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18-527: The Princely House Order of Hohenzollern originated in 1841, by joint decree of Prince Konstantin of Hohenzollern-Hechingen and Prince Karl Anton of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen . These two principalities in southern Germany were Catholic collateral lines of the House of Hohenzollern, cousins to the Protestant ruling house of Prussia . On 23 August 1851, after the two principalities had been annexed by Prussia,

36-682: The Brave The Order of Michael the Brave ( Romanian : Ordinul Mihai Viteazul ) is Romania 's highest military decoration , instituted by King Ferdinand I during the early stages of the Romanian Campaign of the First World War , and was again awarded in the Second World War . The Order, which may be bestowed either on an individual or on a whole unit, was named in honor of Michael

54-773: The Golden and Silver Medals could be awarded with a Crown. As with the Prussian and Hohenzollern versions, crossed swords could be used to indicate a wartime or combat award. Given the short existence of the order and the fact that Romania had a number of other decorations for valor and military merit ( Order of Michael the Brave , Order of the Star of Romania , Order of the Crown of Romania, Air Force Bravery Order, Cross of Military Virtue , Air Force and Naval Bravery Crosses, Crosses and Medals for Faithful Service, Medals for Steadfastness and Loyalty), awards of

72-687: The House Order of Hohenzollern, known in Romanian as Ordinul "Bene Merenti" al Casei Domnitoare ("Order of 'Bene Merenti' of the Ruling House"). This form of the order existed until the Romanian monarchy was abolished in 1947; King Michael also awarded a slightly altered order in exile. The Royal House Order of Hohenzollern came in the following classes: "Member" was a lesser class for soldiers who were not officers, as well as civilians. The Members' Cross ( Kreuz der Inhaber ), especially with swords,

90-837: The Knight's Cross with Swords of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern became in effect an intermediate award between the Iron Cross 1st Class and the Pour le Mérite for Prussian junior officers. When awarded with swords it was worn on the ribbon of the Iron Cross. The Princely House Order of Hohenzollern came in the following classes: The Crosses of Merit, Golden Medal of Honour and Silver Medal of Merit were lesser grades for non-commissioned officers, enlisted men and their civilian equivalents. All grades could be awarded with swords. During World War I,

108-584: The Princely House Order of Hohenzollern ( Fürstlicher Hausorden von Hohenzollern or Fürstlich Hohenzollernscher Hausorden ). It was awarded mainly for service to the royal family. Although Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated in 1918 as German Emperor and King of Prussia, he did not relinquish his role as Head of the Royal House and as such he was still able to confer the Royal House Order. The Princely House Order continued to be awarded, unofficially, after

126-453: The Romanian version of the House Order with swords are uncommon. The badge of the House Order of Hohenzollern was a cross pattée with convex edges and curved arms (sometimes called an "Alisee" cross). There were differences in the enameling of the arms of the cross for the Royal, Princely and Romanian versions, but all featured white enamel on the higher classes and a black enameled stripe near

144-707: The Royal House Order as lieutenants, captains or majors in World War I are several hundred who reached the rank of general in the Wehrmacht in World War II. Hohenzollern-Hechingen Hohenzollern-Hechingen ( German : Fürstentum Hohenzollern-Hechingen ) was a small principality in southwestern Germany . Its rulers belonged to the Swabian branch of the Hohenzollern dynasty. The County of Hohenzollern-Hechingen

162-455: The Royal House Order, awards of the Princely House Order were made on the standard ribbon of the order (the "statute" ribbon) regardless of whether they were with or without swords. The classes of the Romanian version of the House Order were essentially the same as those of the Princely House Order, except that the Cross of Honour 3rd Class of the Romanian version could be awarded with Oak leaves, and

180-507: The Royal, Princely and Romanian versions). As noted above, the Knight's Cross with Swords of the Royal House Order was the intermediate decoration between the Iron Cross 1st Class and the Pour le Mérite for Prussian junior officers. There were over 8,000 awards during World War I of this class (there were far fewer awards of the other classes, or of any class before the war). Thus, among the ranks of Imperial German Army junior officers who earned

198-467: The appropriate grade of the Princely House Order was often awarded to officers and men of Füsilier-Regiment Fürst Karl Anton von Hohenzollern (Hohenzollernsches) Nr. 40 , an infantry regiment raised in the principalities of Hohenzollern and whose honorary chief was the Prince of Hohenzollern. Soldiers in the regiment's sister reserve and Landwehr regiments also often received the decoration. Unlike

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216-485: The fall of the German Monarchy. Another development occurred in 1935. Prince Karl Anton's second son, Karl Eitel Friedrich of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, had become prince and then king of Romania as Carol I . Carol I had died childless and was succeeded by his nephew Ferdinand I , also of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. During the reign of Ferdinand's son King Carol II , the Romanian government established its own version of

234-421: The order was adopted by the Prussian branch of the house. Also, although the two principalities had become an administrative region of the Prussian kingdom, the princely lines continued to award the order as a house order. The Prussian version was then known as the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern ( Königlicher Hausorden von Hohenzollern or Königlich Hohenzollernscher Hausorden ), to distinguish it from

252-401: The sides of the cross. Between the arms of the cross was a wreath of laurel leaves (left side) and oak leaves (right side). The cross bore a center medallion; the medallion and its band bore different coats of arms, mottos, dates and ciphers for each of the Royal, Princely and Romanian versions: The statute ribbon of the order was white with three black stripes (with slight variations among

270-542: Was a rare distinction for non-commissioned officers and the like. Another decoration, the Members' Eagle ( Adler der Inhaber ) was often given as a long-service award to lesser officials such as schoolteachers. The "Eagles" (the Members' Eagle and the Knights' Eagle, or Adler der Ritter ) were solely civilian awards, and could not be awarded with swords. All other grades could be awarded with swords. During World War I ,

288-597: Was created in 1576, upon the partition of the County of Hohenzollern , a fief of the Holy Roman Empire . When the last count of Hohenzollern, Charles I of Hohenzollern (1512–1579) died, the territory was to be divided up between his three sons: Unlike the Hohenzollerns of Brandenburg and Prussia, the Hohenzollerns of southwest Germany remained Roman Catholic. The county was raised to a principality in 1623. The main seat

306-493: Was occupied by Prussian forces. On 7 December 1849, Prince Constantine sold the country to his relative, King Frederick William IV of Prussia . On 12 March 1850, Hohenzollern-Hechingen officially became part of Prussia, and formed together with Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen the Province of Hohenzollern . Source: 48°21′N 8°58′E  /  48.350°N 8.967°E  / 48.350; 8.967 Order of Michael

324-782: Was the Friedrichsburg castle in Hechingen. The principality joined the Confederation of the Rhine in 1806 and was a member state of the German Confederation between 1815 and 1850. The democratic Revolution of 1848 was relatively successful in Hohenzollern, and on 16 May 1848, the Prince was forced to accept the establishment of a constitution. However, the conflict between monarch and democrats continued, and on 6 August 1849, Hohenzollern

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