraries.

Good hunting!

Bill

Thanks Bill...I have seen the waldorf-Astoria cigareete card album ( I have some TR ones) and I will keep my eyes open for a copy.
Attached is a nice photo of an SD Officer from the Paris office (from 'Uniforms of the Waffen-SS, Vol.3, p. 964, by Beaver)wearing his H-D award.