Name/Title
Pin, MilitaryEntry/Object ID
1998.417.0001Description
Willis Wilson Guearo family. German Metals (2) WW I era (1) WW II
On reverse of the WWII Mothers metal is inscribed - 16, Dezember 1938 (in script) by Fuhrer
The Cross of Honour of the German Mother (German: Ehrenkreuz der Deutschen Mutter), referred to colloquially as the Mutterehrenkreuz (Mother’s Cross of Honour) or simply Mutterkreuz (Mother’s Cross), was a state decoration and civil order of merit conferred by the government of the German Reich[1][2] to honour a Reichsdeutsche German mother for exceptional merit to the German nation.[2][3][4] Eligibility later extended to include Volksdeutsche (ethnic German) mothers from, for example, Austria and Sudetenland, that had earlier been incorporated into the German Reich.[4]
The decoration was conferred from 1939 until 1945[5] in three classes of order: bronze, silver, and gold,[2][6] to Reichsdeutsche mothers who exhibited probity, exemplary motherhood, and who conceived and raised at least four or more children in the role of a parent.[7][8] A similar practice, that continues to this present day, was already established in France since 1920, by conferring the Médaille de la Famille française (Medal of the French Family), a tribute to the French mother who raised several children in an appropriate way.