Order of Merit of the Bavarian Crown

Order of Merit of the Bavarian Crown
*Verdienstorden der Bayerischen Krone*
Order of Merit of the Bavarian Crown; Verdienstorden der Bayerischen Krone
	Star and sash of the order
Awarded for	Merit deserving the recognition of the state
Country	Bavaria
Presented by	the King of Bavaria
Eligibility	Civil servants, non-nobles, and foreigners
Motto	virtus et honor
Status	No longer awarded
Established	19 March 1808
	Badge of a knight of the order Ribbon of the Order
Precedence
Next (higher)	Military Order of Max Joseph; (Militär-Max-Joseph-Orden)
Next (lower)	Order of St. Michael

The Order of Merit of the Bavarian Crown (German: Verdienstorden der Bayerischen Krone) was an order of merit of the Kingdom of Bavaria established by King Maximilian Joseph I on 19 March 1808. The motto of the order is "Virtus et Honos" ('Courage and Honour').

The order was awarded in several grades:

Grand Cross
Grand Commander (grade added in 1855)
Commander
Knight
Medal in Gold
Medal in Silver

History

King Maximilian I Joseph, founded the order to reward civil servants of the state of all classes and other foreigners who were deserving of recognition of the Kingdom of Bavaria. It was created as a civil counterpart to the Military Order of Max Joseph. Both the orders brought non-noble recipients in the collection of personal nobility with the title "Ritter von".

The Order of Merit of the Bavarian crown was initially founded with three grades Grand Cross, Commander, and Knight. King Maximilian II added the grade of Grand Commander in 1855. For each grade there was a fixed number of members. Initially membership in the order was limited to 12 Grand Crosses, 24 Commanders and 100 Knights. Statutes of the order from October 1817 list the limits at 24, 40 and 160. Adjustments to the statutes were also made on 16 February 1824, on 12 October 1834, on 12 January 1835 and in October 1838. The statutes were further modified in 1855 for the addition of the Grand Commander grade, also limited in numbers.

Recipients

References

^ Tags-Blatt für München (in German). 1828-01-24 – via Google books.

[1] Tags-Blatt für München (in German). 1828-01-24 – via Google books.

[1]

v t e Orders, decorations, and medals of the German Empire
Kingdom of Prussia	Order of the Black Eagle Order of Merit of the Prussian Crown Order of the Red Eagle Order of the Crown House Order of Hohenzollern Pour le Mérite Order of Saint John (Bailiwick of Brandenburg) Order of Louise Wilhelm-Orden
Kingdom of Bavaria	Order of Saint Hubert Military Order of Max Joseph Military Merit Order (Bavaria) Order of Theresa Order of Saint Elizabeth Royal Order of Saint George Order of Merit of the Bavarian Crown Order of Saint Michael (Bavaria) Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art Order of Louis (Bavaria) Medical military Order
Kingdom of Saxony	Order of the Rue Crown Military Order of St. Henry Albert Order Civil Order of Saxony Order of Sidonia Order of Maria Anna
Kingdom of Württemberg	Order of the Crown (Württemberg) Military Merit Order (Württemberg) Friedrich Order Order of Olga
Kingdom of Hanover	Order of St. George Royal Guelphic Order Order of Ernst August
Grand Duchy of Baden	Military Karl-Friedrich Merit Order Order of Berthold the First Order of the Zähringer Lion House Order of Fidelity
Grand Duchy of Hesse	House Order of the Golden Lion Ludwig Order Order of Philip the Magnanimous Order of the Star of Brabant General Honor Decoration
Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel	House Order of the Golden Lion Wilhelm Order Order of the Iron Helmet
Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt	Order of Philip the Magnanimous
Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin	Order of the Griffon (Mecklenburg) House Order of the Wendish Crown
Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz	Order of the Griffon (Mecklenburg) House Order of the Wendish Crown
Grand Duchy of Oldenburg	House and Merit Order of Peter Frederick Louis Friedrich-August Cross
Duchy of Saxe-Weimar	Order of the White Falcon
Duchy of Brunswick	Order of Henry the Lion
Duchy of Nassau	Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau Order of Adolphe of Nassau
Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg	Saxe-Ernestine House Order
Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha	Saxe-Ernestine House Order (2006: Saxe-Coburg-Gotha House Order)
Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen	Saxe-Ernestine House Order
Duchy of Anhalt	Order of Albert the Bear Order of Merit for Science and Art
Principality of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen	House Order of Hohenzollern
Principality of Hohenzollern-Hechingen	House Order of Hohenzollern
Principality of Lippe-Detmold	Order of the Cross of Honour (Lippe) Order of Leopold (Lippe) Order of Berta Order of the Rose of Lippe
Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe	Order of the Cross of Honour (Lippe)
Principality of Reuss	Princely Reuss Honour Cross
Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt	Princely Schwarzburg Honor Cross
Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen	Princely Schwarzburg Honor Cross
Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont	Order of Merit (Waldeck and Pyrmont)
Free cities	Hanseatic Cross