Page:The Book of Orders of Knighthood and Decorations of Honour of All Nations.djvu/475

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DECORATIONS.

Bartholdy, J. Meyerbeer, C. Rauch, G. Schadow, J. Schnorr, von Carolsfeld, M. Schwanthaler.

2. Foreigners.

a. Literary and Scientific men: Arago, Avellino, Berzelius, Count Borghese, R. Brown, Chateaubriand, Faraday, Count Fossombroni, Gay-Lussac, J. Herschel, W. von Jukoffsky, Kopitar, B. v. Krusenstern, Letronne, Mellon, T. Moore, Oerstedt.

b. Artists: Daguerre, Fontaine, Ingres, F. Liszt, Rossini, Thorwaldsen, Toschi, Horace Vernet.

THE ORDER OF THE IRON CROSS.

Was instituted on the 10th March, 1813, by Frederick William III. for peculiar military or civil distinction in the war then being carried on. The possessors of the decorations are, with the exception of the Knights of the Grand Cross, divided into two classes, though the cross is of the same form and character in both, being composed of cast iron with silver mounting, and bearing no inscription on the reverse (Tab. II. No. 11). The upper wing of the obverse contains the initials F. W. with a crown, while the middle is adorned with three oak leaves, below which is seen the cypher '1813.' It is worn at the button-hole, suspended either by a black ribbon with white borders, when given as a reward for military distinction, or by a white ribbon with black borders when presented for civil merit in that war of liberty. The first class wear, besides, upon the left breast instead of a star, a similar cross (Tab. II. No. 10). The decoration of the Grand Cross is double the size of the former, and is worn round the neck by a black ribbon with white borders.

The Grand Cross was presented exclusively for the gaining of