Civil Merit Order (Saxony)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Commander 1st class (from top to bottom and cross obverse / revers , breast star) until 1891
Ribbon

The Civil Merit was posted on June 7, 1815 by King Friedrich August I donated and could be awarded to all those services to the to the Kingdom of Saxony had acquired. It was awarded until 1918 and should not be confused with the Saxon Order of Merit created in 1996 .

Order classes

The order was initially donated in three classes and an associated civil medal:

1849 Komtur was in I. and II. Class divided created a small cross (since 1858 Ehrenkreuz), the ranked behind the Ritterkreuz, and the medal in two stages (gold and silver). As a result of the German War , on October 29, 1866, the swords were donated through the center of the cross for military service. During the war against France , the statutes were changed again on December 9, 1870. If the person to be lent had already received the medal with swords, he received the medal with swords on the ring.

On January 31, 1876, the knight's cross was divided into first and second class and instead of the gold medal of merit, the cross of merit took the place of VI. Class. From February 23, 1891, King Albert presented the Grand Cross and the 1st and 2nd Class Commanders with the golden royal crown . At the same time, the previously six-pointed breast star of the Grand Cross became eight-pointed.

Order decoration

The medal is a gold-rimmed white enamelled cross in the cross corners. In the medallion is the crowned Saxon coat of arms with the inscription FRIED.AUG.KVSACHSEN.D.7.JUN.1815. (Friedrich August King of Saxony. June 7, 1815.). On the reverse of the medallion, which is enclosed by a green enamelled oak wreath , the four-line inscription FOR MERIT AND LOYALTY . The inscription on the model for foreigners reads DEM MERIT .

After the death of the borrower, the decorations were required to be returned.

Carrying method

The grand cross is carried on a sash from the right shoulder to the left hip and with an eight-pointed breast star . Commander I and II class wear the medal around their neck, the first class also wear a four-pointed breast star. The other classes decorate the award on the ribbon on the left side of the chest.

The ribbon is white with a grass-green side stripe.

literature

  • Maximilian Gritzner : Handbook of the knight and merit orders of all civilized states in the world. Leipzig 1893.
  • Jörg Nimmergut : German medals and decorations until 1945. Volume 3: Saxony – Württemberg I. Central Office for Scientific Order Studies, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-00-001396-2 , pp. 1195–1215.
  • Erhard Roth: The awards of the house order of the diamond crown, the order of merit, the order of merit with swords (until 1914) and the order of women of the Kingdom of Saxony. (= Statistical elaborations on Germany's phaleristics . Volume XIV.) PHV, Offenbach 1998, ISBN 3-932543-51-3 .