The Albert Order (german: link=no, Albrechts-Orden or Albrechtsorden) was created on 31 December 1850 by King

Frederick Augustus II , image = Friedrich August II of Saxony.jpg , caption = Portrait by Carl Christian Vogel von Vogelstein , image_size = 220px , reign = 6 June 1836 – 9 August 1854 , coronation = , predecessor = Anthony ...

of Saxony to commemorate Albert III, Duke of Saxony (known as Albert the Bold). It was to be awarded to anyone who had served the state well, for civil virtue, science and art.

Design

The design was a Christian cross with a bust of Albert the Bold at the centre. In 1875, however, it was discovered the bust was in fact the wrong Albert, Albert the Perennial, and the correct image was substituted and used thereafter.

Grades

The grade structure of the Albert Order changed several times. At first, there were five classes: Grand Cross (Großkreuz), Commander's Cross 1st Class (Komturkreuz I), Commander's Cross 2nd Class (Komturkreuz II), Knight's Cross (Ritterkreuz) and Small Cross (Kleinkreuz). These provided the basis for a series of changes over the following forty years. On 18 March 1858, the Small Cross was renamed as the Honour Cross (Ehrenkreuz) and a sixth class was established with a gold and silver Merit Medal (Verdienstmedaille). A Merit Cross (Verdienstkreuz) with Swords was added on 29 October 1866 and this was extended on 9 December 1870 with the Merit Cross with Swords on Ring. The medals were abolished on 2 February 1876 and the Knights Cross was split into two classes. On 30 April 1884, a gold Great Cross was added and on 11 June 1890, the Officer's Cross was inserted into the Order between the Knight's Cross 1st Class and the Commander's Cross 2nd Class. So, at its abolition in 1918, the Order was structured thus: :Gold Grand Cross (Goldgroßkreuz) :Grand Cross (Großkreuz) :Commander's Cross 1st Class (Komturkreuz I. Klasse) :Commander's Cross (Komturkreuz II. Klasse) :Officer's Cross (Offizierskreuz) :Knight's Cross 1st Class (Ritterkreuz I. Klasse) :Knight's Cross 2nd Class (Ritterkreuz II. Klasse) :Honour Cross (Ehrenkreuz) :Merit Cross (Verdienstkreuz) with Swords An award of Swords indicated a recipient's bravery in wartime. If, however, a recipient was subsequently awarded a higher grade in the Order, he could lose the bravery distinction attached to the superseded grade (regulations only allowed the display of the insignia of the highest awarded grade). This anomaly was solved in 1906 by allowing the addition of Swords by replacement of insignia. A recipient, however, had to pay the cost of replacement and this appears to have inhibited the numbers of such replacements.

Recipients

* Gold Grand Crosses ** Svasti Sobhana * Grand Crosses ** Abbas II of Egypt ** Albert of Saxony ** Alexander, Margrave of Meissen ** Alfred, 2nd Prince of Montenuovo ** Princess Anna of Saxony (1903–1976) ** Gustav Bachmann ** Friedrich von Bernhardi ** Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg ** Hans Alexis von Biehler ** Gaetano Bisleti ** Herbert von Bismarck ** Moritz von Bissing ** Adolf von Bonin ** Felix Graf von Bothmer ** Rudolf von Brudermann **

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** Hans von Bülow ** Eduard von Capelle ** Rudolf von Delbrück ** Karl Ludwig d'Elsa ** Max von Fabeck ** Eduard von Fransecky ** George, King of Saxony **

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** Heinrich von Gossler ** Gottlieb Graf von Haeseler ** Max von Hausen **

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** Prince Henry of Prussia (1862–1929) **

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** Oskar von Hutier **

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** Georg von Kameke ** Hans von Kirchbach ** Hugo von Kirchbach ** Konstantin of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst ** Ewald von Lochow ** Joseph Maximilian von Maillinger ** Maria Emanuel, Margrave of Meissen **

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** Antoni Wilhelm Radziwiłł ** Wilhelm von Ramming ** Albrecht von Roon **

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** Reinhard Scheer ** Alfred von Schlieffen ** Ehrhard Schmidt ** Ludwig von Schröder **

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** Rudolf Stöger-Steiner von Steinstätten ** Ludwig Freiherr von und zu der Tann-Rathsamhausen ** Alfred von Tirpitz ** Wilhelm von Tümpling ** Julius von Verdy du Vernois ** Victor II, Duke of Ratibor ** Alfred von Waldersee ** Wilhelm Karl, Duke of Urach ** Ferdinand von Zeppelin * Commander's Cross 1st Class **

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** Paul Puhallo von Brlog ** Adolf von Deines **

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** Franz von Hipper ** Maximilian von Laffert **

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** Karl von Plettenberg ** Wilhelm Souchon **

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* Commander's Cross 2nd Class **

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** Karl von Bülow ** Leo von Caprivi **

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** August Leskien ** Karl Max, Prince Lichnowsky ** Christian Otto Mohr ** Hubert von Rebeur-Paschwitz **

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** Emidio Taliani **

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** Ernst Windisch * Officer's Crosses **

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** Paul von Bruns **

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** Friedrich von Gerok (officer) ** Adolf Wild von Hohenborn ** Walther Reinhardt **

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** Walther Schroth ** Otto von Stülpnagel * Knight's Crosses 1st Class **

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** Joachim von Amsberg (general) ** Ludwig Beck ** Werner von Blomberg **

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** Kurt Eberhard ** Waldemar Erfurth **

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** Hermann Geyer ** Curt Haase **

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** Christian Hansen (general) ** Paul von Hase ** Paul Hausser ** Waldemar Henrici **

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** Wilhelm Heye ** Ernst von Hoeppner ** Hugo Richard Jüngst **

Albrecht Kurzwelly Albrecht Alexander August Kurzwelly (20 January 1868 – 8 January 1917) was a German art historian, and founding director of the . Life Kurzwelly was born in 1868 in Leipzig as the son of the physician Martin Liberatus Kurzwelly (1831-1882) fr ...

** Paul Laux ** Felix von Luckner ** Oswald Lutz ** Friedrich Olbricht ** Johann Pflugbeil ** Friedrich Wilhelm Ritschl **

Gustav Schreck Gustav Ernst Schreck (born 8 September 1849 in Zeulenroda; died 22 January 1918 in Leipzig) was a German music teacher, composer and choirmaster of St. Thomas School, Thomasschule zu Leipzig, in Leipzig from 1893 to 1918. Life Schreck was born ...

** Ernst von Schuch **

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** Walter von Unruh ** Heinrich von Vietinghoff ** Hubert Weise ** Walther Wever (general) * Knight's Crosses 2nd Class **

** Karl von Bülow ** Leo von Caprivi **

** August Leskien ** Karl Max, Prince Lichnowsky ** Christian Otto Mohr ** Oskar Potiorek ** Hubert von Rebeur-Paschwitz **

** Emidio Taliani **

* Honour Crosses * Merit Crosses * Unclassified ** Frederick Augustus III of Saxony ** Otto Hahn **

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** Julius Kühn ** Arno von Lenski **

Georg Pittrich George Washington Pittrich (22 February 1870 – 17 March 1934) was a German composer and ''Kapellmeister''. Life Born in Dresden, Pittrich attended the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber from 1884 to 1890, whose curriculum included theo ...

** Friedrich Sixt von Armin ** Vladimir Sukhomlinov **

Anton de Waal Anton Joseph Johann Maria de Waal (5 May 1837 - 23 February 1917) was a German Empire, German Christian archeology, Christian archeologist and Roman Catholic church historian. He established the Collegio Teutonico del Campo Santo and carried out n ...

References

{{Orders of Imperial Germany Orders, decorations, and medals of Saxony Awards established in 1850