11 Order of the Black Eagle: Breast Star to the Cross of the Order, awarded in 1856 to the Prussian Finance Minister Albrecht Count von Alvensleben (1794-1858).
Silver, the medallion gold and enamel. On a pin. Two carrying hooks on the back. The maker's mark "GODET" on the back.
Specimen with smooth rays. The white enamel of the inscription ring in the medallion in a high domed design with the motto of the order separately applied in chiselled gold letters: "SUUM CUIQUE" and green enamelled laurel leaves. The black eagle of the medallion separately applied to a purple enamelled background and finely chased. The plumage, originally painted in gold, has been largely lost due to wear.
An important early breast star from the direct family ownership of the Prussian noble family von Alvensleben and worn by the Prussian minister Albrecht Count von Alvensleben, who received the order in 1856.
The quality of the workmanship of this breast star appears somewhat older, so that it is quite possible that it could be a family heirloom worn by Count Albrecht of this widely ramified noble family from the possession of someone who had previously been decorated with the Order.
Albrecht Count of Alvensleben
Born on 23 March 1794 in Halberstadt as the eldest son of Johann August Ernst Count von Alvensleben (1758-1827), dean of the cathedral there and later Prime Minister of Brunswick, and Caroline von Rohr (1771-1816), he attended school at Unser Lieben Frauen convent in Magdeburg and began studying law at the newly founded University of Berlin at the age of seventeen. He interrupted his studies in 1813 to take part in the Wars of Liberation. He then continued his studies and, after graduating in 1817, joined the Prussian judiciary, where he remained until 1827 as a member of the Court of Appeal. During this time in Berlin, he belonged to a conservative Christian dinner party ("Maikäferei") around Clemens Brentano and the Gerlach brothers, who had a significant influence on his later views.
After the death of his father, he left the civil service to manage his inherited estates. In addition, he was active in many ways as director general of the Magdeburg Landfeuer-Sozietät and a member of the provincial and municipal councils. In 1831, the King appointed him to the Ministry of Justice as a Privy Councillor and Lecturer and made him a Chamberlain. In the same year, he was given the task of working with representatives of Austria and Russia as a special commissioner to resolve the constitutional issues of the Free State of Krakow. Here, for the first time, he resolutely advocated an all-German policy for Prussia based on the treaties of 1815 and close co-operation with Austria. From 1832, he represented Prussia as second plenipotentiary at the Vienna Conferences. He agreed with Metternich on the goal of containing revolutionary and democratic movements. In 1833 he was appointed a member of the Prussian State Council.
From 1835 to 1842 he was Prussian Minister of Finance, from 1836 with the rank of Privy Minister of State and Finance. He enjoyed the special trust of both Kings Frederick William III and IV, for whom he was not always convenient. As a member of the Ministry of State, he also had influence in interdepartmental matters of state management. He brought the Prussian finance system, which had come under pressure due to the effects of the German Customs Union founded in 1834, to a good state. Alvensleben's strength apparently lay less in breaking new ground than in repairing or preventing damage and reconciling differences. In 1840, King Frederick William IV awarded him the hereditary hereditary title to the Principality of Halberstadt, which his ancestors had held from the 12th to the 14th century. He resigned as Minister of Finance in 1842. The preservation of internal and external independence was important to him and any expression of royal displeasure was therefore a reason to resign. Frederick William IV's restless and arbitrary way of governing and his romantic-utopian inclinations seemed intolerable to the sober man who was used to independence. However, he was persuaded to remain available as a cabinet minister, through whom the reports of the other members of the government reached the king. In 1844, he left the civil service for good and retired to Erxleben without a pension, although he still took on important commissions from time to time. In the following years, Alvensleben was urged several times to return to the civil service. The King of Hanover also endeavoured to recruit him. Early on, he drew the attention of the King and his successor, the Prince of Prussia, to Bismarck, who visited him in Erxleben several times during this period.
During the revolution of 1848 and as a member of the Prussian National Assembly, he campaigned in favour of the Christian monarchical idea. In 1849, he was elected to the First Chamber of the new Prussian Parliament, in which he led a conservative faction. As the second plenipotentiary at the Dresden Conferences of 1850/51, he defended the position of Prussia and the small states vis-à-vis Austria. In 1852, the "emergency anchor Alvensleben" (Friedrich Wilhelm IV) appeared at the Hanoverian court in order to resolve problems relating to the Customs Union. In 1854, in Vienna, he succeeded in counteracting an Austrian pact with the western powers in order to prevent Prussia from being encircled. In the same year, Frederick William IV appointed him a member of the Prussian House of Lords when it was founded. In 1856, the king awarded him the Order of the Black Eagle. His sudden death on 2 May 1858 in Berlin prevented him from being appointed Prime Minister by the Prince Regent of Prussia as Otto von Manteuffel's successor.
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