The Blücher Order was an order

Order (decoration)

An order or order of merit is a visible honour, awarded by a government, dynastic house or international organization to an individual, usually in recognition of distinguished service to a nation or to humanity. The distinction between orders and decorations is somewhat vague, except that most...

 of the German Democratic Republic

German Democratic Republic

The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...

 (GDR). It was named after the Prussia

Prussia

Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...

n Generalfeldmarschall

Generalfeldmarschall

Field Marshal or Generalfeldmarschall in German, was a rank in the armies of several German states and the Holy Roman Empire; in the Austrian Empire, the rank Feldmarschall was used...

 Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher

Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher

Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Fürst von Wahlstatt , Graf , later elevated to Fürst von Wahlstatt, was a Prussian Generalfeldmarschall who led his army against Napoleon I at the Battle of the Nations at Leipzig in 1813 and at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 with the Duke of Wellington.He is...

, who was seen as a hero in the GDR for his part in defeating the invading army of Napoleon Bonaparte

Napoleon I of France

Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...

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History

The decoration was created in 1965 by the Chairman of the Council of State Walter Ulbricht

Walter Ulbricht

Walter Ulbricht was a German communist politician. As First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party from 1950 to 1971 , he played a leading role in the creation of the Weimar-era Communist Party of Germany and later in the early development and...

 and was supposed to be awarded to NVA

National People's Army

The National People’s Army were the armed forces of the German Democratic Republic .The NVA was established in 1956 and disestablished in 1990. There were frequent reports of East German advisors with Communist African countries during the Cold War...

 soldiers as a valor award in a time of war. The decoration was never awarded as the GDR was never in a state of war; however, a couple of hundred of these decorations were minted and were ready to be awarded if the GDR were at war. The decoration came in six classes: the medal grade, which was divided into three classes (bronze, silver and gold), and the cross grade, which was divided into three classes in the same way.

Some of the remaining Blücher Orders are now on display in the Military History Museum of the Bundeswehr

Militärhistorisches Museum der Bundeswehr

The Bundeswehr Military History Museum is the military museum of the German Armed Forces, the Bundeswehr, and one of the major military history museums in Germany. The museum is under the technical and administrative chain of command of the German Armed Forces Military History Research Office. It...

. An example of the Gold Medal is also on display at the Canadian War Museum

Canadian War Museum

The Canadian War Museum is Canada’s national museum of military history. Located in Ottawa, Ontario, the museum covers all facets of Canada’s military past, from the first recorded instances of death by armed violence in Canadian history several thousand years ago to the country’s most recent...

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Design

The cross was shaped as a white cross; in its center there was a portrait of Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher surrounded by a wreath of oak leaves (its color was according to the class of the award). The cross was attached to a red ribbon with two yellow stripes on its edges. The silver class has a silver strip in the center and the gold class had a gold strip.

The medal was round and featured a depiction of the front of the cross on it. Its ribbon was yellow with blue stripes down its center according to the medal class.