Talk:Pour le Mérite

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Contents 1 Contradiction 2 Possible bad Link 3 Youngest recipient 4 Oak Leaves 5 Movie 6 Civil Class 7 Similar orders abroad

[edit] Contradiction

The article goes into some detail regarding Baron von Richtofen being denied the medal -- right next to a picture of the man himself wearing one! 69.204.204.15 05:16, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

The article states accurately that Frhr. v. Richthofen was denied the oak leaves (Eichenlaube) to the plM, not the plM itself. The Eichenlaube represent a second, higher award reserved for victorious commanders (and on occasion their top General Staff officers) and Frhr. v. Richthofen was deemed ineligible and given another honor instead. There is no contradiction. 207.38.168.98 03:11, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

I wonder if there was any discussion, particularly during World War, I of the irony of Germany, while being in a bitter war with France, maintaining the tradition of its highest honor being named in and emblazoned with the French language, rather than German. LeoO3 16:02, 30 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Possible bad Link

On 8 January 2006 the link to http://www.pourlemerite.org was not working (yielding only an Apache Web Server test page). Jim 01:41, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

It's working now, and there's some disagreement there if von Luckner ever received the award. Opusaug 17:59, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

The contributors at the von Luckner article have removed the reference to the medal there, so I will remove the reference to him from this article. Feel free to revert if you can substatiate. Opusaug 05:19, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Youngest recipient

As youngest recipient the page mentions Ernst Juenger at age 23. I am not aware of possible younger recipients still, but Ace Karl Allmenroeder received his shortly after his 21st birthday (and 2 weeks before his death) in 1917. - Diederik, Feb 6 2006

Leutnant Werner Voss received his Medal five days before his 20th birthday, on April 8th, 1917. The comment about Juenger should be removed. John, Aug 18, 2006.

[edit] Oak Leaves

There is a photo of the award with oak leaves, but the article does not mention them. Could someone add some info on them? Seems odd - and the article on General Hutier had a wiki to "oak leaves" that redirected to Iron Cross. He had been presented the oak leaved to his Blue Max in the First World War.Michael Dorosh 20:20, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Movie

sholdnt the movie Blue Max be mentioned?--Tresckow 05:44, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Civil Class

The civil class is still an existent and quite exclusive award in contempory Germany. This should be included.--85.180.51.81 01:50, 4 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Similar orders abroad

I introduced the mention of similar orders under the heading "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" because a number of orders in other countries are so similar to the Pour le Merite that the inference of imitation is unmistakable. One of these is the British Order of Merit, which has the same name and the same number of members. It is awarded at the sovereign's discretion. The Order of the Companions of Honour was founded with a higher but still strict numerical limit, so that prime ministers could have a say in conferring such a distinction. To my mind the only reason for mentioning similar orders in other countries is that they seem to be derived from the subject of this article. I think it can be assumed that most if not all nations confer awards for notable accomplishments. J S Ayer (talk) 22:06, 1 February 2008 (UTC)