Carol I

If you think it is necessary, lock this topic and leave only the "Dutch" one at the link above.

Could you please give some details on the uniform and the decorations in the photo above? Close-up of the decorations.

Dr. Ilarie (Ilarion, Hilarie, Hilarion) Mitrea had a most interesting career in the second half of the 19th century, being in the service of three states on three continents. Here are some details of his remarkable life. Ilarie Mitrea was born on 6 May 1842 in a Romanian family from the Transylvanian village of Răşinari (at that time in the Austrian Empire and known in German as St?dterdorf). He studied medicine in Cluj and Vienna and in 1864 he obtained a doctoral degree from the University of W?rzburg. After serving for a few months as a military medic of the Austrian Army in the Mediterranean garrison at Pola he became part of Maximilian's expeditionary corps to Mexico. After Maximilian's execution in 1867, Dr. Mitrea worked briefly (until the end of the year) in the service of the Mexican republic of Benito Ju?rez. Upon returning to his native village in 1868, Dr. Mitrea was harassed by the local authorities who threatened to charge him with treason (even though he entered the Mexican service only after becoming unemployed following the failure of Maximilian's expedition). The real reason was probably the general persecution of ethnic Romanian intellectuals as part of the Hungarisation policy introduced following Austria's 1867 cessation of Transylvania to Hungary. Disappointed by the unfair harassment, in 1870 Dr. Mitrea enrolled as captain in the Dutch Army with the name Hilarion Mitrea and served for 21 years as military medic in the Dutch colonies in Asia. There, Dr. Mitrea gathered an important collection of specimens from the local fauna that was donated in 1882 to the National History Museum in the Romanian capital of Bucharest. In 1891 he retired from the Dutch Army with the rank of General Medic. He briefly returned to his native Transylvanian village and then settled in Vienna where he died in 1904. He had two children. One of them settled in Switzerland after studying there and the other one in Romania. If you find any further details about this officer, please let me know. Thank you. I have also posted this short biography in the Austrian section.

Dr. Ilarie (Ilarion, Hilarie, Hilarion) Mitrea had a most interesting career in the second half of the 19th century, being in the service of three states on three continents. Here are some details of his remarkable life. Ilarie Mitrea was born on 6 May 1842 in a Romanian family from the Transylvanian village of Răşinari (at that time in the Austrian Empire and known in German as St?dterdorf). He studied medicine in Cluj and Vienna and in 1864 he obtained a doctoral degree from the University of W?rzburg. After serving for a few months as a military medic of the Austrian Army in the Mediterranean garrison at Pola he became part of Maximilian's expeditionary corps to Mexico. After Maximilian's execution in 1867, Dr. Mitrea worked briefly (until the end of the year) in the service of the Mexican republic of Benito Ju?rez. Upon returning to his native village in 1868, Dr. Mitrea was harassed by the local authorities who threatened to charge him with treason (even though he entered the Mexican service only after becoming unemployed following the failure of Maximilian's expedition). The real reason was probably the general persecution of ethnic Romanian intellectuals as part of the Hungarisation policy introduced following Austria's 1867 cessation of Transylvania to Hungary. Disappointed by the unfair harassment, in 1870 Dr. Mitrea enrolled as captain in the Dutch Army with the name Hilarion Mitrea and served for 21 years as military medic in the Dutch colonies in Asia. There, Dr. Mitrea gathered an important collection of specimens from the local fauna that was donated in 1882 to the National History Museum in the Romanian capital of Bucharest. In 1891 he retired from the Dutch Army with the rank of General Medic. He briefly returned to his native Transylvanian village and then settled in Vienna where he died in 1904. He had two children, one of them settled in Switzerland after studying there and the other one in Romania. If you find any further details about this officer, please let me know. Thank you. I will also post this short biography in the Dutch section.

Further images of this order have been posted by Christophe in the thread on Orders and Medals of the Mus?e National de la L?gion d'Honneur.

The Chancelley of Orders has some images of this rare order. Collar Grand Cross - obverse Grand Cross - reverse Grand Cross star

That is a generic picture, Megan, as I presumed that the order will use the old insignia. The novelty is indeed that there will be a knight class in the organisation of the new dynastic order.

There is no information on the manufacturers in the regulations of the order.

There is a monarchic movement, but it is very small.

The order will be awarded by the head of the royal family. Now the position is held by King Mihai.

You are welcome. I thought you might find it interesting. I do not qualify it in any way. Apparently it is now only a dynastic order after being the first order of the Romanian national system of decorations for more than 40 years. According to Article II of the regulation it will be awarded as a recognition of the merits of Romanian and foreign personalities. More details regarding the award criteria are in Article III of the regulation, but I will do a translation lately. The actual national system of decorations of Romania is based on the old system of decorations. The premier order is the Order of the Star of Romania, originally established in 1877. There are two other national orders, the Order of Faithful Service, established by King Carol II and initially ranked above the Order of the Star of Romania, and the Order for Merit, initially a dynastic order established by King Carol II. The laws establishing them stated that they were re-established and even included the old awardees in the rolls of the new orders (although in practice there were no surviving awardees). I do not know these details. I only saw the piece of news and I posted it further.

This is the reverse.

King Mihai, the former monarch of Romania and head of the royal family, has signed the new regulation of the Order of Carol I revived as a dynastic order. Between 1906 and 1947, the Order of Carol I has been the highest order of the Kingdom of Romania. Regulamentul ordinului Carol I (Romanian language)

That's it then. Thanks again.

Thanks Rick. My attention was attracted by the date on the certificate, i.e., after WWI had begun, and I wondered whether the text could shed some light upon the reasons of the award.

Here is an image of the award certificate of (then) Major Paul Cernovodeanu who received the Order of the Red Eagle on 15 September 1914. Click on the image for the full image from "La Galerie...". Can someone provide a translation of the text? Thank you.

I would guess that the distinction came with a badge and a certificate, but I do not know how the latter looked like.

Gordon is right, on the lid of the box is the emblem of Uniunea Generală a Sindicatelor din Rom?nia (the General Union of Trade Unions of Romania). The badge inside is that of a distinction named Merite deosebite ?n ?ntrecerea socialistă (Outstanding Merits in the Socialist Competition), apparently awarded by the General Council of UGSR. Unfortunately I do not know many details about the "Socialist Competition". I think it was aimed to increase productivity in various areas through friendly competition between companies or organisations. Whether it was a permanent thing or whether it could be called upon by one or several of the parts involved, I do not know. But I think that individuals, as well as teams or whole companies/organisations could be distinguished if they fulfilled or better surpassed the planned aims.

A very good book I have heard mentioned is Third Axis Fourth Ally by Mark Axworthy, Cornel Scafeş and Cristian Crăciunoiu.

Regarding the blue ribbon with silver edges, it was used both for the Loyal (Faithful) Service Medal established in 1880 and for the Loyal (Faithful) Service Cross established in 1906. Both these awards had a crown above the badge, i.e., there were no badges without the crown. The ribbon for these awards was changed in 1932 when the national system of decorations has been restructured. These dates would therefore bracket the time period when the awards on your bar were made.

Thanks for the advice. My main interest is Romania, but if I have the chance of finding this book and learn German (the possibility could be closer than I previously thought) I will take a look as I find this order interesting in design.

"... se rend au del? des fronti?res de l'U.R.S.S. sauf la Bulgarie, la Roumanie ..." Clearly marked to leave no place for interpretations.

"To my precious and dear Coca Mom 24/III 1941 B?rlad"

It was sterog62. Following your advice and my gut feeling I did not participate. The end price was 300 EUR. According to Brian (Yankee) it was rather cheap for an authentic badge, but quite expensive for a copy.

It is probably a wound chevron.