Description

The Pour le Mérite, also informally known as the Blue Max after German WWI flying ace Max Immelmann, is an order of merit established in 1740 by King Frederick II of Prussia. Separated into two classes, each with their own designs, the Pour le Mérite was awarded as both a military and civil honour. While the military class has been extinct since the abolition of the German Monarchy, the civil honour continues to be awarded by the German state at the oversight of the Minister of State for Culture and discretion of the Federal President. Alongside the extinct Order of the Black Eagle, Order of the Red Eagle, and the House Order of Hohenzollern, the award was one of the Kingdom of Prussia's most significant, with the Pour le Mérite itself being the highest order of bravery for officers of all ranks, and the highest recognition of civilian accomplishment awarded by the Prussian Crown.