Knight’s Cross of the Hohenzollern Order!

[Dave Danner]

Agreed, one of the nicest orders out there.

There are three versions of this order to note. First is the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, a decoration of the ruling house of the Kingdom of Prussia.

Second is the Princely House Order of Hohenzollern, the house order of the Principality of Hohenzollern (located in southwest Germany in what is now Baden-Württemberg). That's the one Alex shows, distinguished by the lack of enamel on the arms of the Knight's Cross, a different motto ("FÜR TREUE UND VERDIENST") and the use of the princely coat of arms rather than the Prussian eagle on the center medallion. Princely Hohenzollern wasn't technically a state of the German Empire, having been absorbed by Prussia in 1849, but the princes retained certain privileges, including the house order, and the former principality had its own regiment in the German Army.

The third version is the Royal Household Order from the Kingdom of Romania. It is distinguished by yet another motto ("NIHIL SINE DEO") and the use of the Romanian eagle on the center medallion. The Romanian ruling family was a branch of the Hohenzollerns. In fact, King Ferdinand I of Romania, who ascended to the throne in 1914, was the younger brother of Wilhelm Fürst von Hohenzollern, the head of the princely house.

Tyler, the HHO you showed up top (which should be credited to Hermann-Historica, which has given me permission to use their images on my site) isn't a Knight's Cross, but a Commander's Cross.

Here, from my site, are two Knight's Cross (one HH, one mine) and a Knight's Eagle (Adler der Ritter), also courtesy of HH. Does anyone have a shot of a Member's Eagle (Adler der Inhaber)?

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[Tom Y]

Posted for Stevenn:

[Tim Tezer]

Rick,

Am I mistaken, or is your friend Ted short-changing himself on that medal bar? That looks like a Hamburg Hanseatic Cross hanging on a ribbon that is intended for a Red Eagle Order. (Of course, it could also be the ribbon of the General Service medal, which is not as exciting.) Any ideas on how that came about?

Tim

[Daniel Krause]

here my small contribution:

A silver gilt Hohenzollern knight WITHOUT swords. 15 times awarded in WW1. This grouping belonged to Ernst Vollbehr, war painter of the Army group German Crown Prince. He used to do his work even in the first trenches, thats why the lot of war decorations.

Best regards

Daniel

[Dave Danner]

Several posts have disappeared from this thread, including a post I had clarifying what I had said in my earlier post regarding the different types.

For the Romanian version, there are two types. The first type is almost identical to the Princely House Order, with the Hohenzollern coat of arms topped by a crown. The motto is the only major difference, with NIHIL SINE DEO ("Nothing without God") substituting for FÜR TREUE UND VERDIENST. The second version has the Hohenzollern shield on the chest a the Romanian eagle, similar to the Royal House Order's use of the Prussian eagle.

Also, the reverses of the Prussian, Princely Hohenzollern and Romanian types each have a different date and a different cypher.