Order of Albert the Bear


The House Order of Albert the Bear was founded in 1836 as a joint House Order by three dukes of Anhalt from separate branches of the family: Henry, Duke of Anhalt-Köthen, Leopold IV, Duke of Anhalt-Dessau, and Alexander Karl, Duke of Anhalt-Bernburg.
The namesake of the order, Albert the Bear, was the first Margrave of Brandenburg from the House of Ascania. The origin of his nickname "the Bear" is unknown.
This order originally had four ranks, i.e. Grand Cross, Commander 1st Class, Commander 2nd Class and Knight . In 1854, the rank Knight 2nd Class was added. In 1864, Leopold IV, who by virtue of the extinction of the other branches of the family had become the sole Duke of Anhalt, altered the statute to provide that the order could be granted with swords.
On 29 April 1901, in honor of the 70th birthday of Duke Frederick I, a crown was added to all classes of the order. The breast stars of the order remained unchanged.
The order is still in existence as a House Order, with Eduard, Prince of Anhalt serving as the current Grand Master. The house order has currently three ranks, i.e. Grand Cross, Commander or Dame-Commander, and Knight or Dame, and as well the Medal of Merit associated with this Order. Recent recipients include Infante Carlos, Duke of Calabria and Princess Khétévane Bagration de Moukhrani.
WWW albrechtderbaer.de

Recipients