St. George's Order (Hanover)
The Order of St. George was founded on April 23, 1839 by King Ernst August of Hanover and, with a few exceptions, was awarded exclusively to ruling heads and members of sovereign houses. After the annexation of the kingdom by Prussia in 1866, the order was retained as a house order and was still awarded in rare cases.
Order classes
The order had only one class and membership was limited to 16. Exceptions are the royal princes , who were born knights of the order.
Order decoration
The medal is a gold-rimmed, eight-pointed, dark blue enameled Maltese cross , with balls at the tips and forward lions in the corners. The royal crown crowns the cross. Inside a gold-framed red enameled ring, the medallion on the front shows St. George killing the green dragon with a lance. On the back are the initials of the founder EAR (Ernst August Rex) on a gold background.
A star made up of eight brilliant bundles of rays belongs to the order. In the Middle sign the medallion above that of a red enamel ring with the motto of the order Nunquam retrorsum (back Never) is enclosed in golden letters.
Carrying method
The jewel was carried on a dark red sash from the right shoulder to the left hip.
Award numbers
A total of 82 awards can be documented, including to the Hanoverian State Minister Carl von Alten , the Prussian State Minister Wilhelm zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein , the Austrian Minister Klemens Wenzel Lothar von Metternich and the Field Marshals Josef Wenzel Radetzky von Radetz and Alfred I. zu Windisch- Graetz . The last documented award was made in 1900 by Ernst August von Cumberland to his son-in-law Max von Baden after his marriage to the eldest daughter of the Crown Prince.
| Period | Awards |
|---|---|
| 1839-1866 | 78 |
| 1878-1900 | 4th |
literature
- Arnhard Graf Klenau: Order in Germany and Austria. Volume II: German States (1806–1918). Part I: Anhalt – Hanover. Offenbach 2008, ISBN 3-937064-13-3 , pp. 186-193.
- Maximilian Gritzner : Handbook of the knight and merit orders of all civilized states in the world. Leipzig 1893.
