Order of the Oak Crown

Order of the Oak Crown
The Order of the Oak Crown is an order of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
History
The Order of the Oak Crown was established in 1841 by Grand Duke William II, who was also King of the Netherlands. At that time, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the Kingdom of the Netherlands were in personal union in which both nations shared the same person as their respective head of state, though remaining as two distinct and independent nations. Although the order was legally a Luxembourgish honour, it was often used by William II and his successor, King-Grand Duke William III, as a house order of the Nassau dynasty to reward Dutch subjects, beyond the control of the Dutch government.
William II conferred membership of the order on fewer than 30 recipients. His successor, William III, liked the ability to confer membership of this order at his sole discretion, and awarded 300 decorations on the day of his investiture alone. In the following years, hundreds of additional awards of the order were made. Indeed, there were so many recipients in the Kingdom of the Netherlands itself that the order was widely (and falsely) regarded as a Dutch honour.
Membership of the Order of the Oak Crown ceased to be awarded to Dutch subjects in 1890, when Queen Wilhelmina, as the only remaining member of the House of Orange-Nassau, succeeded her father as new Queen of the Netherlands. Since the Erneuter Erbverein, the Salic Law-based house-treaty between the two branches of the House of Nassau (the junior branch of Orange-Nassau and the senior branch of Nassau-Weilburg (present-day Luxembourg-Nassau)), did not allow women to succeed to the throne of Luxembourg as long as male heirs of the House of Nassau (in both branches) existed, the throne of Luxembourg went to a German relative of the new Dutch queen, also her maternal great-uncle Adolphe, Duke of Nassau, who became Grand Duke of Luxembourg at age 73. The Order of the Oak Crown remained a solely Luxembourgish honour; subsequently, the Netherlands established the Order of Orange-Nassau instead.
Since the accession of Grand Duke Adolphe, the order has been primarily used as an award for Luxembourgish citizens, although membership has occasionally been conferred on foreigners, mainly on members of foreign royal families or on eminent foreigners with Luxembourgish ancestors.
The Grand Duke of Luxembourg is the Grand Master of the order.
Grades and insignia
Origin
After the abdication of King-Grand Duke William I in 1841, his successor William II granted Luxembourg a written anti-liberal constitution (called the Charter) in order to strengthen his authority over the country. At the same occasion, he established the Order of the Oak Crown with the idea to be able to reward loyal supporters of his regime in liberal-minded Luxembourg.
The badge, the ribbon, and the (then) four-class hierarchy of the order were inspired by the Russian Order of St. George. This was probably due to the fact that William II was married to a daughter of Emperor Paul I of Russia, and that he had received the Order of St. George for his meritorious command in the Battle of Waterloo.
Grades
Nowadays, the order consists of five grades:
Grand Cross – wears the badge on a sash on the right shoulder, and the plaque on the left chest;
Grand Officer – wears the badge on a necklet, and the plaque on the left chest;
Commander – wears the badge on a necklet;
Officer – wears the badge on a chest ribbon with rosette on the left chest;
Knight – wears the badge on a chest ribbon on the left chest;
plus gilt, silver and bronze medals, who wear the medal on a chest ribbon on the left chest.
Insignia
The badge of the order is a gilt cross pattée, enamelled in white; the Officer class has a green enamelled oak wreath between the arms of the cross. The central disc bears the crowned monogram "W" (for William) on a green enamel background.
The plaque of the order is (for Grand Cross) an eight-pointed faceted silver star, or (for Grand Officer) a faceted silver Maltese Cross. The central disc bears the crowned monogram "W" (for William) on a green enamel background, surrounded by a red enamel ring with the motto Je Maintiendrai ("I Will Maintain", now the national motto of the Netherlands), in turn surrounded by a green enamelled oak wreath.
The medal of the order is in an octagonal shape, with the motif of the badge of the Order without enamel on the obverse, and an oak wreath without enamel on the reverse.
The ribbon of the order is yellow-orange moiré with three dark green stripes. The colors are said to be inspired by the oak forests and the fields of rue of the Luxembourg countryside.
Recipients
Grand Crosses
Shinzo Abe
Alexander, Prince of Orange
Alexis, Prince of Bentheim and Steinfurt
Anne, Princess Royal
Beatrix of the Netherlands
Joseph Bech
Prince Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1792–1862)
Xavier Bettel
Otto von Bismarck
Aníbal Cavaco Silva
Charles XV
Charles Augustus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1844–1894)
Charles III of the United Kingdom
Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg
Princess Christina of the Netherlands
Winston Churchill
Francesco Cossiga
Charles de Broqueville
Théophile de Lantsheere
Laurentius Nicolaas Deckers
Rudolf von Delbrück
Édouard Descamps
Augustin Dumon-Dumortier
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Giustino Fortunato (1777–1862)
Prince Frederick of Prussia (1794–1863)
Hans Globke
Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg
Camille Gutt
Dennis Hastert
Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
Prince Henry of the Netherlands (1820–1879)
Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
Jos van Kemenade
Thanat Khoman
Thanom Kittikachorn
Marie-Pierre Kœnig
Frits Korthals Altes
Auguste, Baron Lambermont
Edmond Leburton
Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque
Charles de Limburg Stirum
Ludwig Wilhelm, Prince of Bentheim and Steinfurt
Joseph Luns
Sicco Mansholt
Marcellin Marbot
Princess Margriet of the Netherlands
Jaime de Marichalar
Wilfried Martens
Désiré-Joseph Mercier
Joannes Josephus van Mulken
Nursultan Nazarbayev
Jean-Baptiste Nothomb
Oscar II
Pieter Oud
Maurice de Patoul
Pels Rijcken
Jan Jacob Rochussen
Josef van Schaik
Emil von Schlitz
Poul Schlüter
Willem Scholten
Emmanuel Servais
Walter Bedell Smith
Dirk Stikker
Ludwig Freiherr von und zu der Tann-Rathsamhausen
Iñaki Urdangarin
Achille Van Acker
Victor van Strydonck de Burkel
Pieter van Vollenhoven
Frans Weisglas
Wilhelmina of the Netherlands
Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands
William, Prince of Wied
Johan Witteveen
August zu Eulenburg
Grand Officers
Jozias van Aartsen
François Altwies
Hubert Biermans
Theo Bot
Hans van den Broek
Piet Bukman
Léon Delacroix
Jean Hengen
Clarence R. Huebner
Dolf Joekes
Henk Kamp
Marga Klompé
Rudolf de Korte
Henk Korthals
Ernest Krings
Pierre Lardinois
Auguste Laval
Astrid Lulling
Lunsford E. Oliver
Johan Remkes
Carl Romme
Bauke Roolvink
Onno Ruding
Job de Ruiter
Norbert Schmelzer
Émile Speller
Kees Staf
Edzo Toxopeus
Anne Vondeling
Berend-Jan van Voorst tot Voorst
Commanders
Victor Abens
Willem Albarda
Marie-Claude Beaud
Laurens Jan Brinkhorst
Bill Davidson (businessman)
Wim Deetman
Anthony van der Eb
Jean Favier
Rudi Fuchs
Leendert Ginjaar
Emile Haag
Aloyse Hentgen
Harold Hinde
Jan Kohout
Cornelis Kruseman
René van der Linden
Peter Maurer
Léon Metz
Liz Mohn
Jan Willem Louis van Oordt
Jean-Baptiste Piron
Mikhail Mikhailovich Pleshkov
Gerard Veringa
Joris Voorhoeve
Joseph Weyland
Officers
Father Jean Bernard
Hugo Gernsback
Jean-Marie Halsdorf
Joseph Hollman
Oscar Koch
Nicolae Petrescu-Comnen
Salomon Verveer
Henk Vonhoff
Tjerk Westerterp
Piet van Zeil
Knights
Jules Mersch
Daniel Nordlander
Aat van Rhijn
Jean Soupert
Gold/Gilt Medal
Silver Medal
Bronze Medal
Ridders (Obsolete)
Christoffel Bisschop
Jan Willem van Borselen
Arie Johannes Lamme
Unknown Class
Clare Hibbs Armstrong
Alphonse Berns
Rémy Eiffes
Floris Adriaan van Hall
Berend Heringa
Henry J. Leir
Perle Mesta
Pierre Notting
Théodore Pescatore
Nico Ries
Samuel Sarphati
Nicolaas Scheltema
Otto Schily
Émile Servais
Thaksin Shinawatra
Albertus Willem Sijthoff
Jan Szembek (diplomat)
References
External links
Legislative texts (French & German) :
Mémorial A n° 1 du 3 January 1842, Arrêté royal grand-ducal du 29 décembre 1841, Litt. A, portant institution, pour le Grand-Duché du Luxembourg d'un Ordre de la Couronne de Chêne. (Foundation of the Order)
Mémorial A n° 37 du 16 July 1845, Arrêté royal grand-ducal du 8 juillet 1845, N° 1395, statuant que les insignes de l'ordre de la Couronne de Chêne doivent être renvoyés à la Chancellerie d'État à La Haye après le décès des membres de l'ordre (Decorations of the Order must be returned after death or promotion)
Mémorial A n° 1 du 6 January 1855, Arrêté royal grand-ducal du 2 septembre 1854 concernant les frais de l'Ordre de la Couronne de chêne (Costs of the Order)
Mémorial A n° 6 du 23 February 1858, Arrêté royal grand-ducal du 5 février 1858 modifiant celui du 29 décembre 1841, portant institution de l'Ordre de la Couronne de Chêne (Creation of the rank of Officer)
Mémorial A n° 28 du 5 November 1872, Arrêté royal grand-ducal du 28 octobre 1872 concernant les insignes de l'Ordre de la Couronne de chêne. (Gold medal replaced by a silver-gilt medal)
Mémorial A n° 56 du 24 August 1876, Circulaire du 21 août 1876 – Ordre de la Couronne de chêne. (Return and wearing of decorations)
Honorary distinctions of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg – Official website of the Luxembourg gouvernement
1841 establishments in Luxembourg
Awards established in 1841