Order of the Black Eagle, was the highest chivalric order in Prussia. Founded in 1701 by Friedrich I, the Black Eagle Order was not awarded for merit in the same sense as the Pour le M?rite, but was a "Collar" order with very limited membership, granted by the King of Prussia.

The Black Eagle figures into the Great War very little, since it was granted only to royalty and high heads of state, such as Kaiser Wilhelm, his sons, and Field Marshall von Hindenburg. We include it here for two reasons: (1) You may see it worn at the neck in formal pose photographs of the men named above, and wonder if it was a variant of the Pour le M?rite (it isn't), and (2) The strong similarity of the design with the more familiar Pour le M?rite (Prussia's highest gallantry award) can easily be seen.