Description
This is an interesting document group that covers nearly forty years of an officer’s service in the Prussian Army. It is for an officer named Adolf Werner. This man saw action in two wars (1866 and 1870). He even saw service in Germany’s Chinese colony. Included in the group are the following:
Document for the Cross for Combatants at the Battle of Königgratz, where the Prussian shattered the Austrian forces on 3 July 1866. At this time Werner was assigned to a Garde-Artillerie-Regiment.
Document for the Combatants Medal for Service in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. At this point Werner was still serving in a Garde-Artillerie-Regiment.
Promotion Patent dated 18 December 1895. It appears that he was assigned to a post with the Army High Command or the War Ministry. This document is boldly signed in ink by Kaiser Wilhelm II. Over his signature is a large and impressive embossed stamp showing the Prussian Coat-of-Arms.
A transmittal letter for a decoration that I cannot decipher, dated 1899. It comes from the castle at Charlottenburg in Berlin.
Award document for the Non Combatant (in “Steel”) Medal for Service in the Chinese Expedition. This document is dated 24 February 1901. Documents for the Combatant and Non Combatant Medals for the Chinese Expedition during the Boxer Rebellion are VERY difficult to find.
Transmittal letter and award document for the Red Eagle 4th Class from 1904. The transmittal letter is on the stationary of the General-Ordenskommission and bears the signature of the head of the Ordenskommission. The official address of the offices of the Ordenskommission was at Wilhelmstraße 63.
Two additional transmittal documents from the Ordenskommission later in 1904. I cannot tell the purpose of these two documents, but these were prepared at the palace of Charlottenburg in Berlin.
This is a fine set of documents to a man who served three Kaisers. A very scarce signature from Kaiser Wilhelm II is included on an officer’s patent.
