The House and Merit Order of Duke Peter Frederick Louis (German: Haus und Verdienstorden von Herzog Peter Friedrich Ludwig) or proper German Oldenburg House and Merit Order of Duke Peter Frederick Louis (German: Oldenburgischer Haus- und Verdienstorden des Herzogs Peter Friedrich Ludwig) was a civil and military order of the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, a member state of the German Empire. The order was founded by Grand Duke Augustus of Oldenburg on 27 November 1838, to honor his father, Peter Frederick Louis of Oldenburg. It became obsolete in 1918 after the abdication of the last grand duke.

Description The badge of the order was a white-enameled cross pattée, edged in gold. The cross had a blue enameled center medallion with the crowned monogram of the Peter Frederick Louis in gold. Around the center medallion was a red-enameled ring bearing the motto "Ein Gott, Ein Recht, Eine Wahrheit" ("One God, One Law, One Truth"). Both the center medallion and the ring were edged with a gold rim. On the reverse, the coat of arms of Oldenburg were painted on the medallion. Each arm on the reverse carried dates written in a cursive script: "17 Jan. 1775", "6 Juli 1785", "21 Mai 1829", and "27 Nov. 1838". These dates corresponded to the dates of birth, accession to the throne and death of Peter Frederick Louis, as well as the date of the founding of the order.

The star of the order was an eight-pointed silver star bearing the medallion of the badge.

The ribbon of the order was deep blue with a narrow red stripe near each edge.

Classes

The order came in seven classes: Grand Cross with Crown (Großkreuz mit der Krone), Grand Cross (Großkreuz), Grand Commander (Großkomtur), Commander (Komtur), Officer (Offizier), and Knight 1st and 2nd Class (Ritter 1. und 2. Klasse). The Grand Cross with Crown and the Grand Cross consisted of a sash badge and breast star. The Grand Commander consisted of a neck badge and breast star, while the Commander was the neck badge without the star. The Officer's Cross, added in 1903, was a pinback breast badge and differed from the other badges by having a blank reverse and no crown. The Knight 1st and 2nd Class were breast badges, and the 2nd Class differed from the 1st class by not having a crown and being in silver instead of gold (the monogram and motto remained gold, however).

A special chapter of the order, the capitular knights, open only to Oldenburgers, had a badge which consisted of the medallion, surrounded by a green enameled wreath of oak leaves. It came in several classes whose badge differed in whether it was gold or silver and whether it was crowned.

Associated with the order were honor crosses for lower-ranking military personnel and civilians. The honor crosses were in gold, silver and iron. In 1910, gold, silver and bronze medals were added as additional lower-ranking awards.

All grades of the order except the medals could be awarded with swords for war merit. The swords were applied diagonally between the arms of the cross. If a recipient of a lower grade with swords received a higher grade without, he wore "swords on ring" on the higher award. These were crossed swords above the badge, usually on the ring from which the badge was suspended (in the case of the Officer's Cross, they were affixed to the top arm). In October 1918, an additional provision was made for a war decoration of a wreath of laurels affixed to the badge and breast star.

Recipients

Grand Crosses

Abbas II of Egypt Abdulaziz Prince Adalbert of Bavaria (1828–1875) Prince Adalbert of Prussia (1811–1873) Prince Adalbert of Prussia (1884–1948) Prince Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe Duke Adolf Friedrich of Mecklenburg Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg Adolphus Frederick V, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Albert I of Belgium Prince Albert of Prussia (1809–1872) Prince Albert of Saxe-Altenburg Albert of Saxony Prince Albert of Prussia (1837–1906) Albrecht, Duke of Württemberg Alexander II of Russia Alexander III of Russia Alexander Frederick, Landgrave of Hesse Alexander of Battenberg Duke Alexander of Oldenburg Prince Alexander of Prussia Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia Prince Alfons of Bavaria Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz Alfred, 2nd Prince of Montenuovo Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich of Russia Augustus, Grand Duke of Oldenburg Bernhard III, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg Herbert von Bismarck Otto von Bismarck Leonhard Graf von Blumenthal Max von Boehn (general) Walther Bronsart von Schellendorff Bernhard von Bülow Karl von Bülow Eduard von Capelle Leo von Caprivi Carol I of Romania Prince Charles of Prussia Charles I of Württemberg Charles Alexander, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Charles Augustus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1844–1894) Chlodwig, Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst Christian VIII of Denmark Christian X of Denmark Christoph, Prince of Schleswig-Holstein Duke Constantine Petrovich of Oldenburg Rudolf von Delbrück Edward VII Prince Eitel Friedrich of Prussia Duke Elimar of Oldenburg Prince Ernest Augustus, 3rd Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg Duke Eugen of Württemberg (1846–1877) Eduard von Fransecky Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria Franz Joseph I of Austria Archduke Franz Karl of Austria Frederick Augustus II, Grand Duke of Oldenburg Frederick Augustus III of Saxony Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse Frederick Francis II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Frederick Francis III, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Frederick Francis IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Frederick I, Duke of Anhalt Frederick I, Grand Duke of Baden Frederick II, Grand Duke of Baden Frederick III, German Emperor Prince Frederick of Prussia (1794–1863) Prince Frederick of Württemberg Frederick William III, Landgrave of Hesse Frederick William IV of Prussia Frederick William, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Prince Frederick of the Netherlands Friedrich Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia (1828–1885) Prince Friedrich Leopold of Prussia Frederik VII of Denmark Frederik VIII of Denmark Georg, Crown Prince of Saxony Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen Georg Alexander, Duke of Mecklenburg Duke Georg August of Mecklenburg-Strelitz George V of Hanover George Albert, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Prince George of Prussia George, King of Saxony George Victor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont Günther Friedrich Karl II, Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen Gustaf V Gustaf VI Adolf Prince Harald of Denmark Leopold Freiherr von Hauer Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Prince Henry of Prussia (1862–1929) Prince Henry of the Netherlands (1820–1879) Paul von Hindenburg Henning von Holtzendorff Dietrich von Hülsen-Haeseler Isma'il Pasha Prince Joachim of Prussia Archduke John of Austria Prince Johann of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg John of Saxony Duke John Albert of Mecklenburg Archduke Joseph Karl of Austria Joseph, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg Georg von Kameke Karl Anton, Prince of Hohenzollern Karl, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg Hans von Koester Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia Prince Kraft of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen Leopold I of Belgium Leopold II of Belgium Leopold IV, Duke of Anhalt George Maximilianovich, 6th Duke of Leuchtenberg Louis III, Grand Duke of Hesse Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse Erich Ludendorff Ludwig I of Bavaria Ludwig II of Bavaria Ludwig III of Bavaria Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria Edwin Freiherr von Manteuffel Georg von der Marwitz Maximilian II of Bavaria Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich of Russia Milan I of Serbia Helmuth von Moltke the Elder Prince Moritz of Saxe-Altenburg Georg Alexander von Müller Nicholas I of Russia Nicholas II of Russia Nicholas Alexandrovich, Tsesarevich of Russia Grand Duke Nicholas Konstantinovich of Russia Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia (1831–1891) Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia (1856–1929) August Ludwig von Nostitz Otto of Greece Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia Duke Paul Frederick of Mecklenburg Peter II, Grand Duke of Oldenburg Duke Peter of Oldenburg Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich of Russia Philipp, Prince of Eulenburg Karl von Plettenberg Prince Frederick William of Hesse-Kassel Antoni Wilhelm Radziwiłł Albrecht von Roon Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria Reinhard Scheer Eberhard Graf von Schmettow Gustav von Senden-Bibran Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich of Russia Dmitry Shcherbachev Archduke Stephen of Austria (Palatine of Hungary) Otto Graf zu Stolberg-Wernigerode Tewfik Pasha Alfred von Tirpitz Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia Alfred von Waldersee Wilhelm, German Crown Prince Wilhelm II, German Emperor Wilhelmina of the Netherlands William I of Württemberg William I, German Emperor William II of Württemberg Prince William of Baden (1829–1897) Prince William of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld Duke William of Mecklenburg-Schwerin William, Duke of Brunswick William, Prince of Hohenzollern William Ernest, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Friedrich Graf von Wrangel

Commanders

Wilhelm Heye Oskar von Hutier Hans von Kirchbach Hubert von Rebeur-Paschwitz Alfred von Schlieffen Julius von Verdy du Vernois

Knights 1st Class

Joachim von Amsberg (general) Friedrich Boedicker Alexander von Falkenhausen

Fritz von Loßberg

Knights 2nd Class

Franz Ritter von Epp Heino von Heimburg Erich Raeder Otto Schultze Alf Scott-Hansen Sr.

Unclassified

Christian Griepenkerl Karl Wilhelm Heinrich von Kleist Peter II, Grand Duke of Oldenburg Arkady Skugarevsky

References and notes

This article incorporates information translated from the 4th Edition of Meyers Konversations-Lexikon, a German encyclopedia now in the public domain published between 1885 and 1892 by the Bibliographisches Institut Leipzig und Wien. Robert Werlich, Orders and Decorations of all Nations (Quaker Press, 2nd edition 1974). Das Kapitularzeichen des Haus und Verdienst Ordens des Herzogs Peter Friedrich Ludwig, an article on the badge of the capitular knights from the website Imperial German Orders, Medals & Decorations / Kaiserlich Deutsche Orden & Ehrenzeichen