Original Item: One-of-a-kind. This is a very nice genuine medal bar, owned by a German soldier who fought during WWI for the Kingdom of Bavaria, and also possibly served post war under the Weimar republic. They may have also served in WWII, but there are no medals from that era.  The colors on the ribbons are somewhat faded and worn, so these were definitely worn out a lot.

This set of 3 medals is offered in very good condition, and is mounted on a metal backing board, and has three steel hooks for the three medals. It has a long pin at the top for attachment to clothing. The bar consists of the following medals:

- Bavarian Merenti Cross of Military Merit with Swords, 3rd Class, 1866.
- Imperial German WWI Iron Cross 1914 2nd Class Medal
- Bavarian Long Service Medal, 3rd Class - 9 Years

Below is an explanation of each medal in detail:

Bavarian Merenti Cross of Military Merit with Swords, 2nd Class, 1866.
Order of Military Merit was instituted in 1866 in 5 Classes. In 1905 the Cross of Military Merit was revised initially to 2 Classes and in 1913 to 3 classes. Each class was awarded according to the rank of the recipient and could be issued with or without swords (for peace or war time period) and crown (for a 2nd award). The old non-enameled 2nd Class became the 3rd Class and was changed from silver to bronze. The old 1st Class became the 2nd Class. The new 1st Class was identical to the 2nd Class except that it was gilt rather than silver.

This is the third class award, indicating it was received by a low rank soldier, and the swords indicate it was awarded during wartime.

German WWI Prussian Iron Cross 2nd Class with Ribbon:
Established by Frederick William in 1813 for gallantry in action, the decoration was revived several times for later conflicts. The bulk of the issues are divided into 1st and 2nd class versions, but a rare and superior 'Grand Cross' was also awarded for successful field commanders. During WW1 the lower decoration was freely awarded with 5½ million second class types issued. Originally, the Iron Cross was an award of the Kingdom of Prussia, however given Prussia's pre-eminent place in the German Empire formed in 1871, it became an award for all of Germany.

The basic design of the WW1 crosses is a central cross patee struck from iron and mounted in a silver frame which has a raised crenulated decorative border. The obverse of the cross bears the date 1914 under a crowned 'W' monogram. Reverse bears an oak leaf cluster with the date of the decoration’s institution, 1813 underneath - the crowned initials of Frederick William are in the top arm above the oak leaf cluster. Suspension for second-class types is by means of a ring, and frequently this ring bears a maker's stamp.

Please examine the edge seam for authentication, which is not present on reproductions. Iron crosses were commonly constructed from an iron core sandwiched in a surrounding two part silver frame, normally the seam of these two silver parts is visible around the edge of the cross as is seen on this fine example.

Bavarian Long Service Medal, 3rd Class / 9 Years (Bayerische Dienstauszeichnung III. Klasse)
This is one of the many long service awards given during the WWI period by the various states of the German empire, many of which were Kingdoms and Grand Duchies in their own right. The front of the award is marked with the phrase TREUE DIENSTE BEI DER FAHNE (Faithful service to the flag) and the rear identifies the award, with IX in a shield, for the 9 years of service.