- Wilhelm-Orden
The "Wilhelm-Orden" (English "William-Order") was instituted on the 18th January 1896 by the Emperor of Germany and King of Prussia William II, and was dedicated to the memory of his grandfather Emperor William I "the Great". Like the civil class of "Pour le Mérite", the Wilhelm-Orden was intended as a high award for service to science and the arts. The insignia of the Order consisted of a golden
medal with the portrait of William I, surrounded by a golden wreath and suspended from a heavy golden collar. This collar with a weight of 222 grams bore the words "WIRKE IM ANDENKEN AN KAISER WILHELM DEN GROSSEN" (English: "Work in the memory of Emperor William the Great") and was designed by the jewellers Emil Weigand en Otto Schultz.The order was very exclusive. One of the first to be decorated was
Otto von Bismarck . Also among the recepients was physician and Nobel laureateRobert Koch .There are other decorations with this or a similar name:
*The highest decoration for valour in the
Netherlands is theMilitary Order of William (1815)
*The elector ofHesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel) instituted a "Wilhelmsorden " in 1851 in honor ofFriedrich Wilhelm I of Hesse.External links
Picture on [http://www.dhm.de/magazine/orden/abbs/002.htm]
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