WWI Wartime Christmas Gift

This artefact is a WWI Hessian Christmas Medal given to the German Hessian soldiers by the Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse and his wife Princess Eleonore for Christmas 1916.

The inscription on the medal reads ‘Treue Segenswünsche u Gedenken’ on one side and “Eleonore Ernst Ludwig 24-XII-1916 “on the other.  This roughly translated means ‘it gives Christmas wishes of Loyalty’. Note the inscription puts the date as 24th December rather than 25th given most European countries celebrate Christmas on the 24th.

Find out more about our other museum artefacts and recent acquisitions.