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Pour le Mérite

The Pour le Mérite (German: [puːɐ̯ lə meˈʁiːt];[3] French: [puʁ lə me.ʁit], lit. 'For Merit'), also informally known as the "Blue Max", is an order of merit (German: Verdienstorden) established in 1740 by King Frederick II of Prussia. The Pour le Mérite was awarded as both a military and civil honour and ranked, along with the Order of the Black Eagle, the Order of the Red Eagle and the House Order of Hohenzollern, among the highest orders of merit in the Kingdom of Prussia. The order of merit was the highest royal Prussian order of bravery for officers of all ranks.[4][5]

For the film, see Pour le Mérite (film).

Pour le Mérite
(Military class)

Neck decoration

King of Prussia (1740–1918)

Military personnel (1740–1918)

Extinct

    • between 7 June and 15 June 1740[1]
  • 1810 (pure military class)

16 June 1740[1]

22 September 1918

5415[2]

House Order of Hohenzollern

The Pour le Mérite was awarded strictly as a recognition of extraordinary personal achievement, rather than as a general marker of social status or a courtesy-honour, although certain restrictions of social class and military rank were applied. The order was secular, and membership endured for the remaining lifetime of the recipient, unless renounced or revoked.


New awards of the military class ceased with the end of the Prussian monarchy in November 1918. German author Ernst Jünger, who died in 1998, was the last living recipient of the military class award.[6]


A civil class for merits in sciences, humanities, and arts was established in 1842 by King Frederick William IV. The civil class was revived as an independent organization in 1923 (Pour le Mérite für Wissenschaften und Künste). Instead of the King of Prussia, the President of Germany acted as head of the order. After the Second World War, the civil class was re-established in 1952. This version of the Pour le Mérite is still active today. The Pour le Mérite is still an order into which a person is admitted into membership, like the United Kingdom's Order of the British Empire, and is not simply a medal or state decoration.

. Prussian general, awarded Pour le Mérite in 1741[17] by Frederick II for actions during Battle of Mollwitz during War of Austrian Succession.

Henning Alexander von Kleist

Prussian colonel and later Hofmarschall to the Prince of Prussia Frederick William II, heir to the throne of Prussia, awarded on 11 June 1742,[18] as a captain with the 18th Prussian Infantry Regiment (von Derschau) for his actions during the First Silesian War.

Isaac de Forcade de Biaix

Prussian lieutenant general, awarded on 6 January 1746[19] as a colonel for his actions in the Second Silesian War on the battlefield during the Battle of Soor, the victory of which Frederick the Great attributed to him.

Friedrich Wilhelm Quirin von Forcade de Biaix

awarded the Pour le Mérite 1752[20][21]

Carl Heinrich von Wedel

awarded 1757, during the Seven Years' War.[22]

Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz

. Major General. Cavalry. In October 1756 for actions at the Battle of Lobositz.[23]

Charles-Emmanuel de Warnery

who received the Pour le Mérite in 1762 when he withdrew Russia from the Seven Years' War and made peace with Prussia.[24]

Peter III of Russia

awarded on 4 June 1789,[25] Napoleonic-era Prussian field marshal who led Prussian forces at the Battle of Waterloo

Gebhard von Blücher

Russian generalissimo, awarded on 28 December 1794[26]

Alexander Suvorov

Napoleonic-era Prussian general.[27]

Gerhard von Scharnhorst

Napoleonic-era Prussian general; also received the oak leaves.[28][29]

Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Bülow

Napoleonic-era Prussian general (later field marshal); first decorated in 1807,[30] received the oak leaves in 1814.[31]

Karl Friedrich von dem Knesebeck

Napoleonic-era Prussian general; also received the oak leaves.[32][33]

Karl Wilhelm Georg von Grolman

Napoleonic-era Prussian general (later field marshal); also received the oak leaves.[34][35]

Ludwig Graf Yorck von Wartenburg

Napoleonic-era Prussian general (later field marshal); first decorated in 1807,[36] received the oak leaves in 1814.[37]

August von Gneisenau

Napoleonic-era Prussian general and Minister of War; simultaneously received the Pour le Mérite and the oak leaves.[38]

Hermann von Boyen

Prussian general and Prime Minister of Prussia; decorated in 1814 during the Napoleonic Wars,[39] received the oak leaves in 1831.

Ernst von Pfuel

known as "Moltke the Elder"; first decorated in 1839 as a junior officer;[40] he received the oak leaves in 1871[41] and the Grand Cross in March 1879.[42] Also inducted into the civil class of the order in 1874.[43]

Helmuth Graf von Moltke

Prussian general (later field marshal) decorated with the Pour le Mérite in the 1864 German-Danish War[44] and the oak leaves in the 1866 Austro-Prussian War.[45]

Leonhard Graf von Blumenthal

Pour le Mérite
(Civil class)

Order of Merit

  • 31 May 1842 (separate class)[53]
  • 1952 (re-established)

  • Kingdom of Prussia
  • West Germany
  • Germany

Domestic and foreign persons

Men and women who through widespread recognition for their contributions to science and art have made an eminent name for themselves

Extant

Hermann Parzinger

www.orden-pourlemerite.de

31 May 1842 (separate class)

military class 1839, civil class 1874

Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

military class 1884,[57] civil class 1896[58]

Otto von Bismarck

military class 1916, civil class 1924[59]

Hermann von Kuhl

Only a small number of persons have received both the military and civil classes of the Pour le Mérite:

Pour le Mérite (film)

, a 1966 film

The Blue Max

Lehmann, Gustaf (1913). (in German). Vol. 1. Berlin: Ernst Siegfried Mittler & Sohn.

Die Ritter des Ordens pour le mérite 1740–1811

Lehmann, Gustaf (1913a). (in German). Vol. 2. Berlin: Ernst Siegfried Mittler & Sohn.

Die Ritter des Ordens pour le mérite 1812–1913

Fuhrmann, Horst (1992). (PDF) (in German). Sigmaringen: Thorbecke. ISBN 978-3-7995-4159-6.

Pour le Mérite, Über die Sichtbarmachung von Verdiensten

Hoeftmann, F.W. (1868). (in German). Mittler. Retrieved 29 March 2022.

Der Preußische Ordens-Herold: Zusammenstellung sämmtlicher Urkunden, Statuten und Verordnungen über die preußischen Orden und Ehrenzeichen

. Der Bundespräsident (in German). 22 June 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.

"Rede: Abendessen für die Mitglieder des Ordens Pour le mérite"

Pour le Mérite, Grand Cross Star (Orden Pour le Mérite, Stern zum Großkreuz)

Orden Pour le Mérite für Wissenschaften und Künste (civil class)

[1]