| Order of Saint John (Bailiwick of Brandenburg) | |
|---|---|
 Badge |
|
| Type | |
| Ribbon | Black |
| Awarded for | |
| Herrenmeister | Oskar, Prince of Prussia |
| Established | 1852 |
The Order of Saint John in Germany is known as Der Johanniterorden. Its full, official title is the Brandenburg Bailiwick of the Chivalric Order of Saint John of the Hospital at Jerusalem (Balley Brandenburg des Ritterlichen Ordens Sankt Johannis vom Spital zu Jerusalem). It is the German Protestant branch of the Knights Hospitaller, the oldest chivalric order, which generally is considered to have been founded in Jerusalem in the year 1099.
The Order is led by its thirty-seventh Herrenmeister ("Master of the Knights"), H.R.H. Dr. phil. Oskar, Prince of Prussia (born in 1959, he is a great-grandson of the last German emperor, Wilhelm II). Each of its knights, about 3,300 men worldwide, is either a Knight of Justice (Rechtsritter) or a Knight of Honor (Ehrenritter). Membership in the order is by invitation only, and individuals may not petition for admission. The Order comprises seventeen commanderies in Germany, one each in Austria, Finland, France, Hungary, and Switzerland, and one global commandery with subcommanderies in eight other countries (Australia, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Namibia, South Africa, the United States, and Venezuela).
Together with the London-based Most Venerable Order of Saint John (of which, the British monarch is Sovereign Head), the Swedish Johanniterorden i Sverige (the Swedish monarch is its High Protector), and the Dutch Johanniter Orde in Nederland (the Dutch monarch is an honorary commander), the Order forms the Chivalric Alliance of Orders of Saint John. With the Roman Catholic Sovereign Military Order of Malta (the "SMOM"), these four "Alliance orders" represent the legitimate heirs of the Knights Hospitaller. Other orders using the name of Saint John are merely imitative, and the Alliance and the SMOM have jointly formed a False Orders Committee (now renamed and reorganized as the Committee on Orders of St. John), with representatives of each of the five orders and with the purpose of exposing and taking action against such imitations.[1]
The Order and its affiliate orders in the Netherlands and Sweden, which became independent of the Bailiwick of Brandenburg after the Second World War, in 1946, are Protestant. The Sovereign Military Order of Malta, headquartered in Rome, is the Roman Catholic portion of the original Order of Saint John. The Most Venerable Order of Saint John, a revival of the mediaeval English Langue, was chiefly Anglican at its formation in the nineteenth century but has since opened its membership to Christian men and women of any denomination.
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Function
Through its Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe ("Saint John's Accident Assistance"), its hospitals, nursing homes, hospices, and other institutions, the Order today is a major provider of medical and rescue services in Germany. These services are similar to the St. John Ambulance in many Commonwealth nations and to various organisations affiliated with the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. All are carried out under the auspices of the Christian faith.[2]
History
Following the Protestant Reformation, large parts of the German langue of the Knights Hospitaller under the leadership of the Brandenburg bailiwick accepted Lutheran theology but continued to recognize the headship of the Grand Master of the Roman Catholic order.
In 1811-1812, King Frederick William III of Prussia dissolved the Bailiwick and established a similarly named order of merit in its stead. (The insigne of another Prussian order of merit, the Pour le Mérite, nicknamed "the Blue Max," also was based on the design of the Johanniter neck cross.)[3] The order of merit was in its turn dissolved and the Johanniterorden restored in 1852, numbering the eight surviving knights of the original order among its first members. The Johanniterorden and its branches in Austria, Finland, France, Hungary, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Sweden became fully independent of the Roman Catholic Grand Master in Rome, although the Herrenmeisters have continuously and explicitly recognized the Order's historical connection with the Order of Malta.[4]
Under the protection of the King of Prussia, the Johanniterorden was headquartered at Sonnenburg Castle in the Neumark of Brandenburg, east of the Oder River. During the course of the 19th and 20th centuries, the Order created and supported more and more charitable activities; it now owns and operates numerous hospitals and ambulance services, and provides first-aid training courses and disaster relief, both within Germany and elsewhere.
After World War II, with the Neumark given by the victorious Allies to Poland (Sonnenburg has been renamed "Słońsk", and the castle lies in ruins[5]), the Order moved its headquarters to Bonn, West Germany. After the reunification of Germany, the headquarters were moved again, to Berlin.
Although the Herrenmeister is now elected and no longer is nominated by the king of Prussia or emperor of Germany, each holder of the office since 1693 has been a member of the House of Hohenzollern, the family of the former Prussian kings and last German emperors.[6]
The Order's present status in German law derives from its incorporation in 1852 and from the Federal Republic of Germany's official recognition of its decoration as a German decoration of merit in 1958-59.
References
Guy Stair Sainty, The Orders of Saint John: The History, Structure, Membership and Modern Role of the Five Hospitaller Orders of Saint John of Jerusalem; New York: The American Society of The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John in Jerusalem, 1991.
Article on "Johanniterorden" in the German-language Wikipedia.
Robert M. Clark, Jr., The Evangelical Knights of Saint John: A History of the Bailiwick of Brandenburg of the Knightly Order of St. John of the Hospital at Jerusalem, Known as the Johanniter Order; Dallas, Texas: 2003.
External links
See also
References
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