Blue Max?

[Robin Lumsden]

This is maybe a stupid question, but does anyone have the definitive answer as to why the Pour le Merite came to be known as the 'Blue Max'??


OK - it's blue. But why the Max??


Did somebody along the (English-speaking) line get mixed up with the Max Josef Order?

[Douglas Jr.]

Hi,

I once read that its nickname came from the fighter pilot Max Immelmann (the first pilot, together with Oswald Bölcke, that was awarded with the PLM). It is said that his face was so pale that the light reflect the blue on the PLM enamel on his face, giving him a "blue face". So... Blue Max.

I don´t think that it is the real story behind the nickname , but it is a very interesting one.

Let´s see what the others tell.

Douglas.

[Ralph A]

He had more victories.

Are we sure it didn't originate with the movie?

[Patrick W]

I have heard the Immelmann story a couple of times. My own belief is that the name came about with contemporary confusion with the Bavarian Max Joseph order knights grade which is of a similar design.

[Douglas Jr.]

Originally Posted by Ralph A

He had more victories.

Are we sure it didn't originate with the movie?

Well...
Maybe Bölcke wasn´t THAT pale!

Douglas.

[Mike Kenny]

Hi,

Reading through Neal O'Connor's Aviation Awards - Vol II - Prussia (P 60), he states that the origins of the term have not been established with certainty BUT that it WAS in use in WW1. Apparently PLM aces Buddecke and von Tutschek both used the term in wartime correspondence. The movie apparently only popularised the wartime nickname.

Regards
Mike K

[Robin Lumsden]

Originally Posted by Mike K

Hi,

Reading through Neal O'Connor's Aviation Awards - Vol II - Prussia (P 60), he states that the origins of the term have not been established with certainty BUT that it WAS in use in WW1. Apparently PLM aces Buddecke and von Tutschek both used the term in wartime correspondence. The movie apparently only popularised the wartime nickname.

Regards
Mike K

Mike.
That's interesting.
If the term was used during the war, the story that it was used by fellow pilots to honour Immelmann as first recipient seems very likely.

[Tim Tezer]

Personally, my theory has always been the same as Patrick's: that a Bavarian used the term to describe the PlM in comparison to the Bavarian equivalent, the Military Max Joseph Order.

Another possibility is that Max simply meant "Maximum," as it was the highest strictly military award of the Prussian state. That would assume that people who used the nickname were not of a high enough rank to ever hope for the Merit Order of the Prussian Crown with swords.

Tim

[VtwinVince]

I think Tim is on the right track here, since during the war some heavy guns had the nickname "Langer Max", the max meaning maximal, or German for "the biggest", or "the best".