Order of Merit of the Bavarian Crown

The Order of Merit of the Bavarian Crown (Verdienstorden der Bayerischen Krone) was an order of merit of the Kingdom of Bavaria established by King Maximilian Joseph I on 19 March 1808. The motto of the order is Virtus et Honor ('Courage and Honour').

The order was awarded in several grades:
 * Grand Cross
 * Grand Commander
 * Commander
 * Knight
 * Medal in Gold
 * Medal in Silver

History
King Maximilian I Joseph, founded the order to reward civil servants of the state of all classes and other foreigners who were deserving of recognition of the Kingdom of Bavaria. It was created as a civil counterpart to the Military Order of Max Joseph. Both the orders brought non-noble recipients in the collection of personal nobility with the title "Ritter von".

The Order of Merit of the Bavarian crown was initially founded with three grades Grand Cross, Commander, and Knight. King Maximilian II added the grade of Grand Commander in 1855. For each grade there was a fixed number of members. Initially membership in the order was limited to 12 Grand Crosses, 24 Commanders and 100 Knights. Statutes of the order from October 1817 list the limits at 24, 40 and 160. Adjustments to the statutes were also made on 16 February 1824, on 12 October 1834, on 12 January 1835 and in October 1838. The statutes were further modified in 1855 for the addition of the Grand Commander grade, also limited in numbers.

Recipients

 * Alfred, 2nd Prince of Montenuovo
 * Johann Baptist Ritter von Bar (Königs Hofjägermeister)
 * Bernhard von Bülow
 * Bruno, Prince of Ysenburg and Büdingen
 * Chlodwig, Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst
 * Frederick, Prince of Hohenzollern
 * Josef Ritter von Schmitt
 * Gottfried Ritter von Schmitt
 * Georg von Hauberrisser
 * Heinrich VII, Prince Reuss of Köstritz
 * Hermann, Fürst von Pückler-Muskau
 * Georg von Hertling
 * Heinrich von Heß
 * Prince Karl Theodor of Bavaria
 * Konstantin of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst
 * Maximilian Karl Lamoral O'Donnell
 * Leopold I of Belgium
 * Ludwig I of Bavaria
 * Johannes von Miquel
 * August Ludwig von Nostitz
 * Baron Karl Ludwig von der Pfordten
 * Philipp, Prince of Eulenburg
 * Rudolf von Seitz
 * Albrecht von Roon
 * Prince Rudolf of Liechtenstein
 * Franz Xaver von Schönwerth
 * Otto Graf zu Stolberg-Wernigerode
 * Ludwig Freiherr von und zu der Tann-Rathsamhausen
 * Johann Nepomuk von Triva
 * Illarion Vorontsov-Dashkov
 * Harald Nicolai Storm Wergeland