90 Mannerheim - Kreuz 1. Klasse.

Silver-gilt and black enamel. On the original ribbon. In the eyelet the maker's mark "A.T." of the company Tillander, Helsinki as well as hallmark "813H" and another illegible hallmark. The Mannerheim Cross was the highest Finnish bravery award of WW2. Only 2 numbered copies of the 1st class were awarded, to Marshal Mannerheim and General Heinrichs. Mannerheim's copy is in the Mannerheim Museum in Helsinki, General Heinrich's cross is in the Infantry Museum in Mikkeli. Another copy is kept in the Finnish War Museum. In the present Army Headquarters in Helsinki, one cross each is displayed in the office of the Chief of General Staff and the Chief Command Office. Tillander probably made only a very small number of 1st class crosses for future awards and as second pieces for the two bearers and for display purposes. The mannerheim Cross was established on December 16, 1940 by decree of the President of Finland, Kyösti Kallio, and named after the Commander-in-Chief of the Finnish Armed Forces, Marshal Gustaf Mannerheim. The Mannerheim Cross was an additional decoration to the Order of the Cross of Freedom, which was re-established in 1940. It could be awarded to a Finnish soldier "in time of war, regardless of military rank, for exceptional bravery, for decisive acts in battle, and for honorable conduct of troops." The order had two classes: the 1st class was a neck decoration and the 2nd was a pin cross. The Mannerheim Cross 1st Class was awarded only twice: to Mannerheim himself (1941, at the same time he received the II. Class with marshal's staffs as special decoration) and to infantry general Axel Erik Heinrichs (1944). The Mannerheim Cross II Class was awarded a total of 191 times until 1945; four soldiers were honored twice. Major General Aaro Olavi Pajari (commander of an infantry division), Colonel Martti Johannes Aho (commander of an infantry regiment), Staff Sergeant Eino Ilmari Juutilainen (fighter pilot) and Captain Hans Wind (fighter pilot) were awarded twice. At the second awarding, crossed marshal's staffs were received as additional decoration. With the award of the Order, the recipient was allowed to call himself a Knight of the Mannerheim Cross Order (Mannerheim-ristin ritari) and also received 50,000 Finnish marks.

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