Royal Prussian Order of St. John

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The Royal Prussian Order of St. John was a Prussian order of merit that was founded in 1812 and was awarded until the Order of St. John was restored in 1852.

history

The old Order of St. John (Balley Brandenburg des Ritterlichen Ordens Sankt Johannis vom Spital zu Jerusalem) was established by the edict of October 30, 1810, which ordered the confiscation of all spiritual goods in the Prussian monarchy, as well as by the royal deed of January 23, 1811 by the king Friedrich Wilhelm III. been canceled. The Ballei, the lordship and the coming were dissolved, and all possessions of the order were confiscated as state property.

The order itself did not cease to exist as a result; however, his property was lost and he was prohibited from accepting new members or candidates. Consequently, the order would have been extinguished in the medium term through the death of its last knight. The order was now an association of persons with no assets .

In honor of the disbanded Ballei, a new order under the name of the Royal Prussian Order of St. John was established by a royal resolution on May 23, 1812 , and the King declared himself to be its protector. According to the deed of foundation, the order should consist of a grand master and an indefinite number of knights. All those who, as really dressed knights of the old Order of St. John, were entitled to wear the medals of the order, were immediately appointed knights of the new order and were given the right to keep the old insignia of the order.

The order was now part of the Prussian Order of Merit, but differed from these in its corporate character.

The first grand master of the order was Prince August Ferdinand of Prussia , who was the last master master of the old order, but died in 1813. His successor was Prince Heinrich of Prussia (1781–1846) .

In 1852 the old order was restored. The bearers of the Order of Merit automatically became members of the restored Balley, but they were only recognized as "Knights of Honor" and were restricted in their rights in the order. Only the knights from before 1810 and the new ones who were named “right knights” (later “legal knights”) had full rights and obligations, some of which now included considerable financial obligations. In the course of time, this division of the order into two parts, owed only to a specific reason, was permanently adopted as an ascending form of full membership.

insignia

Otto von Bismarck with the insignia of the Royal Prussian Order of St. John

The insignia of the new order consisted of a golden, eight-pointed, white enameled cross without a crown, in the four corners of which the royal Prussian black eagle crowned with a golden crown is located, as well as a white cross to be worn on the left side of the clothing.

The Grand Master wore a larger cross around his neck and on his chest. Both the grand master and the knights were given the authority to wear a specific, prescribed uniform.

literature

  • Axel von Campenhausen : The Order of St. John. In: Ders., Joachim E. Christoph (Ed.): Collected writings. Volume 1 (Ius ecclesiasticum 50). Mohr, Tübingen 1995, p. 233 ff.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Alfred Reumont: The last times of the Order of St. John. In: Friedrich v. Raumer (Ed.): Historical paperback. New episode. 5th year. Brockhaus, Leipzig 1844, pp. 247-390 ( Google books ).
  2. ↑ a b Axel von Campenhausen : The Order of St. John. In: Ders., Joachim E. Christoph (Ed.): Collected writings. Volume 1 (Ius ecclesiasticum 50). Mohr, Tübingen 1995, p. 233 ff., Here p. 247.