Bidspirit auction | Set of German WWI Honor

Set of German WWI Honor Crosses (Hindenburg Crosses) with Swords - A set of combatant's Honor Crosses of the World War (Ehrenkreuz des Weltkrieges), each a cross pattée in a bronze-toned finish bearing crossed swords and a wreathed ”1914 1918” central medallion, suspended from black-white-red ribbons. The reverse of one cross is stamped ”32 R.V.Pforzheim, ” identifying it as a product of the Pforzheim region manufacturing consortium, while the other bears the maker code ”0.15.” The Hindenburg Cross was instituted in 1934 as Germany's general World War I commemorative award, with the version bearing crossed swords reserved for front-line combatants; Pforzheim was a major center of medal and badge production during this period, and crosses from the city frequently carry such maker or lot codes on the reverse. The Ehrenkreuz des Weltkrieges, popularly known as the Hindenburg Cross, was instituted by President Paul von Hindenburg on 13 July 1934 as Germany's official commemorative decoration for veterans of the First World War, distributed through the Reichsarchiv on behalf of the Nazi state. The version with crossed swords was awarded specifically to former front-line combatants, distinguishing them from non-combatants and next-of-kin, who received variants without swords or a widow's/next-of-kin cross respectively. Pforzheim, alongside other German towns, was a principal center of the jewelry and medal-manufacturing trade, and firms there produced these crosses under contract in large numbers, often marking the reverse with maker or batch codes as seen here.