2nd-class Order of Red Eagle

The Order of the Red Eagle was established in 1705 in Brandenburg-Bayreuth. After the principality's incorporation into Prussia (1792), it passed into Prussian hands and took second place in the hierarchy after the Order of the Black Eagle. It was awarded to military men and civilians for bravery and faithful service or other achievements. The decorations of the Order included a cross, a star and a ribbon. The Cross of the Order had the form of the Maltese Cross, called the Cross of the Virtues of Chivalry, enamelled in white on both sides. In the central, round, white enamelled shield was the red eagle of Brandenburg with a laurel wreath in its talons. The crowned royal monogram FW was placed on the reverse. The Order of the Red Eagle had more than 100 different variations, the most significant number among German decorations. The presented Order of the Red Eagle with a ribbon bow belonged to Tadeusz Dzierżykraj-Morawski (1821-1888), a social and political activist in the Grand Duchy of Posen, chamberlain to the Prussian King Wilhelm I. This meritorious citizen of Greater Poland (Wielkopolska) was the son of Franciszek, a general, poet, translator, participant of the Napoleonic Wars, and Minister of War during the November Uprising (1831). As a nobleman and a subject of the Prussian monarchy, Tadeusz Morawski received the Orders of the Red Eagle of the 3rd and 4th Class for civilian merits. However, it is not known when the decoration took place. In Morawski's short biographies, we find no information on this subject. Tadeusz Morawski's legacy (three orders: of the Holy Sepulchre with two stars and a ribbon, of the Red Eagle of the Red of the 3rd and 4th Classes, and a chain with a set of five miniatures) were obtained by the National Museum in Szczecin in 1975 from a resident of Szczecin, Mrs Anna Morawska. Together with these decorations, the Museum also acquired the orders of his father, General Franciszek Dzierżykraj-Morawski.

Genowefa Horoszko