Order of St. John (Protestant Continental Europe)
Encyclopedia
The Bailiwick of Brandenburg of the Chivalric Order of Saint John of the Hospital at Jerusalem (in German, the Balley Brandenburg des Ritterlichen Ordens Sankt Johannis vom Spital zu Jerusalem), or simply the Order of Saint John (Der Johanniterorden), 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. Oskar, Prince of Prussia
(born in 1959, he is a great-grandson of the last German emperor, Wilhelm II). Each of its knights, about four thousand 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 the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem
(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 Alliance of the Orders of St. John of Jerusalem
. With the Roman Catholic Sovereign Military Order of Malta (the "SMOM"), these four "Alliance orders" represent the legitimate heirs of the Knights Hospitaller
. They consider other orders using the name of Saint John to be 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, for the purpose of exposing and taking action against such imitations.
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 SMOM, headquartered in Rome, admits only men and women of the Roman Catholic faith. The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem
, a revival of the mediaeval English Langue of the Order of Saint John, was chiefly Anglican
at its formation in the nineteenth century but has since opened its membership to men and women of any faith.
("Saint John Accident Assistance"), its hospitals, nursing homes, hospices, and other institutions, the Order today is a major provider of medical and rescue services in Germany and, to a lesser extent, of comparable services elsewhere in Europe, Africa, and the Americas. 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.
Additionally, spiritual retreats and other activities of the Order concentrate on the spiritual formation and developement of Christian citizens in the modern world.
. In time, these landholdings were gathered into regional administrative divisions known as commanderies, each headed by a senior knight, or knight commander of the Order. The first commandery in the Germanies was founded in the mid-twelfth century.
By 1318, the Bailiwick of Brandenburg had been established in the northeastern parts of the Holy Roman Empire
, an aggregation of commanderies of the Order under a bailiff
, a high officer of the Order. The riches and influence of the Bailiwick (especially after augmentation by properties of the suppressed Order of the Temple
) were so sizeable that, in 1382, the Prior of the German Langue
(the eight territorial "Tongues" of the mediaeval Order of Saint John were its major subdivisions) in what became known as the Accord of Heimbach
recognized the right of the Bailiwick of Brandenburg to choose its own governor (the Bailiff of Brandenburg, more commonly called the Herrenmeister) and preceptors (the commanders of the commanderies constituting the Bailiwick).
, large parts of the German Langue of the then undivided Order of Saint John followed the leadership of the Bailiwick
of Brandenburg
and accepted Lutheran
theology while continuing to recognize the headship of the grand master
of the Order, who, with the majority of the knights, remained Roman Catholic
. The higher officials of the Order, now headquartered on the Mediterranean island of Malta
after the successive losses of Jerusalem
, Acre
, and Rhodes
to Moslem Arabs and Turks, evinced a desire to maintain a relationship with the Protestant knights despite the theological and ecclesiological differences between the two groups. But in 1581, then Grand Master Jean de la Cassière
called Herrenmeister Martin von Hohenstein before the Chapter (ruling council) of the Order of Saint John in Malta; when the Herrenmeister did not appear, De la Cassière declared the expulsion of the knights of the Bailiwick from the Order, though he did so without the agreement of the Chapter.
Even separated from the Roman Catholic main stem of the Order of Saint John, the Bailiwick of Brandenburg continued to flourish. Admitting only noblemen, principally from the Germanies, the Bailiwick maintained hospitals and other institutions to care for the poor, the sick, and the injured. Elections of successive Herrenmeister (including a Roman Catholic, Adam von Schwarzenberg
, in 1641) were announced to the Grand Prior of Germany in the Roman Catholic Order of Malta and, in accordance with the requests from the governing authorities of the Order of Malta, responsions (periodic remittances from revenues) were paid to the Grand Priory.
The horrific Thirty Years' War
devastated the Bailiwick, resulting in the deaths of many knights and the destruction of much of the wealth of the Bailiwick. By the terms of the Peace of Westphalia
ending the conflict, the Bailiwick was effectively placed under the protection of the Prince Electors of Brandenburg, later Kings of Prussia, members of the House of Hohenzollern
. Under this protection, the Johanniterorden came to be headquartered at Sonnenburg Castle in the Neumark
of Brandenburg, east of the Oder River, though the Herrenmeister resided in the Ordenspalais
in Berlin from its completion in 1738.
As the intense sectarianism of early modern Europe gave way to the Enlightenment
, further if sporadic attempts were made to accommodate the Protestant Bailiwick within the Roman Catholic Order of Malta. Despite cordial relations, however, including payment of responsions to Malta and participation of delegates from the Bailiwick in the Chapter General of the Order of Malta in 1776, nominal reunion of the two Orders was prevented by the withholding of papal approval.
transferred the powers of the Herrenmeister and the Chapter (the governing council of the Order) to the Prussian Crown, effectively dissolving the Bailiwick and confiscating its possessions. He established a similarly named (and similarly badged) order of merit, the Royal Prussian Order of Saint John, 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.) The Herrenmeister of the Bailiwick, Prince August Ferdinand, became the first grand master of the order of merit, continuing to reside in the palace of the Order
, and all knights of the Order became members of the order of merit.
The order of merit was in its turn dissolved and King Frederick William IV of Prussia
, again exercising the powers of the kings of Prussia as protectors of the Order, restored the original Bailiwick in 1852. The eight surviving knights of justice of the original Order were among its first members; in 1853, they elected the younger brother of the Prussian king, Prince Friedrich Karl Alexander
, the new Herrenmeister of the restored Order. He announced his election to the head of the Order of Malta, who in acknowledgement recognized this restoration as the continuation of the historic Bailiwick. The Johanniterorden and its branches became fully independent of the Roman Catholic grand master in Rome
, although the Herrenmeisters then and since have continuously and explicitly recognized the Order's historical connection with the Roman Catholic Order of Malta.
During the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the Order created and supported more and more charitable activities; it now owns and operates numerous hospitals, ambulance services, old-age homes, and nurseries 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), the Order moved its headquarters to Bonn
, West Germany
. After the reunification of the Germanies, the headquarters were moved again, to Berlin
.
More than location of the seat of the Order changed in the aftermath of the Second World War. The Swedish and Dutch commanderies separated from the direct oversight of the Bailiwick (though continuing in loose association with it through the Alliance) in 1946, and two years later the Bailiwick itself began to admit commoners to knighthood (the Finnish commandery, however, remains a purely noble society, as do the now independent Swedish and Dutch commanderies).
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.
The present status of the Order under German law derives from its incorporation in 1852 and from official recognition by the German government in 1957 and 1959 of the badges of rank in the Order as German decorations of merit.
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
branch of the Knights Hospitaller
Knights Hospitaller
The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...
, 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. Oskar, Prince of Prussia
Oskar, Prince of Prussia
Prince Oskar of Prussia is a member of the House of Hohenzollern and the thirty-seventh Herrenmeister of the Johanniterorden, having succeeded his father in the position in 1999...
(born in 1959, he is a great-grandson of the last German emperor, Wilhelm II). Each of its knights, about four thousand 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
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, and one global commandery with subcommanderies in eight other countries (Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, Namibia
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
).
Together with the London-based Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem
Venerable Order of Saint John
The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem , is a royal order of chivalry established in 1831 and found today throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Hong Kong, Ireland and the United States of America, with the world-wide mission "to prevent and relieve sickness and...
(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 Alliance of the Orders of St. John of Jerusalem
The Alliance of the Orders of St. John of Jerusalem
The Alliance of the Orders of St. John of Jerusalem is a federation of Protestant religious orders in Europe that claim shared inheritance of the tradition of the mediaeval military Knights Hospitaller ....
. With the Roman Catholic Sovereign Military Order of Malta (the "SMOM"), these four "Alliance orders" represent the legitimate heirs of the Knights Hospitaller
Knights Hospitaller
The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...
. They consider other orders using the name of Saint John to be 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, for the purpose of exposing and taking action against such imitations.
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 SMOM, headquartered in Rome, admits only men and women of the Roman Catholic faith. The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem
Venerable Order of Saint John
The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem , is a royal order of chivalry established in 1831 and found today throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Hong Kong, Ireland and the United States of America, with the world-wide mission "to prevent and relieve sickness and...
, a revival of the mediaeval English Langue of the Order of Saint John, was chiefly Anglican
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
at its formation in the nineteenth century but has since opened its membership to men and women of any faith.
Charitable Works
Through its Johanniter-Unfall-HilfeJohanniter-Unfall-Hilfe
Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe e.V. , commonly referred to as Die Johanniter, is a voluntary humanitarian organisation affiliated with the Brandenburg Bailiwick of the Order of St John, the German Protestant descendant of the Knights Hospitaller...
("Saint John Accident Assistance"), its hospitals, nursing homes, hospices, and other institutions, the Order today is a major provider of medical and rescue services in Germany and, to a lesser extent, of comparable services elsewhere in Europe, Africa, and the Americas. These services are similar to the St. John Ambulance
St. John Ambulance
St John Ambulance, branded as St John in some territories, is a common name used by a number of affiliated organisations in different countries dedicated to the teaching and practice of medical first aid and the provision of ambulance services, all of which derive their origins from the St John...
in many Commonwealth nations
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
and to various organisations affiliated with the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. All are carried out under the auspices of the Christian faith.
Additionally, spiritual retreats and other activities of the Order concentrate on the spiritual formation and developement of Christian citizens in the modern world.
Appearance of the Order of Saint John in German-speaking Lands
Soon after the formation of the Order in Jerusalem, supporters in Western Europe began to donate farmland and other assets for the objectives of the Order, the military protection and medical aid of Christian pilgrims to the Holy LandHoly Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
. In time, these landholdings were gathered into regional administrative divisions known as commanderies, each headed by a senior knight, or knight commander of the Order. The first commandery in the Germanies was founded in the mid-twelfth century.
By 1318, the Bailiwick of Brandenburg had been established in the northeastern parts of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
, an aggregation of commanderies of the Order under a bailiff
Bailiff
A bailiff is a governor or custodian ; a legal officer to whom some degree of authority, care or jurisdiction is committed...
, a high officer of the Order. The riches and influence of the Bailiwick (especially after augmentation by properties of the suppressed Order of the Temple
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
) were so sizeable that, in 1382, the Prior of the German Langue
Tongue (Knights Hospitaller)
Tongues or langues were the geographic-cultural subgroupings of the members of the Knights of Rhodes/Maltese Knights from the 14th to the 18th century...
(the eight territorial "Tongues" of the mediaeval Order of Saint John were its major subdivisions) in what became known as the Accord of Heimbach
Heimbach
Heimbach is a town in the district of Düren in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the river Rur, in the Eifel hills, approx. 20 km south of Düren. Heimbach is the city with the smallest number of residents in North Rhine-Westphalia...
recognized the right of the Bailiwick of Brandenburg to choose its own governor (the Bailiff of Brandenburg, more commonly called the Herrenmeister) and preceptors (the commanders of the commanderies constituting the Bailiwick).
Early Modern Europe
During the Protestant ReformationProtestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
, large parts of the German Langue of the then undivided Order of Saint John followed the leadership of the Bailiwick
Bailiwick
A bailiwick is usually the area of jurisdiction of a bailiff, and may also apply to a territory in which the sheriff's functions were exercised by a privately appointed bailiff under a royal or imperial writ. The word is now more generally used in a metaphorical sense, to indicate a sphere of...
of Brandenburg
Brandenburg
Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
and accepted Lutheran
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
theology while continuing to recognize the headship of the grand master
Grand Master (order)
Grand Master is the typical title of the supreme head of various orders of knighthood, including various military orders, religious orders and civil orders such as the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Orange Order...
of the Order, who, with the majority of the knights, remained Roman Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
. The higher officials of the Order, now headquartered on the Mediterranean island of Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
after the successive losses of Jerusalem
Siege of Jerusalem (1187)
On July 4, 1187 the Kingdom's army was defeated at the Battle of Hattin by Saladin and only Balian of Ibelin commanding a small number of soldiers remained in Jerusalem. The Siege of Jerusalem lasted from September 20 to October 2, 1187. On October 2, 1187 Balian of Ibelin surrendered Jerusalem to...
, Acre
Siege of Acre (1291)
The Siege of Acre took place in 1291 and resulted in the loss of the Crusader-controlled city of Acre to the Muslims. It is considered one of the most important battles of the time period. Although the crusading movement continued for several more centuries, the capture of the city marked the end...
, and Rhodes
Siege of Rhodes (1522)
The Siege of Rhodes of 1522 was the second and ultimately successful attempt by the Ottoman Empire to expel the Knights of Rhodes from their island stronghold and thereby secure Ottoman control of the Eastern Mediterranean. The first siege, in 1480, had been unsuccessful.-Setting:The Knights of St...
to Moslem Arabs and Turks, evinced a desire to maintain a relationship with the Protestant knights despite the theological and ecclesiological differences between the two groups. But in 1581, then Grand Master Jean de la Cassière
Jean de la Cassière
Fra' Jean l'Evesque de la Cassière was the 51st Grand Master of the Order of Malta, from 1572 to 1581. He commissioned the building of the Conventual Church of the Order in Valletta, Malta, and is buried in the Crypt of St...
called Herrenmeister Martin von Hohenstein before the Chapter (ruling council) of the Order of Saint John in Malta; when the Herrenmeister did not appear, De la Cassière declared the expulsion of the knights of the Bailiwick from the Order, though he did so without the agreement of the Chapter.
Even separated from the Roman Catholic main stem of the Order of Saint John, the Bailiwick of Brandenburg continued to flourish. Admitting only noblemen, principally from the Germanies, the Bailiwick maintained hospitals and other institutions to care for the poor, the sick, and the injured. Elections of successive Herrenmeister (including a Roman Catholic, Adam von Schwarzenberg
Adam, Count of Schwarzenberg
Adam Graf von Schwarzenberg was a German official who advised George William, Elector of Brandenburg, during the Thirty Years' War and served as the Master of the Johanniterorden, the Bailiwick of Brandenburg of the Order of Saint John .- Early life :Schwarzenberg was born in Gimborn in the County...
, in 1641) were announced to the Grand Prior of Germany in the Roman Catholic Order of Malta and, in accordance with the requests from the governing authorities of the Order of Malta, responsions (periodic remittances from revenues) were paid to the Grand Priory.
The horrific Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
devastated the Bailiwick, resulting in the deaths of many knights and the destruction of much of the wealth of the Bailiwick. By the terms of the Peace of Westphalia
Peace of Westphalia
The Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties signed between May and October of 1648 in Osnabrück and Münster. These treaties ended the Thirty Years' War in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic, with Spain formally recognizing the...
ending the conflict, the Bailiwick was effectively placed under the protection of the Prince Electors of Brandenburg, later Kings of Prussia, members of the House of Hohenzollern
House of Hohenzollern
The House of Hohenzollern is a noble family and royal dynasty of electors, kings and emperors of Prussia, Germany and Romania. It originated in the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the 11th century. They took their name from their ancestral home, the Burg Hohenzollern castle near...
. Under this protection, the Johanniterorden came to be headquartered at Sonnenburg Castle in the Neumark
Neumark (region)
The Neumark , also known as the New March or as East Brandenburg , comprised a region of the Prussian province of Brandenburg, Germany, located east of the Oder River in territory which became part of Poland in 1945....
of Brandenburg, east of the Oder River, though the Herrenmeister resided in the Ordenspalais
Ordenspalais
The Ordenspalais was a building on the northern corner of Wilhelmplatz with Wilhelmstraße in Berlin ....
in Berlin from its completion in 1738.
As the intense sectarianism of early modern Europe gave way to the Enlightenment
Enlightenment
-Culture:*Age of Enlightenment, period in Western history and its corresponding movement*Enlightenment , a final blessed state free from ignorance, desire and suffering*Enlightenment in Western secular tradition*Enlightenment in Buddhism...
, further if sporadic attempts were made to accommodate the Protestant Bailiwick within the Roman Catholic Order of Malta. Despite cordial relations, however, including payment of responsions to Malta and participation of delegates from the Bailiwick in the Chapter General of the Order of Malta in 1776, nominal reunion of the two Orders was prevented by the withholding of papal approval.
The Order in the Nineteenth Century and Thereafter
In 1811 and 1812, in his position of protector of the Order, King Frederick William III of PrussiaFrederick William III of Prussia
Frederick William III was king of Prussia from 1797 to 1840. He was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel .-Early life:...
transferred the powers of the Herrenmeister and the Chapter (the governing council of the Order) to the Prussian Crown, effectively dissolving the Bailiwick and confiscating its possessions. He established a similarly named (and similarly badged) order of merit, the Royal Prussian Order of Saint John, in its stead. (The insigne of another Prussian order of merit, the Pour le Mérite
Pour le Mérite
The Pour le Mérite, known informally as the Blue Max , was the Kingdom of Prussia's highest military order for German soldiers until the end of World War I....
, nicknamed "the Blue Max
Blue Max
Blue Max is an informal name of Pour le Mérite, a German military decoration from 1740 until the end of World War I.Blue Max may also refer to:* Blue Max , introduced in 1983* Blue Max , released in 1983...
", also was based on the design of the Johanniter neck cross.) The Herrenmeister of the Bailiwick, Prince August Ferdinand, became the first grand master of the order of merit, continuing to reside in the palace of the Order
Ordenspalais
The Ordenspalais was a building on the northern corner of Wilhelmplatz with Wilhelmstraße in Berlin ....
, and all knights of the Order became members of the order of merit.
Frederick William IV of Prussia
|align=right|Upon his accession, he toned down the reactionary policies enacted by his father, easing press censorship and promising to enact a constitution at some point, but he refused to enact a popular legislative assembly, preferring to work with the aristocracy through "united committees" of...
, again exercising the powers of the kings of Prussia as protectors of the Order, restored the original Bailiwick in 1852. The eight surviving knights of justice of the original Order were among its first members; in 1853, they elected the younger brother of the Prussian king, Prince Friedrich Karl Alexander
Prince Charles of Prussia
Prince Frederick Charles Alexander of Prussia born in Charlottenburg, was a younger son of Frederick William III of Prussia and Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz...
, the new Herrenmeister of the restored Order. He announced his election to the head of the Order of Malta, who in acknowledgement recognized this restoration as the continuation of the historic Bailiwick. The Johanniterorden and its branches became fully independent of the Roman Catholic grand master in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, although the Herrenmeisters then and since have continuously and explicitly recognized the Order's historical connection with the Roman Catholic Order of Malta.
During the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the Order created and supported more and more charitable activities; it now owns and operates numerous hospitals, ambulance services, old-age homes, and nurseries and provides first-aid training courses and disaster relief, both within Germany and elsewhere.
After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, with the Neumark given by the victorious Allies
Allies
In everyday English usage, allies are people, groups, or nations that have joined together in an association for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out between them...
to Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
(Sonnenburg has been renamed "Słońsk", and the castle lies in ruins), the Order moved its headquarters to Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
, West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
. After the reunification of the Germanies, the headquarters were moved again, to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
.
More than location of the seat of the Order changed in the aftermath of the Second World War. The Swedish and Dutch commanderies separated from the direct oversight of the Bailiwick (though continuing in loose association with it through the Alliance) in 1946, and two years later the Bailiwick itself began to admit commoners to knighthood (the Finnish commandery, however, remains a purely noble society, as do the now independent Swedish and Dutch commanderies).
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
House of Hohenzollern
The House of Hohenzollern is a noble family and royal dynasty of electors, kings and emperors of Prussia, Germany and Romania. It originated in the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the 11th century. They took their name from their ancestral home, the Burg Hohenzollern castle near...
, the family of the former Prussian kings and last German emperors.
The present status of the Order under German law derives from its incorporation in 1852 and from official recognition by the German government in 1957 and 1959 of the badges of rank in the Order as German decorations of merit.
See also
- Sovereign Military Order of Malta, based in Rome
- The Alliance of the Orders of St. John of JerusalemThe Alliance of the Orders of St. John of JerusalemThe Alliance of the Orders of St. John of Jerusalem is a federation of Protestant religious orders in Europe that claim shared inheritance of the tradition of the mediaeval military Knights Hospitaller ....
, formed by the Bailiwick, its associated Orders, and the Venerable Order of Saint John - Venerable Order of Saint JohnVenerable Order of Saint JohnThe Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem , is a royal order of chivalry established in 1831 and found today throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Hong Kong, Ireland and the United States of America, with the world-wide mission "to prevent and relieve sickness and...
, based in London