The duchy Brunswick; real nice to
collect, since some experts wrote a book about this
topic some years ago. A book that tells about orders and
medals, the history and a lot of other things. Very
interesting is the chapter about the number of awards.
Disappointing, if you plan to collect Brunswick orders
until getting a complete collection. Everyone will get
to a limit, when it comes to try to buy the pieces with
swords.
You will find the following numbers:
| Class: |
Awards without
swords |
Awards with
swords |
| Grand Cross |
473 |
36
|
| Cross 1st class |
120 |
2
|
| Commanders Cross
1st class |
523 |
36
|
| Commanders Cross
2nd class |
903 |
59
|
| Officers Cross |
228 |
3
|
| Knights Cross 1st
class |
1778 |
109 |
| Knights Cross 2nd
class |
1837 |
51
|
| Cross 4th class |
532 |
1
|
It is amazing, if a piece comes
up. Nevertheless I was able to get such a piece several
years ago. A Knight Cross with swords.
It was a real joy, when I proved, that it was an
original and not somehow assembled. You also have to
know , that there are two different kinds with swords
with different award numbers. First of all, there is the
type that had swords under the cross, as awarded from
12.09.1870 on. Second there is the type with swords
through the middle, awarded from 15.03.1909 on.
The award number is the following
( taken from the book written by Reckewell & Fischer ):
| |
Swords under the Cross |
Swords through die middle |
|
Knights Cross 2nd class |
49
|
2
|
Amazing, one of two original
pieces !? Well I bought a second piece a year later and
I couldn't believe owning the only two pieces. Indeed,
one of them was a piece made with swords under the
cross, but as these pieces were very fragile, swords
tended to break off. What obviously happened, was that
after the change of the statues, the swords were
attached to the cross in the new way. It couldn't be a
piece given back to the orders chancellery, after the
death of the bearer, so recipients in Brunswick didn't
have to return pieces for war merit with swords until
1909.
It is anyway questionable if the
numbers, given in the book of Reckewell/Fischer is
complete.
Source: [1] Stätisches
Museum Braunschweig; Arbeitsberichte; Roger Reckewell/Jens
Fischer:“Orden, Ehren- und Abzeichen des Herzogtums
Braunschweig Lüneburg von 1809 bis 1918“; 1987
© A. Schulze Ising,
VII/99
|