Order of the Black Eagle Totally Explained

Everything about The Order Of The Black Eagle totally explained

The Order of the Black Eagle (German: Hoher Orden vom Schwarzen Adler) was the highest order of chivalry in the Kingdom of Prussia. The order was founded on January 17, 1701 by Elector Friedrich III of Brandenburg (who became Friedrich I, King in Prussia the following day). The order became obsolete with the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II, the last Prussian king, in 1918.
The statutes of the order were published on January 18, 1701 and revised in 1847. Membership in the Order of the Black Eagle was limited to a small number of knights, and was divided into two classes: members of reigning house (further divided into members of the House of Hohenzollern and members of other houses, both German and foreign) and capitular knights. Before 1847, membership was limited to nobles, but after that date, capitular knights who were not nobles were raised to the nobility (Adelstand). Capitular knights were generally high-ranking government officials or military officers.
The Order of the Black Eagle had only one class, but could also be awarded at the king's prerogative "with the Chain" ("mit der Kette") or without ("ohne Kette"). By statute, members of the order also held the Grand Cross of the Order of the Red Eagle, and wore the badge of that order from a ribbon around the neck. From 1862, members of the Prussian royal house, upon award of the Order of the Black Eagle, also received the Prussian Crown Order 1st Class.

Insignia

The badge of the order was a gold Maltese cross, enameled in blue, with gold-crowned black eagles between the arms of the cross. The gold center medallion bore the royal monogram of Friedrich I ("FR" for Fredericus Rex).
   The badge was worn from either a sash ribbon or chain. The ribbon of the order was an orange moiré sash worn from the left shoulder to the right hip, with the badge resting on the hip. The chain (Kette) of the order was worn around the neck, with the badge suspended from it. It featured 24 interlocking links, alternating a black eagle and a device featuring a center medallion with the motto Suum Cuique (literally "To each his own," but idiomatically "To each according to his merits."), a series of FRs forming a cross pattern, a blue enameled ring around this, and crowns at each cross point.
   The star of the order was a silver eight-pointed star, with straight or faceted rays depending on the jeweler's design. The center medallion featured a black eagle on a golden background, surrounded by a white enameled ring bearing a wreath of laurels and the motto of the order, Suum Cuique. The eagle gripped a wreath of laurels in its left claw and a scepter in its right.
   At meetings of the chapter of the Order of the Black Eagle, a red velvet cape with blue lining was worn, featuring an embroidered star of the order on the left shoulder.

Recipients

From its founding in 1701 to 1918, the Order of the Black Eagle was awarded 407 times, with 57 of these during the reign of Friedrich I (1701-1713). In 1918, the order had the following numbers of members: 14 members of the Prussian royal house, 1 member of the Princely House of Hohenzollern, 49 members of other reigning houses (including 9 from states then at war with Germany), and 54 domestic members (of which 17 hadn't yet been fully inducted into the order).
From the Prussian State Handbooks, it can be deduced that all male members of the royal family were conferred with the Order of the Black Eagle (and the other orders, by statute, as mentioned above) on their tenth birthdays. They received the collar of the Order upon their eighteenth birthdays. The reigning Prussian queens (and later, the German empresses) were also conferred with the Order. Other female members of the royal family were usually conferred with the Order of Louise.

Sovereigns and Masters of the Order

Friedrich I of Prussia (1657 - 1713) - founder of the Order of the Black Eagle; last Elector of Brandenburg and first King of Prussia
Frederick William I of Prussia (1688 - 1740) - first member of the Order, inducted in 1701, when he was crown prince; Sovereign and Master of the Order, 1713 - 1740
Friedrich II (1712 - 1786) - "Friedrich the Great"; Sovereign and Master of the Order, 1740 - 1786
Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia (1744 - 1797) - Sovereign and Master of the Order, 1786 - 1797
Frederick William III of Prussia (1770 - 1840)- King of Prussia during the Napoleonic era; Sovereign and Master of the Order, 1797 - 1840
Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia (1795 - 1861) - Sovereign and Master of the Order, 1840 - 1861
Wilhelm I (1797 - 1888) - King of Prussia and first German emperor; Sovereign and Master of the Order, 1861 - 1888
Friedrich III - better remembered as "Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm" of Prussia; general during the German wars of unification; briefly German emperor, March to June 1888; Died of throat cancer
Wilhelm II (1859 - 1941) - last King of Prussia and last German emperor; Sovereign and Master of the Order, 1888 - 1918

Royal House of Hohenzollern

August Wilhelm, Prince of Prussia (1722 - 1758) - second son of Friedrich Wilhelm I; brother of Friedrich II ("Friedrich the Great"); father of Friedrich Wilhelm II; Prussian general in the Silesian Wars

Heinrich, Prince of Prussia (1726 - 1802) - third son of Friedrich Wilhelm I and younger brother of Friedrich the Great; general in the Seven Years' War

August Ferdinand, Prince of Prussia (1730 - 1813) - fourth and youngest son of Friedrich Wilhelm I, and youngest brother of Friedrich the Great

Ludwig Ferdinand, Prince of Prussia (1772 - 1806) - son of August Ferdinand; general in the Napoleonic Wars, killed at the Battle of Saalfeld

Ludwig Karl, Prince of Prussia (1773 - 1796) - second son of Friedrich Wilhelm II and brother of Friedrich Wilhelm III

Kaiserin Augusta (1811 - 1890)- Princess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, wife and empress consort of Wilhelm I

Karl, Prince of Prussia (1801 - 1883) - third son of Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia, father of Friedrich Karl and Albrecht

Adalbert, Prince of Prussia (1811 - 1873) - son of Prinz Wilhelm; Grandson of Friedrich Wilhelm II and nephew of Friedrich Wilhelm III; naval teorist, admiral, and founder of the first Prussian Fleet

Friedrich Karl, Prince of Prussia (1828 - 1885) - veteran of the Austro-Prussian War and Franco-Prussian War; hero of Königgrätz; Generalfeldmarschall of Prussia, and honorary Field Marshal of Russia; eldest son of Karl, father of Friedrich Leopold

Albrecht, Prince of Prussia (1809 - 1872) - second and youngest son of Karl, father of Albrecht

Heinrich, Prince of Prussia (1862 - 1929) - second son of Friedrich III and brother of Wilhelm II; Grand Admiral in the German Imperial Navy, World War One

Kaiserin Victoria (1840 - 1901) - "Kaiserin Friedrich"; Daughter of Queen Victoria, Princess Royal of Great Britain; wife and Empress consort of Friedrich III; mother of Wilhelm II; Dowager German Empresss and Queen Dowager of Prussia, 1888 - 1901; recognized by Friedrich III, March 9, 1888

Kaiserin Auguste Viktoria (1858 - 1921) - Princess of Schleswig-Holstein, (first) wife and empress consort of Wilhelm II

Kronprinz Wilhelm (1882 - 1951) - Crown Prince of Germany and Prussia until 1918, World War One-era German general.

Friedrich Leopold, Prince of Prussia (1865 - 1931) - son of Friedrich Karl, father of Friedrich Sigismund, Friedrich Karl, and Friedrich Leopold

Albrecht, Prince of Prussia (1837 - 1906) - only son of Albrecht

Friedrich Heinrich, Prince of Prussia (1874 - 1940) - eldest son of Albrecht and grandson of Albrecht

Joachim Albrecht, Prince of Prussia (1876 - 1939) - second son of Albrecht and grandson of Albrecht

Friedrich Wilhelm, Prince of Prussia (1880 - 1925) - third son of Albrecht and grandson of Albrecht

Eitel Friedrich, Prince of Prussia (1883 - 1942) - second son of Wilhelm II

Adalbert, Prince of Prussia (1884 - 1948) - third son of Wilhelm II

August Wilhelm, Prince of Prussia (1887 - 1949) - fourth son of Wilhelm II

Oskar, Prince of Prussia (1888 - 1958) - fifth son of Wilhelm II

Waldemar, Prince of Prussia (1889 - 1945) - eldest son of Prince Heinrich, Grand Admiral

Joachim, Prince of Prussia (1890 - 1920) - sixth and youngest son of Wilhelm II

Friedrich Sigismund, Prince of Prussia (1891 - 1927) - eldest son of Friedrich Leopold; World War One pilot

Friedrich-Karl, Prince of Prussia (1893 - 1917) - second son of Friedrich Leopold; Bronze medalist in the 1912 Olympics; World War One pilot; wounded in action, taken POW, and died of wounds (1917)

Friedrich Leopold, Prince of Prussia (1895 - 1959) - third and youngest son of Friedrich Leopold

Sigismund, Prince of Prussia (1896 - 1978) - second and youngest son of Prince Heinrich, Grand Admiral

Princely House of Hohenzollern

Karl Anton, Sovereign Prince Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (1811 - 1885)

Leopold, Sovereign Prince Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (1835 - 1905) - son of Karl Anton

Wilhelm, Sovereign Prince Hohelnzollern-Sigmaringen (1864 - 1927)

Ferdinand, Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (b. 1865) - brother of Sovereign Prince Wilhelm, reigned as Ferdinand I of Romania, 1914 - 1927

Karl, Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (1839 - 1914) - second son of Karl Anton; reigned as Carol I of Romania, 1881 - 1914

Foreign Royals

Albert I - King of Belgium during World War I.

Alexander II - Tsar of Russia (1881-1894).

Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn - Kaiser Wilhelm II's uncle, he was still a member of the order in 1918 despite being a British military officer.

Carol I of Romania - King of Romania (1866-1914); member of the Princely House of Hohenzollern.

Christian IX of Denmark - King of Denmark (1863-1906)

Chulalongkorn - King of Siam (1868-1910).

Edward VII - King of the United Kingdom (1901-1910).

Franz Joseph I - Emperor of Austria (1848-1916).

Frederick VIII of Denmark - King of Denmark (1906-1912)

George V - King of the United Kingdom (1910-1936).

Gustav V of Sweden - King of Sweden (1907-1950).

Leopold I of Anhalt-Dessau - Prussian field marshal known as the "Old Dessauer"

Leopold II of Belgium - King of the Belgians (1865-1909).

Louis XVIII - King of France.

Ludwig II of Bavaria - King of Bavaria (1864-1886).

Ludwig III of Bavaria - Last king of Bavaria.

Emperor Meiji - Emperor of Japan (1867-1912).

Nasser al-Din Shah Qajar - Shah of Persia (1848-1896).

Nicholas II - Last tsar of Russia.

Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria - Last crown prince of Bavaria and World War I-era German field marshal.

Emperor Taishō - Emperor of Japan (1912-1926).

Umberto I of Italy - King of Italy (1878-1900).

Victor Emmanuel III - last king of Italy (1900-1946).

William III of the Netherlands - King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg (1849–1890).

William IV - King of the United Kingdom (1830-1837)

Knights

Otto von Bismarck - Prussian chancellor and statesman.

Gebhard von Blücher - Prussian field marshal and leader of Prussian troops at the Battle of Waterloo.

Bernhard von Bülow - German chancellor and statesman.

Karl von Einem - World War I-era German general and Minister of War.

Prince Philip of Eulenburg - German politician and diplomat.

August von Gneisenau - Napoleonic-era Prussian field marshal. His insignia of the order was formerly Napoleon's.

Gottlieb Graf von Haeseler - German field marshal.

Paul von Hindenburg - World War I-era German field marshal and later president of Germany.

Friedrich Graf Kleist von Nollendorf - Napoleonic-era Prussian general (promoted to field marshal two days before his death).

August von Mackensen - World War I-era German field marshal.

Patrice de Mac-Mahon, duc de Magenta - French politician; first President of the Third Republic.

Adolph Menzel - German artist.

Helmuth von Moltke the Younger - Prussian field marshal of the German wars of unification. Served as chancellor of the Order of the Black Eagle.

Napoléon Bonaparte - Admitted in 1803 when he was First Consul.

Alfred Graf von Schlieffen - German field marshal and strategist

Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz - Prussian cavalry general under Frederick the Great.

Friedrich Bertram Sixt von Armin - World War I-era German general.

Alexander Suvorov - Napoleonic-era Russian general and Generalissimo.

Alfred von Tirpitz - German Admiral.

Alfred Graf von Waldersee - German field marshal and supreme commander of the Eight-Nation Alliance in the Boxer Rebellion.

Hans David Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg - Napoleonic-era Prussian field marshal.Further Information

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