War Commemorative Medal for 1864

The War Medal for 1864 was instituted jointly on 10 November 1864 by King Wilhelm I of Prussia and Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria and was intended to reward all persons who had served with distinction in a military or civilian capacity in the war against Denmark in 1864.

The round medal (diameter 29 mm) for combatants was made from bronze taken from captured guns and displays, from left to right, the crowned initials of the founders, W and FJ. On the Austrian commemorative medal, the arrangement of the initials and ribbon colors is reversed.

On the reverse, surrounded by a laurel wreath tied together at the bottom, is the four-line inscription UNSERN TAPFERN KRIEGERN 1864. The rim bears the engraving AUS EROBERTEM GESCHUETZ.

Prussia also awarded the decoration to non-combatants, in blackened steel and without an engraving on the rim. On the reverse, surrounded by an oak-leaf wreath tied together at the bottom, is the year 1864.

The original medals also differ in their loops: the Prussian medal has a broad, ribbed loop—the subsequently purchased replacement pieces for the medal bar have only a narrow, unribbed one [as shown]—while the Austrian medal has a ball-shaped loop.