German Orders and MedalsKingdom of Prussia

22 Prussia: Royal award document for the Order of the Black eagle in Diamonds to Ober- Hof- und Haus-Marschall und Ober - Stallmeister Wirklichen Geheimen Rat Grafen von Pückler.

 The Order of the Black Eagle in Diamonds was always awarded directly by the Prussian King. In contrast to the normal bestowal of orders, there were no preprinted documents. The recipients always received a personal award letter from the king as an expression of the very special personal appreciation.

The text reads as follows:

"My dear Count Pückler! You already know through my Colonel - Chamberlain that I have approved your request for retirement and have transferred you from January 1, 1886 with your previous full service income including housing and equipment I have retired you. This marks the end of your seventy-year career of honorable service, which has been distinguished from beginning to end by loyal performance of duty and successful activity. For more than 50 years you have devoted your energies to me and my company in important court positions and, putting your own person in the background, you have stood by me with advice and action during this long series of years, even in serious, difficult days and often enough under difficult circumstances. Such effectiveness, borne by genuine attachment to me as well as to my wife, has brought you personally close to my heart, and it is not without deep emotion that I see you departing from your positions, in which you have acquired a justified claim to my gratitude and recognition through your outstanding services. Although I have already expressed this to you repeatedly, it is nevertheless a need of the heart for me to express to you once again my warmest and most heartfelt thanks for your devoted and faithful services, now that a lamentable illness in your old age makes the long-deserved rest an imperative duty for you. In confirmation of this, I therefore bestow upon you My Order of the Black Eagle in Diamonds, the insignia of which I hereby send to you. As I will gladly remember your experienced advice in the future, so may you also find a lasting remembrance in the continuing goodwill and in the gracious dispositions of your King. With the wish that God's hand may also continue to rule over you, I remain Your well-disposed grateful

Wilhelm

Berlin, December 24, 1885".

Addressed in the lower margin: "To the Ober-Hof- und Haus-Marschall und Ober-Stallmeister, Wirklichen Geheimen Rath Graf von Pückler". Along with the signature of King Wilhelm I, the addition "Ihr wohlgeneigter dankbarer" is also written in his own hand, a not self-evident expression of personal esteem.

Exceptionally rare and interesting award document for the highest Prussian order to the highest civilian dignitary of the era Wilhelm I.

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6.500,00