Kriegsmedaille (Österreich) 1873
War Service Medal 1873. Unnamed as issued. Obverse: The bust of Emperor Franz Joseph I facing right wearing a laurel wreath. The legend 'FRANZ JOSEPH I.KAISER V.ÖSTERREICH KÖNIG V.BÖHMEN ETC.APOST. KÖNIG V.UNGARN', around the circumference. Reverse: '2 December 1873' on three lines within a laurel and oak leaf wreath tied at the base by a ribbon. The medal is fitted with a loose ring suspender and a piece of 40 mm wide gold ribbon, that has black stripes near the edges and black horizontal stripes down the centre, folded in a triangular shape
On his 25th Jubilee, in December 1873, Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria instituted the 'Kriegsmedaille' (War Medal). The medal shows on the obverse the Emperor's head surrounded by a laurel wreath and on the reverse the date '2.December 1873' (those showing the spelling Dezember where produced after 1900). It was suspended from a ribbon in the Habsburg colors of black and yellow. The medal was awarded to military personnel who had taken part in a least one action since 1848. Later the award of the medal was extended to military personnel who had taken part campaigns after 1873, until the Kaiser's death in November 1916.