The War Commemorative Medal (german: Kriegserinnerungsmedaille) was a commemorative medal established in 1933 by the

First Republic of Austria The First Austrian Republic (german: Erste Österreichische Republik), officially the Republic of Austria, was created after the signing of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye on 10 September 1919—the settlement after the end of World War I w ...

. The medal was awarded to Austria's military participants in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Appearance

The medallion of the medal is round, wide, and made of

Tombac Tombac, or tombak, is a brass alloy with high copper content and 5–20% zinc content. Tin, lead or arsenic may be added for colouration. It is a cheap malleable alloy mainly used for medals, ornament, decoration and some munitions. In older u ...

. The obverse of the medal depicts a right facing eagle surmounting the

escutcheon Escutcheon may refer to: * Escutcheon (heraldry), a shield or shield-shaped emblem, displaying a coat of arms * Escutcheon (furniture), a metal plate that surrounds a keyhole or lock cylinder on a door * (in medicine) the distribution of pubic ha ...

with

fess In heraldry, a fess or fesse (from Middle English ''fesse'', from Old French ''faisse'', from Latin ''fascia'', "band") is a charge on a coat of arms (or flag) that takes the form of a band running horizontally across the centre of the shield.Wo ...

depicting the simplified arms of Austria. Below the eagle is the inscription ''FÜR ÖSTERREICH''. The reverse of the medal bears the inscription ''1914-1918'' surrounded by a wreath of oak leaves around the edge. The medal is suspended from a triangular ribbon ('' dreiecksband'') of white with two central red stripes wide and thin red stripes at the edges as well. Combatants could wear crossed gilt swords on the ribbon.

References

Weblinks

{{commonscat, War Commemorative Medal (Austria) Military awards and decorations of Austria Awards established in 1933 Campaign medals Military awards and decorations of World War I