The Wilhelm Order ("Wilhelmsorden") of

Hesse-Kassel The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (), spelled Hesse-Cassel during its entire existence, also known as the Hessian Palatinate (), was a state of the Holy Roman Empire. The state was created in 1567 when the Landgraviate of Hesse was divided upon t ...

(or Hesse-Cassel) was instituted by the

Elector Elector may refer to: * Prince-elector or elector, a member of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Holy Roman Emperors * Elector, a member of an electoral college ** Confederate elector, a member of t ...

Friedrich Wilhelm I on 20 August 1851 as a civil and military Order of Merit. It was composed of the three lower grades of the Order of the Golden Lion and a Grand Cross was added. In total the order was awarded more than 450 times in the 16 years of its existence. The motto of the Order was ''Virtuti et Fidelitate'', and the ribbon was Carmine-red with red and white borders. On 1 August 1866, Hesse-Kassel was annexed by

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

and on 3 October of that same year the Hesse-Kassellian orders were incorporated into the Prussian system of

honours Honour (Commonwealth English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is a quality of a person that is of both social teaching and personal ethos, that manifests itself as a code of conduct, and has various elements such as valo ...

. On 27 August 1875 the Order was abolished. Although there were no new awards by the Prussian Kings in the 1866–1875 era, the exiled Elector Friedrich Wilhelm I. awarded the order approximately 8 times until his death in 1875. The Order is not to be confused with the exclusive *

Military Order of William The Military William Order, or often named Military Order of William (Dutch language, Dutch: , abbreviation: MWO), is the oldest and highest Dutch honours system, honour of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is named after St. William of Gellone ...

of the Netherlands or *The

Wilhelm-Orden The Imperial and Royal Order of Wilhelm ('' in English'' "William-Order") was instituted on 18 January 1896 by the German Emperor and King of Prussia Willhelm II as a high civilian award, and was dedicated to the memory of his grandfather Emper ...

of Prussia.

References

Maximilian Gritzner Adolf Maximilian Ferdinand Gritzner (29 July 1843 – 10 July 1902) was a German expert on heraldry and a herald in the Ministry of the Interior in Berlin. His reference book on orders of knighthood was still in print in 2000. Gritzner was bor ...

, ''Handbuch der Ritter-und Verdienstorden'' (Leipzig, 1893) * Werner Sauer, ''Die Orden und Ehrenzeichen des Kurfürstentums Hessen-Kassel'' (Hamburg, n.d.) {{Orders of Imperial Germany Orders of chivalry of Germany Orders, decorations, and medals of Hesse 1851 establishments in the German Confederation 1850s in the Electorate of Hesse Establishments in the Electorate of Hesse Awards established in 1851