The Wilhelm Order ("Wilhelmsorden") of

Hesse-Kassel The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Kassel), spelled Hesse-Cassel during its entire existence, was a state in the Holy Roman Empire that was directly subject to the Emperor. The state was created in 1567 when the Lan ...

(or Hesse-Cassel) was instituted by the

Elector Elector may refer to: * Prince-elector or elector, a member of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Holy Roman Emperors * Elector, a member of an electoral college ** Confederate elector, a member of ...

Friedrich Wilhelm I on 20 August 1851 as a civil and military Order of Merit. It was composed of the three lower grades of the Order of the Golden Lion and a Grand Cross was added. In total the order was awarded more than 450 times in the 16 years of its existence. The motto of the Order was ''Virtuti et Fidelitate'', and the ribbon was Carmine-red with red and white borders. On 1 August 1866, Hesse-Kassel was annexed by

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

and on 3 October of that same year the Hesse-Kassellian orders were incorporated into the Prussian system of

honours Honour (British English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of social teaching and of personal ethos, that manifests itself as a ...

. On 27 August 1875 the Order was abolished. Although there were no new awards by the Prussian Kings in the 1866–1875 era, the exiled Elector Friedrich Wilhelm I. awarded the order approximately 8 times until his death in 1875. The Order is not to be confused with the exclusive *

Military Order of William The Military William Order, or often named Military Order of William (Dutch: , abbreviation: MWO), is the oldest and highest honour of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is named after St. William of Gellone (755–814), the first Prince of Oran ...

of the Netherlands or *The Wilhelm-Orden of Prussia.

References

Maximilian Gritzner Adolf Maximilian Ferdinand Gritzner (29 July 1843 – 10 July 1902) was a German expert on heraldry and a herald in the Ministry of the Interior in Berlin. His reference book on orders of knighthood was still in print in 2000. Gritzner was b ...

, ''Handbuch der Ritter-und Verdienstorden'' (Leipzig, 1893) * Werner Sauer, ''Die Orden und Ehrenzeichen des Kurfürstentums Hessen-Kassel'' (Hamburg, n.d.) {{Orders of Imperial Germany Orders of chivalry of Germany Orders, decorations, and medals of Hesse 1851 establishments in Germany 1850s in the Electorate of Hesse Establishments in the Electorate of Hesse Awards established in 1851