| Merit Cross for War Aid Verdienstkreuz für Kriegshilfe | |
| Presenter: | Prussia |
| Type: | Military and civil decoration |
| Awarded For: | Act contributing to the war effort |
| Campaign: | World War I |
| Status: | Suppressed 1924 |
| Established: | 5 December 1916[1] |
| Precedence Label: | Order of Wear 1916[2] |
| Higher: | Life Saving Medal |
| Lower: | Peacetime awards of the Orders of Hohenzollern, Red Eagle, and Crown |
The Merit Cross for War Aid (de|Verdienstkreuz für Kriegshilfe) was a war decoration of Prussia awarded during World War I. Instituted 5 December 1916, the cross was awarded for patriotic war aid service, without regard to status or rank.[3]
The Merit Cross for War Aid is in the shape of a Maltese cross, typically found made of blackened Kriegsmetall alloy. The obverse of the cross bears a circular central medallion with the crowned cipher of King Wilhelm II. On the reverse the central medallion is inscribed FÜR KRIEGS-HILFSDIENST (For War Aid Merit) above an oak wreath. To the upper arm is attached a loop for suspension from its ribbon.[3]