THREE PIECE LOT OF GERMAN NAPOLEONIC WARS RELATED ITEMS

This is a three (3) piece lot of German military items relating to the various conflicts that occurred in Europe during the Napoleonic era (1797-1805). This specifically includes (1) an extremely rare Hessen-Kassel War Service Medal (kriegsdenkmunze) 1814-1815, (2) a Friedrich Wilhelm III honor medal for true service to the state (3) and a one hundred year commemorative badge issued by the second Bavarian Infantry regiment in 1905 in memory of the service of that unit in action as an ally of Napoleon against a superior Austrian force commanded by General Mack at Tann on the Rhine in Kassel in 1805.

Pictured to the left is a frontal view of all three items. A ruler has been included in this photo to provide a perspective on the relative physical size of each of these individual pieces. As seen in the photo, the Hessen-Kassel medal is missing both its original ribbon and ribbon attaching loop AND IS BEING SOLD IN THIS INSTANCE WITHOUT THESE PARTICULAR PARTS.

Below left is an enlarged frontal view of the honor badge (Ehrenzeichen) originally instituted by Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III (Frederick William III) in 1814 for award to deserving personnel for their faithful service against Napoleon. Pictured here is the 2nd class, silver grade of this decoration, which bears the script initials of the Prussian King centered under an imperial crown.

As is clearly visible in the photo, the silver content of this medal has taken on a deep patina over the years, consistent with its age, and has not been cleaned so as to avoid any question as to its authenticity. In furtherance to this, a magnification of the surface of the medal reveals a number of wear marks, dings and superficial scratches which, although they do not detract in any way from the beauty of this piece to the naked eye, nevertheless could only have been obtained through many, many years of wear.

Below that is an enlarged photo of the reverse side of this decoration which bears the inscription "VERDIENST UM DEN STAAT" (Meritorious Service to the State) in the center surrounded by a circular wreath of laurel leaves. The ribbon for this item is completely intact, although the top edge was unfortunately trimmed a number of years ago to eliminate some frayed threads.

The ribbon loop at the top of the medal is permanently silver soldered into position, consistent with other medals of this era, and has obviously never been played with in any manner. The circular disk comprising the medal is actually one and one half inches (1 1/2") in diameter and one sixteenth (1/16") inches thick, giving it a weight similar to that of a silver US dollar.

For historical reference, King Frederick William III (1770-1840) succeeded to the throne of Prussia in 1797 at the age of 27 at the beginning of the French Revolution. Fearful of a spread of democratic thinking to his own kingdom, he maintained a policy of strict neutrality in the battles between the new French republic and her bitter enemies of Austria and England.

Against his better judgment, he turned down a reasonable offer of an alliance from Napoleon, under the facade of maintaining Prussia's neutrality, and secretly became a member of the Anglo-Russian cabal to destroy the French Republic, based on offers of territorial benefits in Poland from Tsar Alexander of Russia that he simply was too greedy to ignore. He officially abandoned his policy of neutrality in 1805 and declared war on France. This decision resulted in the disastrous Prussian defeats at Jena and Auerstadt in 1806 and the signing of a treaty with Napoleon at Tilst in 1807 through which Prussia had to cede territory to France.

Subsequent to this debacle, Frederick demonstrated considerable resilience and, with a reconstituted Prussian Army, turned once again on Napoleon in 1813 and was highly instrumental in the eventual defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815. To his detriment, he promised liberal reforms , to include a constitution, to the Prussian people to gain their support against France, only to forget these promises and join the oppression of democratic principles promoted by Metternich across Europe after Napoleon's defeat.