1 Prussia: Order of the Red Eagle - First Class Set with Oakleaves and Swords, last type awarded 1917 - 1918.
Awarded to the leader of the 1st Army Corps Lieutenant General Robert Kosch.
The ist class badge silver - gilt and enameled. On the lower arm of the cross the maker's mark "W" of the court jewelers Wagner & Sohn, Berlin and the silver stamp "938". One arm very insignificantly chipped. The front medallion in finest enamel painting and gold inlay. The swords hollow die struck construction in the form characteristic of this type. The oak leaves with silver mark "800".
The breast star silver, the center gilt gilded and enameled, fitted with gilded pin. The swords hollow die struck construction. Maker's mark "W" stamped below the pin catch. Screw medallion on the back.
Both pieces together in beautiful original red leather case with gold embossing. Inside black velvet inlay, the inside cover with corresponding silk lining. Attached printed wearing instructions.
Robert Kosch was born in Glatz, Silesia on April 5, 1856 and was educated at the Cadet House in Berlin from 1863. In 1874 he joined the I.R. 51 as a Seconde-Leutnant. From 1877 to 1880 he graduated from the War Academy and served in various posts, including on the General Staff. At the beginning of World War 1, Kosch was a lieutenant general and commander of the 10th Division in Poznan and was successfully deployed with the V Army Corps on the Western Front. On October 9, 1914, Lieutenant General Kosch was appointed leader of the 1st Army Corps in Lithuania, where his troops confronted numerically superior Russian forces and, after an initial retreat, were successful in the Winter Battle in the Masuria. For these successes, Lieutenant General Kosch was awarded the Order Pour le Mérite. On June 11, 1915, appointed commanding general of the X. Reserve Corps, he led it in the battles on the Dniester, Gnisa Lipa, Krasnostaw to the Bug. After that, General Kosch was transferred to the Balkan theater of war, where he conquered Serbia with the 101st and 103rd Infantry Divisions under his command. For this success of his soldiers, General Kosch received the Oak Leaf to the Order Pour le Mérite. At the end of February 1916, General Kosch was deployed at Verdun, where he was promoted to General der Infanterie on August 18, 1916. On August 28, 1916, General Kosch was appointed leader of the newly formed General Command (z.b.V.) No. 52 and deployed in the Bulgarian Danube region to protect against the Romanians, who had also entered the war. General Kosch was given the supreme command of the German 217th Infantry - Division as well as Austrian, Bulgarian and Turkish forces. In a battle on the Argesch River lasting several days in late November to early December, the Romanians were defeated with their own troops and those of the 9th Army, and the Romanian capital of Bucharest was taken, sealing the collapse of the Romanian western and northwestern fronts. After the Danube Army was disbanded in March 1918, General Kosch, as leader of General Command 52, took part in the occupation of Ukraine and the fighting against the Red Army, where he was appointed commander-in-chief of all troops in Tauria and the Crimea on May 1, 1918. From December 1, 1918, General Kosch led his troops back home. General Kosch submitted his resignation letter and was put up for disposition on January 10, 1919.
The Red Eagle Order 1st Class with oak leaves and swords was always one of the highest military wartime awards in Prussia until 1918.
In the years 1848 - 1863 only 14 (ten of them without oak leaves) were issued. In the campaign of 1864 only two sword decorations, in the war of 1866 only three sword decorations and in the war of 1870/1871 also only three sword decorations of the Order of the Red Eagle 1st Class were awarded.
Even in the battles of World War I, only 32 Red Eagle Order 1st Class with swords were awarded. These figures already include the awards with oak leaves and swords.
The decorations of the order were produced in gold until November 1916, afterwards in silver-gilt due to a corresponding decree of Kaiser Wilhelm II.
The award figures show the high value of this wartime decoration and at the same time document the extraordinarily great rarity of the original insignia of the 1st class of the RAO still existing today.
The order therefore belongs to the greatest rarities among the Prussian awards and as a complete set with documented provenance almost impossible to find in today's market.
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