Order of Merit of the Principality of Liechtenstein
Less romantically, it is argued that Liechtenstein had lost his vast possessions in Bohemia and Hungary after the First World War and, now that there was no longer an Imperial court in Vienna, Prince Franz I turned his attention for the first time to his small, remote Principality. In order to establish a new and effective government there, an order with five degrees was established.
Although of Jewish descent, Elisabeth had been baptised a Catholic in 1899 at the age of 24. She had also been married before Franz, but her first husband, Hungarian Baron Géza Erős of Bethlenfalva, had died in 1908. As Princess, Elisabeth participated in official ceremonies, visited and founded institutions, visited the poor, and became quite popular. In early 1938, just after the annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany, 84-year-old Prince Franz I relinquished decision-making to his 31-year-old grandnephew, who would later succeed him as Prince Franz Joseph II. Franz died not long afterwards, on 25th July 1938 and Elsa went to live at Semmering Pass, until she went into exile in Switzerland, where she died at Vitznau on Lake Lucerne in 1947. |
The Curious Case of the Differing Stripes
Strangely enough, the Statute for establishing the Order (www.gesetze.li/konso/1937.012) carried on Lichtenstein's State Government website (www.llv.li/) shows the Riband as being red with 2 blue stripes, one towards each edge. There are precise dimensions from back in 1937 laying down how wide each stripe is for every degreee of the Order and they all follow the same pattern. As the photograph here shows, there is a distinctive red stripe at the edge. That is shown as well in the photographs of the Lichtenstein Royal family shown at the top and changes to the Order in 1967 do not appear appear to affect the basic stripes of the Riband. The Secretariat of the Ruling Prince confirms the Riband as shown here: thin red stripes at the edge, slightly wider blue stripes moving inwards and a broad red stripe in the middle. The Riband is tied slightly differently for certain degrees. So, why do other photographs show a Riband simply split in two, red and blue, as shown above? There may be some confusion with the Medal of Merit, which was set up on the same day as the Order but separately. The Medal is not listed as a grade of the Order. The website of the Princely House shows, however, the same Riband for the Medal as for the Order, but the Medal itself, with gold and silver versions, is distinct as the arms of the Cross are not enamalled. To add to the confusion, while members of the Princely Family wear the Riband and Star for Foreign Royal events, they usually wear the badge suspended from a medal ribbon for the men and a bow for the ladies within the Principality. In the Statute for the Order these are called "Small Decorations" and have their own heading (No. V). | |