Rare “Pour le Merit” Blue Max Prussian Military with original ribbon.

Rare “Pour le Merit” Blue Max Prussian Military with original ribbon.

Size: 5 cm L x 5 cm W

Size ribbon: 34 cm L

The Pour le Mérite, also informally known as the Blue Max (German: Blauer Max) after German WWI flying ace Max Immelmann, is an order of merit established in 1740 by King Frederick II of Prussia. Alongside the extinct Order of the Black Eagle, Order of the Red Eagle, and the House Order of Hohenzollern, the award was one of the Kingdom of Prussia's most significant, with the Pour le Mérite itself being the highest order of bravery for officers of all ranks, and the highest recognition of civilian accomplishment awarded by the Prussian Crown.

The Pour le Mérite gained international fame during World War I. Although it could be awarded to any military officer, its most famous recipients were the pilots of the German Army Air Service (Luftstreitkräfte), whose exploits were celebrated in wartime propaganda. In aerial warfare, a fighter pilot was initially entitled to the award upon downing eight enemy aircraft.
Aces Max Immelmann and Oswald Boelcke were the first airmen to receive the award, on 12 January 1916. It was awarded to Germany's highest-scoring ace, Manfred von Richthofen, in January 1917.