In 1890 King William III of the Netherlands, who was also Grand Duke William III of Luxembourg, died with no direct male heir. This wasn't a problem for the Netherlands, as we have seen previously that his daughter, Wilhelmina, ascended that Throne. Luxembourg, however, was governed at the time by a house law which prevented women from ascending the Throne and so Adolph, the reigning Duke of Nassau and a not-so-distant cousin of William III, became the Grand Duke. (This law had to be sorted out in the 20th Century.) Wilhelmina's mother, Queen Emma, who acted as Regent until her daughter came of age, was Adolph's niece.
Despite the split and the retention of several Orders as purely Luxembourg decorations, both branches of the House of Nassau share the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau.
Only the Greater Arms of the Grand Duke himself shows an order of chivalry and that, surprisingly, is the Riband and Badge of the Order of the Oak Crown. This is stipulated in the Royal Decree of 23rd June 2001 - http://data.legilux.public.lu/eli/etat/leg/agd/2001/06/23/n1/jo This was also stipulated for his father, Grand Duke Jean in 1972. The 2001 Decree states that Jean's Arms were not changed. No order of chivalry is noted in any other royal decree for the Grand Duke's smaller and medium Coats of Arms. Neither does his eldest son and heir, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume, have any order of chivalry stipulated, even though he has been invested with all top three Luxembourg Orders. His Royal Decree was issued on 31st October 2012 and appears to confirm only smaller and greater Arms for him and no medium Arms - http://data.legilux.public.lu/eli/etat/leg/agd/2012/10/31/n1/jo |
Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau
We saw in the previous Blog for the Netherlands that the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau is shared by the two branches of the House of Nassau (the Ottonian and Walramian lines), effectively the Netherlands and Luxembourg. With the break in 1890, the new Grand Duke Adolph, of the elder Walramian line, made this the highest Luxembourg national order and it is bestowed by the Grand Duke of Luxembourg. William had been more enthusiastic about the Order than Adolph would be. None of the changes made by William III were confirmed by Adolph and in 1892 he abolished the grades that William had created unilaterally and, to this day, the Order has maintained just one grade, that of Knight. The Order was exclusively male at the time and, as far as royalty was concerned, was restricted to 'princes'. In 1905, after her Inauguration and having married, Adolph agreed with Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands to once again share sovereignty of the Order between both ruling branches of the House of Nassau. Both Heads of State remain joint Grand Masters of the Order. While only a house order in the Netherlands, the Golden Lion became the highest order in Luxembourg. Princes receive the Order upon birth and Princesses now receive it upon reaching the age of majority. |
If we look back, it was all the brainchild of Adolph in the first place and dates back to the mid 1850s. (Adolph was born in 1817 and so was 73 when he became Grand Duke of Luxembourg.) The Duchy itself had neither a house order nor an order of merit at that time, which was especially problematic when he visited fellow heads of states and wanted to bestow them with an honour. Besides the official reasoning - to show the unity between the two branches of the same family - Duke Adolph also had in mind to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Duchy of Nassau. he approached dignitaries in both the Netherlands and Luxembourg in 1857 and in the September of the same year sent a proposal to William III. His first suggestion for a name - the House Order of Count Henry II of Nassau ("The Rich") - was declined by the Dutch as it was too near the name of William's unpopular brother who also happened to be the Governor of Luxembourg! It was the Walram line which suggested the Golden Lion as the symbol united both branches.
William was keen to get Luxembourg involved, especially with the costs, but also because the Grand Duchy only had the rather low-ranking Order of the Oak Crown. He asked his brother to consult the Luxembourg Government. Despite some initial concerns about whether the Order was actually necessary, the government agreed in the end.
As the highest order of merit in the Grand Duchy, the Golden Lion is very exclusive. Today the following criteria are given out by the Luxembourg Government:
“The Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau can be conferred on sovereigns and on princes of sovereign houses and, nowadays, also on heads of state, for meritorious service to the Grand Duke and country.”
Order of Civil and Military Merit of Adolph of Nassau
The Order of Civil and Military Merit of Adolph of Nassau was created by Grand Duke Adolph on 8th May 1858, when he was again still Duke of Nassau, in honor of his namesake and ancestor, Adolph, Count of Nassau, the only member of the House of Nassau to have been elected King of the Romans (King of Germany), although he was never crowned by the Pope, which would have secured him the title of Holy Roman Emperor. The modern Adolph's Monogram rather than that of his forefather appears on the front and the years '1292' - when Count Adolf was elected - and '1858' - the year of the Order's founding - appear on the reverse After the Duchy of Nassau was annexed by Prussia in 1866 the Order became dormant, but when Adolph became Grand Duke of Luxembourg in 1890 he restored it. The statutes of the Order have changed several times - by 1909, the Order had eight grades! - and last time they were modified was in 1927. The Riband is Nassau blue with orange edges, basically the revers of the Golden Lion, just like the Dutch Order of the Netherlands Lion. There is a military grade which shows crossed Swords on the Badge and the Star. |
Order of the Oak Crown
The Order of the Oak Crown was established in 1841 by Grand Duke William II who felt a need for a Luxembourg order of merit and wanted to add luster to the establishment of the first Luxembourg constitution. The Riband, the original division into four classes and the shape of the cross of the order were inspired by the Russian Order of Saint George. William II was, after all, married to a daughter of the Tsar and was himself awarded that Order for his role in the Battle of Waterloo. Despite being a member of the German Confederation, Luxembourg was administered as a Dutch province. In 1841 William II (also King of the Netherlands) decided that the Grand Duchy would have its own constitution which came into effect on 1st January 1842, its own government with administrative separation on 13th September 1841, and its own parliament. The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg received its own Order of Chivalry on 29th December 1841, i.e. before the new Constitution (called The Charter) came into effect. This meant a number of imperfections which needed to be ironed out later. There are several stories about how the Order came by its name, though no one really knows. One story behind the Order says that William expressed surprise at the blooming broom against the green of the Ösling forests, which would go towards explaining the colours of the Riband. However, the Russian Order of Saint George is also striped, but orange-yellow and black. The 1815 "Law on the Institution of the Order of the Netherlands Lion" was more or less copied. |
The order was conferred 5826 times in the period 1841-1891. The first appointments were made to the Dutch and Luxembourg Royal Family. William II's brother Prince Frederik and William II's sons, Princes William, Alexander and Hendrik, were appointed Grand Cross on 1st January 1842. It is not clear whether Prince Frederick's four-year-old son Frederik Jr. receivd the Oak Crown, but he died 5 years later. King-Grand Duke William I, who went through life as Count of Nassau after his Abdication in 1840, and Duke Adolf of Nassau were probably appointed Grand Crosses, but there is no certainty about this. In the numbered list of Grand Crosses, the Princes from the Houses of Oranje-Nassau and Nassau are not consistently included.
Unlike in the Netherlands, where ministers were politically responsible for the Royal Decrees in which orders of knighthood and other decorations were awarded, the Luxembourg government allowed the King-Grand Duke free rein in his decoration policy. William II was known for his thrift, like his father, and conferred the Order of the Oak Crown 30 times. His successor William III was very pleased with a decoration that he could hand out at his discretion and awarded 300 crosses on the day of his inauguration alone! In order to keep the Dutch Order of the Netherlands Lion exclusive and the House of Representatives, which consistently objected to the budget overruns of the Chancellery of the Dutch Knighthoods, happy, William very rarely published Dutch appointments in the Government Gazette, if at all, and mention in the Luxembourg Mémorial, the Luxembourg Government Gazette, did not make sense for appointments of non-Luxembourgers, therefore, a number of appointments were not published anywhere. William usually agreed to award "his" Luxembourg decorations and so treated the Order of the Oak Crown largely as a House Order. This is why, when Luxembourg orders were no longer available to the Dutch monarch and his government after 1890, the Order of Orange-Nassau was founded in 1892, amongst others.
When Adolph became Grand Duke in 1890 and Wilhelmina became Queen of the Netherlands, Adolph became Grand Master of the Order of the Oak Crown and the Order again became a purely Luxembourg decoration. The new Grand Duke and his successors ruled strictly according to the Constitution and Luxembourg orders were subsequently conferred under ministerial responsibility and mainly to subjects of Luxembourg. In addition, a number of members of European royal families, including Prince Claus of the Netherlands, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, and Princess Anne, The Princess Royal, have also received the Order. If it is awarded to foreign nationals, the approval of the proposed recipient's government is required.
Like the other Luxembourg orders, the Order of the Oak Crown is usually awarded on the National Day, 23rd June. The Grand Duke awards it upon the recommendation and with the countersignature of the Prime Minister as the head of the government.
Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
After five to ten years of discussion, the Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg was created by Grand-Ducal decree on 23rd January 1961, marking the 65th birthday of Grand Duchess Charlotte. After the end of the Second World War the Cour Grand Ducal as well as the Luxembourg Government saw the need to create an order to reward professional achievements or meritorious services in other sectors. The Order of the Oak Crown was normally awarded for these kinds of things, but between 1945 and the early 1960s it was awarded quite too often and the officials thought that the value of the Order was at risk. |
It is a most attractive order with its use of a deep shade of red and the lighter shade of blue used on the Luxembourg Flag. The reverse of the Medallion (not shown here) bears Grand Duchess Charlotte's Cypher.
The Order of Merit is awarded on the National Day to deputies, state councillors, civil servants, elected representatives and personnel of municipal administrations, key players in the economic, social, cultural or sport sectors as well as volunteers. It can also be awarded to foreigners, although the foreign government has to approve. The silver-gilt medal is awarded to centenarians and for acts of rescue. It is awarded by the Grand Duke with the countersignature of the Prime Minister, who also nominates people for the order.