The Order of St Alexander ( bg, Орден "Свети Александър") was the second highest Bulgarian order during the

Kingdom of Bulgaria The Tsardom of Bulgaria ( bg, Царство България, translit=Tsarstvo Balgariya), also referred to as the Third Bulgarian Tsardom ( bg, Трето Българско Царство, translit=Treto Balgarsko Tsarstvo, links=no), someti ...

. It was established by Knyaz

Alexander I Alexander I may refer to: * Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon 495–454 BC * Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus * Pope Alexander I (died 115), early bishop of Rome * Pope Alexander I of Alexandria (died 320s), patriarch of ...

and named after his patron saint ( Alexander Nevsky).

History

The order was established with a decree on 25 December 1881, in honour of the patron saint of Alexander Battenberg. Initially it was planned to have five grades and a Necklace but subsequently four grades and Grand and Lesser Necklace were formed and in 1908 a Grand Cross was added. With time wartime grades with swords in the middle and above the cross were added. The order was awarded to Bulgarian and foreign citizens with the personal benevolence of the Bulgarian monarch, who was the Grand Master.

Description

The order had a white enamelled

cross pattée A cross pattée, cross patty or cross paty, also known as a cross formy or cross formée (french: croix pattée, german: Tatzenkreuz), is a type of Christian cross with arms that are narrow at the centre, and often flared in a curve or straight ...

with golden or silver edges according to the grade. On the pendant of the obverse there was a stylized inscription with the name of the order and on the surrounding ring there was the motto СЪ НАМИ БОГЪ (God with us) with

laurel wreath A laurel wreath is a round wreath made of connected branches and leaves of the bay laurel (), an aromatic broadleaf evergreen, or later from spineless butcher's broom (''Ruscus hypoglossum'') or cherry laurel (''Prunus laurocerasus''). It is a s ...

s below. On the reverse there was a white background with inscription 19 ФЕВРАЛЪ 1878 (19 February 1878) - the date of the signing of the

Treaty of San Stefano The 1878 Treaty of San Stefano (russian: Сан-Стефанский мир; Peace of San-Stefano, ; Peace treaty of San-Stefano, or ) was a treaty between the Russian and Ottoman empires at the conclusion of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-18 ...

. Atop the cross was a royal crown. The first grade was worn with a crimson moire ribbon over the right shoulder with a rosette in the edge. It had its own eight-ray silver star with the obverse of the order placed in the middle. The Grand necklace consisted of thirty interconnected medallions with crowned lions, alternated with the monogram of the founder Knyaz Alexander I and eight edges

Orthodox cross The Russian Orthodox Cross (or just the Orthodox Cross by some Russian Orthodox traditions) is a variation of the Christian cross since the 16th century in Russia, although it bears some similarity to a cross with a bottom crossbeam slanted the ...

. There was a special issue with two field marshal's batons which belonged to

Tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the ter ...

Ferdinand Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...

. The Lesser Necklace was similar to the Grand Necklace but in smaller size. The Grand Cross, established in 1908, was also similar to the initial issue but the cross was enamelled in green and in the middle of the pendant was placed a crowned Bulgarian lion. The star was of similar design with green ring around the crowned lion on red background. The other grades are like the first issue but smaller in size. The sixth grade was made in silver without enamel over the shoulders of the cross. The Ottoman sultans Abdul Hamid II and

Mehmed V Mehmed V Reşâd ( ota, محمد خامس, Meḥmed-i ḫâmis; tr, V. Mehmed or ; 2 November 1844 – 3 July 1918) reigned as the 35th and penultimate Ottoman Sultan (). He was the son of Sultan Abdulmejid I. He succeeded his half-brother ...

were respectively awarded the Grand and Lesser Necklace of the Order of St Alexander with diamonds. They are currently kept in the collection of the

Topkapı Palace The Topkapı Palace ( tr, Topkapı Sarayı; ota, طوپقپو سرايى, ṭopḳapu sarāyı, lit=cannon gate palace), or the Seraglio, is a large museum in the east of the Fatih district of Istanbul in Turkey. From the 1460s to the complet ...

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

Grades

*Great Cross of the Order of St Alexander, Grand and Lesser Necklace *I grade, Grand Cross. Awarded to senior state officers and military personnel. It was worn with a scarf over the shoulder. *II grade, Grand Officer Cross. The cross was with white enamel, it was worn with red ribbon and had a star. *III grade, Commander Cross. The cross was with white or green enamel (according to the emission), it was worn with red ribbon and had no star. *IV grade, Officer Cross. The cross was with white enamel, it was worn on the chest with triangle red ribbon with rosette, it had no star. *V grade, Officer Cross. The cross was with white enamel, it was worn on the chest with triangle red ribbon, it had no star. *VI grade, Silver Cross. The cross was made of silver with no enamel, it was worn on the chest with triangle red ribbon, it had no star.

Notable recipients

;I grade, Grand Cross * Abdul Hamid II *

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* Sergey Gorshkov * Wilhelm von Hahnke * Ulrich von Hassell * Prince Henry of Prussia (1862–1929) * Prince Henry of Battenberg * Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin * Paul von Hindenburg * Prince Konrad of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst * Dietrich von Hülsen-Haeseler * Nikola Ivanov * Duke John Albert of Mecklenburg * Archduke Joseph August of Austria * Archduke Joseph Karl of Austria * Karl August, 10th Prince of Thurn and Taxis * Gustav von Kessel * Stiliyan Kovachev * Hermann Kövess von Kövessháza * Prince Kuni Kuniyoshi * Aleksey Kuropatkin * Vasil Kutinchev * Kyril, Prince of Preslav * Velizar Lazarov * Archduke Leopold Ferdinand of Austria * Archduke Leopold Salvator of Austria * Émile Loubet * Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse * Prince Louis of Battenberg * August von Mackensen * Maria of Yugoslavia * Princess Marie Louise of Bourbon-Parma * Prince Maximilian of Baden * Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia * Milan I of Serbia * Jovan Mišković * Helmuth von Moltke the Younger * Benito Mussolini * Sava Mutkurov * Nicholas II of Russia * Prince Nicholas of Romania * Danail Nikolaev * Prince Paul of Yugoslavia * Prince Pedro Augusto of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha * Racho Petrov * Philipp, Landgrave of Hesse * Prince Philippe, Duke of Orléans (1869–1926) * Hans von Plessen * Erich Raeder * Prince Rudolf of Liechtenstein * Mihail Savov * Margarita Saxe-Coburg-Gotha * Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia * Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich of Russia * Duke Siegfried August in Bavaria * Zahari Stoyanov * Alfred von Tirpitz * Georgi Todorov (general) * Stefan Toshev * Stefan Tsanev * Umberto II of Italy * Prince Valdemar of Denmark * Illarion Vorontsov-Dashkov * Prince Waldemar of Prussia (1889–1945) * Wilhelm II, German Emperor * Wilhelm, German Crown Prince * William Ernest, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach * William, Prince of Hohenzollern * Sergei Witte * Nikola Zhekov * Arthur Zimmermann * August zu Eulenburg ;II grade, Grand Officer Cross * Kliment Boyadzhiev * Cevat Çobanlı * Ivan Fichev * Julius Ringel * Ferdinand Schörner * Konstantin Zhostov ;III grade, Commander Cross * Rolf Andvord * Wladimir Giesl von Gieslingen * Panteley Kiselov * Ivan Kolev (general) * Konstantin Lukash * Hristo Lukov * Aleksandar Protogerov * Vladimir Sukhomlinov * Ivan Valkov ;IV or V grade, Officer Cross * Petar Darvingov * Heinrich Jacobi (archaeologist) * Stefan Nerezov * Rudolf Toussaint * Damyan Velchev * Pencho Zlatev ;VI grade, Silver Cross ;Unknown Grades * Michail Arnaudov * Hans Baur * Friedrich von Boetticher * Georgi Bogdanov * Michael von Faulhaber * Friedrich von Georgi * Hristo Matov * Hans Michahelles * Igor Moiseyev * Stevan Mokranjac * Dumitru C. Moruzi * Eberhard Graf von Schmettow * Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha * Vladimir Vazov

References

* {{cite book , last = Miller , first = Michael , title = Leaders Of The Storm Troops Volume 1 , publisher = Helion & Company , location = England, year = 2015 , isbn = 978-1-909982-87-1

Sources

*„Каталог Български ордени и медали“. Веселин Денков *„Българските ордени и медали 1878 - 2002“. Тодор Петров *„Ордени и медали в България“. 1998 Тодор Петров *„Българска Енциклопедия от А-Я“. 2005 Авторски колектив към БАН Military awards and decorations of Bulgaria Orders of chivalry of Bulgaria Awards established in 1881 1881 establishments in Bulgaria