13 Preußen: Schwarzer Adler Orden - Ordenskollane
Privately manufactured copy. Gold and enamel. Weight 587 g. The chain consists of 24 links, 12 of which have the Prussian black eagle and 12 of which have the order's motto ‘SUUM CUIQUE’ and the crowned mirrored ciphers ‘F’ of the order's founder Frederick I.
The attached order jewel is made of gold and enamel. The eagles between the cross arms are enamelled. On the back in the centre is an old enamel repair.
One chain link with the wearer's engraving on the back: ‘FRIEDRICH GRAF v. BAUDISSIN / ORD. IV MÄRZ MDCCCCXII / CAP: XVIII JAN. MDCCCCXIII / + V FEBR. MDCCCCXXI’.
The chain offered here is not the official (trial) type. It is probably a privately commissioned piece made after 1918, perhaps in memory of the wearer's family.
Nevertheless, the piece is of exceptionally high jewellery quality, differing only slightly in quality and workmanship from the originals that were lent.
On an old presentation inlay, probably specially made for this necklace, for a no longer existing case.
Friedrich ‘Fritz’ Aimé Clothar Hugo Graf von Baudissin (3 April 1852 – 5 February 1921) was a German admiral and aide-de-camp to Emperor Wilhelm II.
Friedrich belonged to the Baudissin family of noblemen, originally from Upper Lusatia, who came to Schleswig-Holstein during the Thirty Years' War. He was the son of the postal director Wolf Friedrich Ottomar von Baudissin (1812-1887) and his first wife Théonie, née von Mesmer-Saldern (1817-1855). This made him the nephew of Thekla, Asta, Ulrich and Adelbert Heinrich von Baudissin. Wolf Ernst Hugo Emil von Baudissin was thus a first cousin of Annie von Baudissin and Theodor von Baudissin, who were second cousins of Friedrich von Baudissin.
Military career
Baudissin joined the Prussian Navy on 15 April 1867. After his basic and ship training on the sailing frigates Gefion and Niobe, he was appointed a naval cadet on 1 August 1868. As such, he served on the schooner Hela, and was assigned to the Gefion and the covered corvette Arcona again. Subsequently, Baudissin was transferred to the covered corvette Hertha on 1 August 1869 and was promoted to lieutenant on 19 August 1871.
From 12 December 1872 to 14 April 1873, he belonged to the II. Matrosen-Division and then spent a year at the Naval Academy. After that, Baudissin was assigned as a watch officer on the Aviso Loreley. He served in the same capacity for a short time on the armoured frigate Kaiser in February and March 1875, where he was promoted to lieutenant on 16 March. In the following years, he served as first officer on board the Aviso Loreley and as a watch officer on the sailing frigate Niobe and the flat-bottomed corvette Augusta. From 2 November 1878 to 4 May 1879, Baudissin completed the first course at the Naval Academy Coetus, was briefly employed as a navigation officer on the armoured frigate Friedrich Carl and then continued his training with the II. and III. Coetus. As a lieutenant (since 15 April 1880), Baudissin then joined the staff of the Naval Station of the North Sea as 2nd adjutant for three years. At the same time, he was temporarily assigned as commander of the avisos Falke and Pommerania. On 18 April 1884, he left for the South Seas on the steamship Taormina to serve as first officer on the station ship Albatross, and then as commander from 20 November 1885. He took part in battles in the Bismarck Archipelago with the cruiser to support the interests of the Neuguinea-Compagnie operating there. In December 1886, he handed over command to Lieutenant Commander Ernst von Frantzius.
From 1891 to 1895 and again from 1897 to 1898, he served in the Imperial Navy Office, including as head of the military department from June 1894 to October 1895 and as head of the nautical department from September 1897 to October 1898. Between these two periods in the RMA, von Baudissin commanded the Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm.
On 11 December 1898, he was appointed captain of the Hohenzollern, the yacht of Kaiser Wilhelm II. He held this command until 16 August 1902. On 16 July 1899, he was also appointed aide-de-camp to the Kaiser and on 22 June 1901 was promoted to rear admiral. On 19 November 1902, as representative of Vice Admiral Richard von Geißler, 2nd Admiral of the East Asia Squadron, who resided on the Hansa. In November 1902 and March 1903, the Hansa travelled up the Yangtze to Nanjing and in April 1903 visited Japan, where Baudissin had an audience with Tennō Mutsuhito and then represented the German Empire at the naval review in Kōbe. In July 1903, he was in Korea again with the Hansa. On 20 October 1903, Count von Baudissin lowered his flag as 2nd Admiral and was replaced on 22 November by Captain Henning von Holtzendorff.
On 12 April 1904, he was appointed Inspector of the 1st Naval Inspection Baltic Sea in Kiel. In the same year, he became Commander of the 1st Squadron of the High Seas Fleet and in this capacity was promoted to Vice-Admiral on 27 January 1905.
After being summoned to serve the Kaiser in 1907 and then to serve on the Navy's High Command, he was promoted to admiral on 27 January 1908 and at the same time appointed successor to Admiral Wilhelm Büchsel as Chief of the Naval High Command. He held this office from 29 January 1908 to 5 September 1909. He was then succeeded by Admiral Max von Fischel. He himself then took over the office of Chief of the Naval Station in the North Sea, based in Wilhelmshaven, from 6 September 1909 to 12 April 1913. In this role, his name is also closely associated with the development of Wilhelmshaven, for example through the construction of the Kaiser-Friedrich-Kunsthalle, which opened in 1913, and the associated Association of Art Lovers for Wilhelmshaven. He was named an honorary citizen of the city of Rüstringen, which today belongs to Wilhelmshaven.
After completing this assignment, he was placed at the disposal and at the same time at the disposal of the naval officer corps. For his services, he was awarded, among other things, the Black Eagle Order, the highest order of the Kingdom of Prussia, on 4 March 1912. The Baudissin Glacier on the Antarctic island of Heard is named in his honour.
His grave is located at the Invaliden Cemetery in Berlin-Mitte and was marked with a restitution stone after 1989.