It was intended "to reward extraordinary merit by non-commissioned officers, soldiers, and lower-ranking officials.

Civilians acting in support of the army were also made eligible for the decoration.

The center medallion was enameled (the original Military Merit Cross was distinguished from the Knight 2nd Class of the Military Merit Order only by having silver instead of blue enameled arms).

The first recipient appears to have been Gendarm Johann Winter, who received the Military Merit Cross in the Armee-Befehl (Army Order) of 20 August 1866[2] The Bavarian Military Merit Cross underwent three major revisions.

They bought 339 Military Merit Crosses from Germany and got 7 Iron Cross medals and 332 Bavarian Medals, 299 of these were given out to soldiers after World War II and the rest were either melted down or put in museums, only a handful remain today, twelve of which are privately owned such as the 3rd Class with Swords owned by Adolf Hitler.