What is Pour le Mérite?
[[File:Blue Max.jpg|thumb|The Pour le Mérite]] The '''Pour le Mérite,''' also known as the '''Blue Max ({{lang-de|Blauer Max}})''' was an medal given out during [[World War I]]. It was the [[Kingdom of Prussia]]'s highest military [[order]] until the end of [[World War I]]. The ''Pour le Mérite'' was awarded only to recgonize outstanding personal achievements. It was not a general marker of someone's social status. New awards were not given out after the end of the Prussian monarchy in November 1918. [[Ernst Jünger]], a German author, was the last living person to receive the military class award.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2023-06-28|title=African Kaiser: General Paul Von Lettow-Vorbeck and the Great War in Africa ... - Robert Gaudi - Google Books|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y8DQDQAAQBAJ&q=ernst&pg=PA351|access-date=2024-08-23|website=web.archive.org|archive-date=2023-06-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230628001725/https://books.google.com/books?id=y8DQDQAAQBAJ&q=ernst&pg=PA351|url-status=bot: unknown}}</ref> == References == {{Reflist}} {{multistub|history|military|Europe}} [[Category:Orders, decorations, and medals of Germany]]