Pour la Vertu Militaire

Pour la vertu militaire Militär-Verdienstorden
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Awarded by the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel
Country	Hesse-Kassel
Type	Neck order, single-class order
Eligibility	Military personnel
Status	Obsolete
Motto	VIRTUTI (Lat.: for virtue)
Statistics
Established	25 February 1769
Last awarded	1866
Precedence
Next (higher)	House Order of the Golden Lion
Related	Pour le Mérite
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The Pour la vertu militaire (Fr.: for military virtue) was a military order of merit established on 25th of February, 1769 by Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel. The order, modelled on the Prussian Pour le Mérite, could be awarded in a single class to officers of Hessian army or allied armies for wartime or peacetime military merit. When awarded for peacetime merit, only officers from major upwards were eligible. In 1820 the French name was changed to German: Militär-Verdienstorden (Order of Military Merit). It was discontinued in 1866, after the annexation of Hesse-Kassel by the Kingdom of Prussia.

References

• Gottschalck, Friedrich (1807). Almanach der Ritterorden, Leipzig
• Gritzner, Maximilian (1893). Handbuch der Ritter- und Verdienstorden aller Kulturstaaten der Welt, Leipzig
• Nimmergut, Jörg (1997). Deutsche Orden und Ehrenzeichen bis 1945 Pt. 1: Anhalt–Hohenzollern,München, ISBN 3-00-00-1396-2