Militär Maria-Theresien-Orden 1914-1918

Probably the most prestigious and eagerly sought military decoration that the Austro-Hungarian monarchy could bestow was the military order of Maria Theresia. The order was founded on the 22nd June 1757 by the Empress Maria Theresa to reward especially meritorious and valorous acts by commissioned officers. The order could be awarded in three grades: The grand cross, the commanders' cross and lastly the knights' cross. The grand cross holder was distinguished by a breast order and a shoulder sash on more formal occasions. The commanders' cross was a neck decoration and the "Ritterkreuz" could be worn on the left breast suspended by the traditional Austrian triangular ribbon or as was quite usual during the First World War with the ribbon being attached internally to the second button of the tunic and worn suspended in that fashion. A grand total of 131 awards of the Military Maria Theresa Order were bestowed on officers for their service in the First World War. The awards were officially presented at a ceremony known as a "Promotion". These ceremonies had been numbered consecutively since the1st Promotion on the 7th March 1758. During the war Promotions Number 171 on the 27th August 1914 to Promotion Number 185 on the 2nd October 1918 took place. A further ten Promotions were enacted after the war following the recommendations of  the Chapter of the Order in which the deeds of deserving officers had been examined. The last of these was on the 3rd October 1931. The award could be awarded posthumously as in the case of a retrospective award of the Knights' Cross to Feldmarschall Boroević von Bojna on the195th Promotion on the 3rd October 1931.  The following grades of the order were bestowed in this period:

 

Großkreuze:	11 including 7 foreign heads of state and senior officers
Kommandeurkreuze:	10 including 1 foreign general officer (Prussian Generaloberst Helmuth Graf von Moltke)
Ritterkreuze:	110
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Grand Cross	Commanders' Cross

The detailed listing of awardees is as follows:

Großkreuze

The Grand Cross as worn with the Sash of the order. From the Enzo Calabresi Collection.

Kommandeurkreuze

Ritterkreuze (Alphabetical Order)

Of the 131 recipients of this rare order, two men were further distinguished in the Second World War during their service in the German Wehrmacht by the award of the Knights' Cross of the Iron Cross - the later Generalleutnant Friedrich Franek and Generalmajor Alois Windisch. Many of the officers listed above who were decorated in their youth went on to serve in both the Austrian Bundesheer, Hungarian Honvéd (national army) and German Wehrmacht, eventually achieving general officer rank. One officer- Hauptmann Stanislaus Wieroński became a major general and mountain division commander in the Polish army.

*Danube river mine detachment.

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