Adlerorden, name of two Prussian orders of chivalry.
(1) Der schwarze Adlerorden was the highest Prussian order. It was founded in 1701 by Friedrich I of Prussia. Recipients, if not already of noble birth, were invariably ennobled.
(2) Der rote Adlerorden, which came next in the Prussian hierarchy of orders, began as ‘ordre de la sincérité’ founded by the heir apparent of Bayreuth, Georg Wilhelm. It became a Prussian order in 1792 after the transfer of the Margravate of Bayreuth to the Prussian Crown. Both orders became extinct in 1919.
