Established on December 8, 1914 by Prince Leopold IV, the Kriegsverdienstkreuz was Lippe’s approximate equivalent of the Iron Cross. The War Merit Cross was awarded in a single class, with both officers and enlisted personnel eligible, for significant contributions to the war effort.

The War Merit Cross was awarded some 18,000 times to combatants with another 1,100 awards or so to non-combatants. The medal itself was the same for both the combatant and non-combatant awards. The difference between the two lay in the ribbon — the white and yellow on the ribbon were reversed on the ribbon to the non-combantant award.