A Service Award Cross () was an award for long-time service as a civil servant or member of the military.

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

had a service cross for 25 years of service for officers and military doctors as well as service awards in the form of buckles for nine-, 15 - and 25-years' service in the active army. : ''The Military Service Decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia was established in 1825 and could be awarded to non-commissioned officers and enlisted men in three classes for nine, 15, and 21 years of service. It consisted of an iron, silver, or gold buckle bearing the initials F. W. III (Frederick William III) on a blue ribbon, bordered in black, white, or yellow, respectively. The Long Service Cross for officers and physicians after 25 years of service, also established in 1825, was a gold cross on a blue ribbon in the center shield bearing the initials F. W. III. The reverse bore the Roman numeral XXV (25).'' In addition, there was a

Landwehr ''Landwehr'' (), or ''Landeswehr'', is a German language term used in referring to certain national army, armies, or militias found in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Europe. In different context it refers to large-scale, low-strength fo ...

Service Award in two categories: a cross for 20-years service by officers and a buckle for 12-years' service by officers and men of the Landwehr if they took part in a campaign or had served at least three months on active service convened for an extraordinary initiative. : ''The Landwehr Service Decoration for service in the Landwehr was established in 1842 and was awarded to officers and enlisted men after fulfilling their duty, participating in a campaign, or serving actively for three months under exceptional circumstances. It consisted of a Prussian blue ribbon with two small gold embroidered Landwehr crosses on the right and left, with a gold embroidered monogram F.W.IV. (Frederick William IV) between them. The ribbon was pulled over a plate soldered to an iron frame. When a further class of the Landwehr Service Decoration was established for officers and doctors for 20 years of service on July 4, 1868, the original award, established in 1842, was designated II. Class and the new award I. Class. The First Class award consisted of a silver cross on a blue ribbon with the monogram WR (Wilhelm Rex) on the obverse and XX (20 years of service) on the reverse.''Jörg Nimmergut: ''Deutsche Orden und Ehrenzeichen bis 1945.'' München 1997, pp. 1115 f. Similar rules and orders - mostly in Prussian-like orders - were produced in the kingdoms of Bavaria and Saxony. Even in the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

, the

Third Reich Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

and other states there were distinctions for long periods of service. The

German Federal Republic BRD ( ; English: FRG/Federal Republic of Germany) is an unofficial abbreviation for the Federal Republic of Germany, informally known in English as West Germany until 1990, and just Germany since reunification. It was occasionally used in the Fede ...

had service awards, not restored on German unification.

References

{{Reflist Military history of Germany Orders, decorations, and medals of Prussia Long service medals

See also

References