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Spent today plugging away at the rest of the Kingdom of Saxony Order of Civil Merit, including backfilling where I managed to run down some images I hadn’t found earlier.
Today, I’ve moved on to the Kingdom of Saxony’s Albert Order, which was established in memory of Albert the Bold (Albrecht der Beherzten) who founded the Albertinien family line that ruled in Saxony, and with the intention of displaying his bust on the insignia. Unfortunately someone messed up and the wrong Albert – another fellow called Albert the Perennial – was depicted instead! Worse it took from 1850 to 1875 for anyone to notice. This triggered a hasty redesign. This delightful tale comes courtesy of Andreas Shultze Ising, who has also written on both this website and his own at length about the variants of this order.
I’ve spent so long ferreting around finding images that I only managed to get the ‘incorrect’ Type 1 done today. I’ll finish this off next week…
And now I have added the Type 2 Albert Order (the one depicting the correct Albert!). The one thing omitted in this order is a variant – found in both Type 1 and Type 2 – called ‘swords on ring’, a phenomenon that occured when someone was awarded a higher grade of the order without swords having previously recieved a lower grade with swords. Again, Andreas Shultze Ising has written about this in the blog area of this website… but I have yet to collect images of it.
Firstly, apologies for no update last week – an update to the underlying system caused a minor error, which has now been fixed! Today I added the Order of Sidonia, awarded to noble Saxon ladies, originally for service to wounded soldiers during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 and subsequently for more general merit. Although it is a single-class order, royal ladies could wear the insignia on a sash rather than the more usual bow.
Today I added Saxony’s second female-only order, the Order of Maria-Anna. Named after King Friedrich August’s late mother Maria Anna Fernanda Leopoldina Micaela Rafaela Gabriela Carlota Antónia Júlia Vitória Praxedes Francisca de Assis Gonzaga (21.07.1843-05.02.1884). Fortunately he didn’t use all of her names in setting up the new order! Instituted in 1906, it was awarded for ‘good works’, mostly charitable in nature, although it could also be awarded to nurses, midwives and teachers.
On to the medals of the Kingdom of Saxony, with the Military Merit Medal (which has some really nit-picking variants none of which I’ve found pictures of!) and the General Honour Cross (with which I had more luck!).
More Kingdom of Saxony, this time the Art and Science Medal ‘Virtuti et Ingenio’ which has a mind-boggling NINE types – I’ve not found images of them all yet, but I found more than I expected lurking in my files!
You may wonder why I add every single version, whether or not I’ve found an image. The reasons are twofold. Firstly, I hope you’ll find the description useful, and secondly maybe the gaps will goad those of you who possess medals I haven’t found pictures of yet to get your cameras out and send me a picture!
Today I added the Kingdom of Saxony’s Art and Science Medal ‘Bene Merentibus’. At least this one only has 5 types, basically changing with monarchs to depict the correct one on the obverse.
I also stepped away from Saxony for what has become an annual event – the latest Kentucky Colonels Medal of Distinction, awarded annually to members in good standing. Colonel Khriss Urban is kind enough to take pictures of his medal as soon as it arrives to send to me for inclusion here. Thanks, Colonel!
This week’s Kingdom of Saxony medal was the Lifesaving Medal, which as well as 6 types based on the fairly frequent changes of monarch has 2 special issues for acts of courage during two individual disasters – floods in Plauen (1834) and an avalanche at Schmilka in 1862.
I also received pictures of the membership medal of the Continental Society Sons of Indian Wars from Kevin Beyer, so that is now to be found amongst the various society and association medals in the United States section. Thank you Kevin… and if anyone else wants to sent images in they will be very welcome to do so 🙂
Today I have added the Kingdom of Saxony’s Carola Medal, awarded for humanitarian services, alturism and services to nursing to both men and women. There’s a little-documented early version (if anyone knows more about it please let me know!) and several types since the establishment of the revised version in 1892. The final version, awarded 1915-1918, could be awarded with a clasp for war service, which was rectangular for male recipients but leaf-shaped for women… rather pretty!
… and here I am back again with more medals from the Kingdom of Saxony: the Friedrich August Medal and the Honour Cross for Volunteer Nursing during Peacetime.
Today I added the Honour Cross for Volunteer Nursing during Wartime… which was instituted for the 1870-1871 war with France and then awarded during the First World War, with 4 variants!
Then I got distracted with some new images from Spinks, which will grace these pages before long seeing as they are one of our Auction House advertisers!
Today I was back in the Kingdom of Saxony with a series of commemorative crosses marking some of the Kingdom’s military exploits, all but one being awarded long after the actions in question took place.
The exception is the War Commemorative Cross for 1866, instituted by King Johann the following year. Awards to combatants and non-combatants in the war against Prussia were distinguished by different ribbons, a reversal of each other. The rest were instituted by King Albert, beginning with the Schleswig-Holstein Cross 1849 for Combatants on 20 March 1874, to mark the 25th anniversary of the Battle of Dybbøl. On 8 August 1890, he followed up with a cross for non-combatants involved in the campaign against Schleswig-Holstein (this had a different design to the combatant version as well as a ribbon in reversed colours, and the Commemorative Cross for Holstein 1863-1864, for those involved in the military action waged by the German Confederation against two of its members, the Duchy of Holstein and the Duchy of Lauenburg.
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