Order of Franz Joseph
Encyclopedia
The Imperial Austrian Franz Joseph Order was founded by the Emperor
Emperor
An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife or a woman who rules in her own right...

  Franz Joseph I of Austria
Franz Joseph I of Austria
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I was Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Croatia, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Galicia and Lodomeria and Grand Duke of Cracow from 1848 until his death in 1916.In the December of 1848, Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria abdicated the throne as part of...

 on December 2, 1849 on the first anniversary of his assumption of the Imperial Crown. The order was originally awarded in three classes:
  • Grand Cross
  • Commander's Cross
  • Knight's Cross


The Commander's Star, which ranked immediately below the Grand Cross, was added in 1869, and the Officer's Cross, which ranked between the Commander and the Knight, was introduced on February 1, 1901. The Grand Cross, the Commander's Star and Officer's Cross were breast decorations, whereas the Commander's Cross was worn at the neck. The Knight wore his award suspended from a triangular ribbon on the left breast. Both the Commander's and Knight's Crosses were originally suspended from a red ribbon. In common with the other Austro-Hungarian awards of the period, the Franz Joseph Order was further distinguished with the addition of the War decoration and Swords. However, the actual award was usually presented for distinguished service as opposed to gallantry in the face of the enemy.

Honorees of the order include Anton Bruckner
Anton Bruckner
Anton Bruckner was an Austrian composer known for his symphonies, masses, and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-German Romanticism because of their rich harmonic language, complex polyphony, and considerable length...

 and Émile Baudot
Émile Baudot
Jean-Maurice-Émile Baudot , French telegraph engineer and inventor of the first means of digital communication Baudot code, was one of the pioneers of telecommunications...

.

The order ceased to exist with the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918. It was not re-established with the foundation of the Republic of Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

in 1919 when titles became illegal.
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