Family business: the Saxe-Ernestine House Order

[laurentius]

Dear fellow collectors,

 

Whilst researching the Saxe-Ernistine House Order I wondered what the reason was for the combined institution of a House Order across several Thuringian duchies (being Saxe-Altenburg, Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Saxe-Meinungen and Hildburghausen)? The name suggests, and this is also written in some sources, that it is a clear reference to their common ancestor Ernest I of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (nicknamed 'the pious'). I wonder if there might also be an underlying, unmentioned, economic reason for using the same decoration. Surely this would allow for decorations to be made (somewhat) in bulk allowing for better prices at the jewellers? Was this done purely out of respect for Ernest the Pious or was there indeed an economic incentive?

 

Kind regards and thanks in advance, Laurentius

[Dave Danner]

The Napoleonic wars had exposed how weak the numerous small and divided Thuringian states were. There was a desire for greater unity among the Ernestine duchies after 1815, though the rivalries among the actual ruling dukes worked against this goal. Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach, formed from two other Ernestine duchies, had been raised to a Grand Duchy in 1815 and established its own Hausorden der Wachsamkeit that year. The other duchies formed a commission a few years later to establish their own common order. Money was probably a factor, but the desire to make a statement of unity was also a stated goal. Not much progress was made until the extinction of the House of Sachsen-Gotha-Altenburg in 1825, which led to a reorganization of the duchies, brokered by the King of Saxony. It still took a few more years, but the new Duke of Sachsen-Altenburg, who had been Duke of Sachsen-Hildburghausen until 1826, started a renewed pushed for the combined order as a symbol of this goal of unity. It still took a few more years to negotiate the statutes and design the order.

[laurentius]

Hello Dave, 

 

Thank you for your reply. If i read your message correctly this would mean that conveying a message of unity was the primary reason with the economic situation as a secondary thought?

 

Do you know why they ceased producing pieces with the gold letters (G,E,B, standing for Georg, Ernst (I and II) and Bernhard)? 

Kind regards, Laurentius