{"product_id":"wwi-prussian-iron-cross-2nd-class-eisernes-kreuz-2-klasse","title":"WWI Imperial German Iron Cross 2nd Class (Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse)","description":"\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"text-align: center;\" align=\"center\" class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 15.0pt; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eWW I \u003cspan\u003eImperial German\u003c\/span\u003e Iron Cross 2nd Class (Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse).\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"text-align: center;\" align=\"center\" class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 15.0pt; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eBefore the Iron Cross was created in 1813, military medals were strictly divided by social class.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"text-align: center;\" align=\"center\" class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 15.0pt; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eOfficers received high-grade gold or silver medals, while ordinary soldiers received nothing or basic, low-tier badges.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"text-align: center;\" align=\"center\" class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 15.0pt; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eKing Friedrich Wilhelm III designed the Iron Cross to be awarded solely for bravery and merit, regardless of a person's rank, social status, or aristocratic background. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"text-align: center;\" align=\"center\" class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 15.0pt; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eA frontline private and a high-ranking general could earn the exact same medal. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"text-align: center;\" align=\"center\" class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 15.0pt; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eThe Iron Cross was not a permanent medal, i\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"text-align: center;\" align=\"center\" class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 15.0pt; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003et was a temporary award tied to specific conflicts, re-instituted only four times in history, each time bearing a new date on the lower arm.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"text-align: center;\" align=\"center\" class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 15.0pt; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eThis 1914 version of the medal marks Germany's entry into World War I. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"text-align: center;\" align=\"center\" class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 15.0pt; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eBecause of the unprecedented scale of industrialised total war, this iteration was awarded far more frequently than previous versions. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"text-align: center;\" align=\"center\" class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 15.0pt; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eRoughly 5 million Second Class medals were awarded between 1914 and 1918.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"text-align: center;\" align=\"center\" class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 15.0pt; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eThis medal \u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003e \u003cspan\u003eis cold stamped on the upper loop with \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong data-copy-service-computed-style='font-family: \"Google Sans\", \"Helvetica Neue\", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0px; text-decoration: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-color: rgb(230, 232, 240);' data-processed=\"true\" data-complete=\"true\" data-sfc-cb=\"\" data-sfc-root=\"c\" class=\"Yjhzub\"\u003e\"WILM\"\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, which identifies the manufacturer as the highly prestigious firm of\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"Yjhzub\"\u003eH.R. Wilm\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e based in\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"Yjhzub\"\u003eBerlin.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"text-align: center;\" align=\"center\" class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 15.0pt; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eIt is in an overall good condition with its original ribbon.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\" align=\"center\" class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 15.0pt; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 15.0pt; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eThe photographs are of the actual item and form part of the description. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center;\" align=\"center\" class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 15.0pt; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 15.0pt; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; color: black; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003ePlease examine the photographs carefully and if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact us.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!----\u003e","brand":"Haywards Antiques \u0026 Collectables","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57127393886473,"sku":null,"price":85.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/5437\/0569\/files\/B66AEF3A-F110-4DF6-90C6-1EA65CB86094_1_102_o-Photoroom.png?v=1781349276","url":"https:\/\/haywardsantiques.co.uk\/products\/wwi-prussian-iron-cross-2nd-class-eisernes-kreuz-2-klasse","provider":"Haywards Antiques \u0026 Collectables","version":"1.0","type":"link"}