63 - Prussia, Order of the Red Eagle 4th class on ribbon, with case and cardboard box, 1861 to 1918

Prussia, Order of the Red Eagle 4th class on ribbon, with case and cardboard box, 1861 to 1918 Silver, enamel, grosgrain ribbon, cardboard, Order of the Red Eagle 4th class, Kingdom of Prussia, 1861 to 1918, cross pattée with finely granulated arms and plain polished edges, the obverse with an applied round enamelled medallion, painted in enamel on a white ground with the red eagle bearing a gold-bordered breast shield quartered in black and white, above it the gold Prussian royal crown, below a green laurel wreath, the reverse with a round medallion on a granulated ground with the raised intertwined letters "FW" surmounted by a royal crown, soldered spherical suspension eye at the top with round ribbon ring, on the white ribbon with two orange side stripes, in a velvet-lined hinged case with red covering and hook clasp, together with the original brown cardboard box with printed label "Rother Adler-Orden 4. Klasse.", condition commensurate with age, ribbon 3 cm wide, cross 4x4 cm (HxW). The Order of the Red Eagle traces its origins to the Ordre de la Sincérité founded in Brandenburg-Bayreuth in 1705 and was renewed as a Prussian order by Frederick William II in 1792; in 1810 it was divided into three classes, the 4th class was added in 1830 and the Grand Cross in 1861. Until 1918 it was the second-highest decoration of the Kingdom of Prussia after the Order of the Black Eagle and the most frequently awarded, from lieutenants to civil servants; Paul von Hindenburg received the 4th class in 1866 as a young officer. The medallion of the 4th class was enamelled from 1846, the eagle was painted scarlet instead of purple-red from 1854, and around 1885 the arms of the cross received their finely granulated surface; the red eagle with the Hohenzollern shield and the crowned cipher "FW" on the reverse refer to the founder Frederick William. The ribbon of the order is white with two orange edge stripes; the war decoration was worn on the black and white ribbon from 1864.