Award pad of the Franco-Prussian war participant, Nassau

Original pad of a German soldier, which includes 3 awards, including the medal of a participant in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71, the medal in honor of the 100th anniversary of Kaiser Wilhelm I and a rare military medal of the Duchy of Nassau. Established 20.08.1866 G. the last Duke of Nassau, Adolf (Adolph Wilhelm Carl August Friedrich von Nassau-Weilburg, 24.07.1817-17.11.1905) to commemorate the participation of its troops in the Austro-Prussian war, 17 June-26 July 1866 the Duchy of Nassau was on the side of the defeated Austrian Empire, the result of which was annexed by Prussia and turned into a Prussian province under the name of Hesse-Nassau (Provinz Hessen-Nassau). The memorial medal was established by the deposed ruler on the day of his 27th anniversary of his accession to the throne of Nassau. By this time, Adolf was already in Moscow.Gunzburg, located on the territory of its ally, another losing German state – Bavaria.

The military medal of the Duchy of Nassau in 1866 was awarded to officers, non-commissioned officers, lower ranks, military officials and non-combatants who took a direct part in the fighting, or who contributed to the confrontation between Prussia and its allies, and after the defeat left the Duchy and settled in Bavaria.

The design of the medal was developed by the Wiesbaden medallist Korn, and the manufacturer of the official minted medals was the Munich jeweler Eduard Quellhorst. There are known copies of a private issue that differed from the awards of the official mint in minor details of the obverse and reverse. After the death of the recipient, the medal remained in his family and was not subject to return.

On the obverse of the medal is the monogram of Adolphus crowned with the Ducal crown-the Gothic capital letter "A", below which dates are indicated in two lines in capital letters: «July and August 1866 " ("Juli u: August 1866."). The two-line reverse has a two-line inscription in capital letters, but in different fonts: «Nassau Warriors» ("Nassau's Kriegern"), below which is a horizontal ornament with a stylized flower in the center.

The medal was worn on the left side of the chest on a silk orange ribbon 27-28 mm wide with two thin 2 mm vertical stripes of dark blue with blue edging around the edges.

The award of the last medal of the former Duchy of Nassau was accompanied by the presentation of the award certificate (Attestat), signed on 28.08.1866 "by the Highest order" by the major General and adjutant General Baron Hieronymus von Ziemiecki (07.09.1817-25.02.1906). All worthy of awards were recognized 6,573 people: members of the General staff (Generalstab) – 79; ranks 1st infantry regiment (1.Nassauische'infanterie-Regiment) – 1,897; 2nd infantry regiment (2.Nassauische'infanterie-Regiment) – 1,890; Jaeger battalion (Jäger-Bataillon) – 754; warehouse battalion (Depotbataillon) – 963; 1st battalion columns of the supply of artillery ammunition (Artillerie- und Munitions-Colonne, 1.Abteilung) – 526; medical company (Sanitäts Compagnie) – 116; reserve artillery detachment (Ersatzdetachement der Artillerie) – 90; sapper squad (Pionier Detachement) – 81; 2nd battalion columns of supply (Munitions-Colonne, 2.Abteilung) – 66; column bringing up supplies (Proviant-Colonne) – 39. Among the military officials and non-combatants, the following persons were to be awarded: employees of the Administrative Commission (Verwaltungs-Commission) – 38 people; the Main field hospital (Hauptfeldhospital der Herzoglich Nassauischen Brigade) – 30; the Military Department (Kriegsdepartement) – 6.

In total, only 6,000 medals were minted by order of Duke Adolf, which was clearly not enough. As a result, 5,285 people were awarded: soldiers of the Jaeger battalion, as well as the 1st and 2nd infantry regiments (a total of 4,503 people); the ranks of two demi-batteries of 6-pounder artillery guns (211); batteries of 5-pounder smoothbore guns (203); supply columns 3em " >(171>); sanitary battalion (115) and sapper battalion (82). After the annexation of the Duchy by Prussia, the victorious king William I allowed the medal to be worn by former military personnel of Nassau, especially since most of them joined the Prussian army.

Guarantee of authenticity and original collection.

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