Order of the Iron Crown (Austria)
The Austrian Order of the Iron Crown ( Italian Ordine imperiale della Corona ferrea ) was a high civil and military merit that was awarded from 1816 to the end of the monarchy in 1918 in the form of a three-tier knightly order.
history
The Austrian Order of the Iron Crown was founded on April 7, 1815 by Emperor Franz I as a military and civilian order of merit. In contrast to the other knightly orders of the monarchy, the Order of the Iron Crown was not awarded as a Grand Cross , Commander 's Cross and Knight's Cross, but as a Knight of the I, II and III Class.
As early as 1805, after his coronation as King of Italy , Napoléon Bonaparte created an order of the same name named after the Iron Crown of Lombardy . After the fall of Napoléon, Lombardy was awarded to the Austrian imperial family in the negotiations of the Congress of Vienna . The holders of the Napoleonic order were forbidden to wear the medal by the Austrian authorities, but were later given permission to wear the Austrian version of the medal class awarded to them. The order's motto AVITA ET AUCTA (“Inherited and increased”) also refers to the takeover of the originally Napoleonic order by the Austrian regents .
According to § 11 of the original statutes of the order, the number of knights should not exceed 100 (20 members of the 1st, 30 of the 2nd and 50 of the 3rd class). But in 1856 almost two thousand people had already been honored.
In the course of the 19th century the Order of the Iron Crown became the most frequently awarded of the four highest orders of merit of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Although numerous officers and civil servants were also awarded the Order of the Iron Crown, it acquired a special socio-historical significance, especially for the emerging bourgeoisie (see below). During the First World War, more and more high-ranking soldiers were honored with it.
The medal has not been awarded since the end of the monarchy in 1918.
Appearance and wearing style
Regalia of the Order
Knight 1st class, with star of the order
Knight II class
Knight III. Class with war decorations
Medals
The insignia of the order shows the Lombard Iron Crown, on which the two-headed Austrian eagle with sword and orb rests, which bears a dark blue enameled heart shield on both sides of the chest, on which a golden F (Franz) on the front and the year of the foundation on the back 1815 stands. The imperial crown is still in gold above this double-headed eagle .
Ribbon
The ribbon is golden yellow with dark blue edging.
Carrying method
Knight III. Classes wore the insignia of the order originally on a narrow ribbon at the buttonhole, later mostly on a triangular folded ribbon on the left side of the chest, knights II class on the ribbon around their necks. First-class knights wore the insignia of the order on a wide shoulder band from the right shoulder to the left hip, as well as a breast star worn on the left chest. This was a four-pointed, silver medal star; the golden central shield contains the iron crown and is surrounded by a blue ring with the inscription of the order's motto AVITA ET AUCTA ("Inherited and increased").
The following belt buckles were common for military uniforms:
-
Knight 1st class -
Knight II class -
Knight III. class
On special occasions knights first class wore the regalia of the order with an order chain , which is formed alternately from three different links, which consist of the intertwined letters FP (Franciscus Primus), an oak wreath and the iron crown, and the chain still has a middle link made of a larger oak wreath with stuck oak and palm branches, on which the sign of the order hangs.
Additional decorations
On January 12th, 1860, the statute introduced the war decoration for all religious classes as an award for services acquired immediately before the enemy. It is a golden, green enamelled laurel wreath that is placed around the double-headed eagle.
Nobility and privileges
Until 1884, subjects of the countries ruled by the Habsburgs were granted the III. Class of the Order of the Iron Crown connected the elevation to the hereditary knighthood . The bearers were given the addition "Knight of" to their previous name. Class II recipients had the right to be raised to the hereditary baron class . The first class award brought the privy council title with the salutation “Excellency” and membership in the court . On August 24, 1884 the automatic ennoblement was deleted from the statutes of the Order of the Iron Crown (decree of the Imperial and Royal Ministry of the Interior ), as well as those of the Leopold Order .
The ruling monarch acted as grand master of the order .
Socio-historical importance
Although numerous officers and civil servants were also awarded the Order of the Iron Crown, it acquired a special socio-historical significance, especially for the emerging middle class of the Danube monarchy. Above certain ranks in the civil service and for donations of money above a certain amount for social purposes (often for the widows 'and orphans' foundations that existed in the 19th century), one of the three classes of the order was "due" according to unwritten convention. Even important bourgeois entrepreneurs were ennobled as a result of their award with the Order of the Iron Crown. B. 1872 the industrialist Adolf Ignaz Mautner as "Knight Mautner von Markhof", who in addition to his economic role had been active as a patron of the Mautner-Markhof'schen Hospital in Vienna.
In the 19th century this social class that was for the economic development of the country is of great importance should, by means of orders and titles to the Habsburgs - Dynasty and the traditional state structure are bound. These immaterial honors did not cost the state anything. (On the contrary: taxes to be paid by the applicants for the order flowed into the budget; later, in constitutional time, into the “disposition fund” of the respective government intended for bribing journalists and other people). Since the granting of hereditary titles of nobility without religious affiliation were increasingly linked to material conditions in the Habsburg Monarchy (a nobility acquirer had to be financially able to lead a “befitting life”, which initially included a correspondingly large property or property understanding), the Order of the Iron Crown developed into an instrument of a "machinery of ennoblement" (see Nobility , Second Society ). With the award of the First Class of the Order - in their social climbers were rarely represented - the granting of dignity was statutes moderate, if not already present, a Privy Council and thus the admission to Court . Ties (eg were bourgeois ministers of the constitutional Era often considered with the first order class). The award of the II. Order class caused if not already present, the elevation to the status of a hereditary Baron ( Baron ), the III. the elevation to the status of a hereditary knight. In 1884, the nobility elevations provided for in the statutes were ended by Emperor Franz Joseph .
Known porters
See also
- Military Order of Maria Theresa
- Royal Hungarian Order of Saint Stephen
- Austrian-Imperial Leopold Order
- Franz Joseph Order
- List of Austrian orders and decorations (ranking of awards)
literature
- Statutes for the Austrian-Imperial Order of the Iron Crown , 1816 ( digitized version )
- The orders, coats of arms and flags of all regents and states (appendix), Moritz Ruhl Verlag, Leipzig 1884
- Ernst Mayerhofer: Handbook for the political administration service. V, Vienna 1901, p. 175 f.
- Václav Měřička : Orders and decorations of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Vienna and Munich 1974
- Roman Freiherr von Procházka : Austrian Order Handbook. I-IV., Munich 1974, pp. 39-40
- Karl Megner: Zisleithan acquirers of the nobility and knighthood 1868–1884. [typed] term paper at the Institute for Austrian Historical Research, Vienna 1974
- Johann Stolzer and Christian Steeb: Austria's Order from the Middle Ages to the Present. Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt Graz, ISBN 3-201-01649-7 , pp. 146–162
- Christian Ortner , Georg Ludwigstorff: Austria's medals and decorations. Part I: The imperial-royal orders until 1918 , Verlag Militaria , Vienna 2017, ISBN 978-3-902526-81-6
