St. Henry’s Badge of honour
The St. Henry’s Badge of honour can be awarded yearly to chosen personalities only by the Head of the House of Wettin.
With the end of the Kingdom of Saxony in 1918 and the taking effect of the Weimar Constitution of 1919, the hitherto existing Military Order of St. Henry went into abeyance. During its continuance from 1736 to 1914, the St. Henry’s Medal was awarded only 736 times. On 31 December 1963, on the occasion of the 70th Birthday of Margrave Friedrich Christian of Meissen, the “St. Henry Badge of honour with Crown” was donated instead.
The Order’s patron is – following the tradition of German dynasties – Henry IV (from 995 to 1004 and from 1009 to 1017 Duke of Bavaria and as Henry II from 1002 to 1024 King of the East Frankish Empire and from 1014 to 1024 Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire).
Order of St. Henry
The Order of St. Henry is, since its inception, an essential element of our family’s history. Founded by Elector Frederic August II of Saxony, who was also King August III of Poland-Lithuania, on 7 October 1736 the Order adjusted and refined itself several times.
The spirit and orientation of the Order’s purpose was recast from its original emphasis of valour and military merit to the pursuit of moral ideas and civic values.
Owing to the eponymous Emperor Henry II, the spiritual home of the Order lies in Bamberg, with its patron being interred in Bamberg cathedral. On the other hand the order is – not least due to the history of Saxony – closely linked to the city of Dresden. In that, the Order of St. Henry forms a bridge between Bavaria and Saxony.