Prussian Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, Knight's breast badge

Prussian Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, Military Division, Knight's breast badge. A white enamelled, black lined cross pattée convexed in silver gilt with a green wreath and gold crossed swords between the arms. Obverse: A white medallion with a black eagle, crowned, charged with the shield of Hohenzollern on its breast, within a blue border inscribed 'VOM FELS ZUM MEER' (From the rock to the sea). Reverse: The crowned royal cypher of Frederick William IV on white encircled by a blue ring with the date 'DEN 18 JANUAR 1851' and a green laurel wreath. The lower arm is stamped 938 JGuS on the rim. The badge is fitted with a loose double sided crown suspender with a bar at the reverse and a piece of 30 mm black ribbon with 6 mm white stripes down each edge.

Instituted in 1851 the Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern was a Prussian order only awarded to officers. It had two divisions, the Cross and the Eagle, with four classes for each division. For acts of bravery in combat, the decoration was fitted with crossed swords. It was most often awarded to recipients who had already received the Iron Cross, First Class. The Royal House Order of Hohenzollern was awarded 8,300 times during the First World War. The wartime ribbon was the same as the ribbon for the 1914 Iron Cross Second Class; originally it was white with three black stripes. This medal forms part of a collection assembled by the Memorial in the 1920s for display.