The
Bailiwick of Brandenburg of the Chivalric Order of Saint John of the Hospital at Jerusalem (in German, the
Balley Brandenburg des Ritterlichen Ordens Sankt Johannis vom Spital zu Jerusalem), or simply the
Order of Saint John (
Der Johanniterorden), is the
German Protestant branch of the
Knights Hospitaller, the oldest chivalric order, which generally is considered to have been founded in
Jerusalem in the year 1099.
The Order is led by its thirty-seventh
Herrenmeister ("Master of the Knights"),
H.R.H. Oskar, Prince of Prussia (born in 1959, he is a great-grandson of the last German emperor,
Wilhelm II). Each of its knights, about four thousand men worldwide, is either a Knight of Justice (
Rechtsritter) or a Knight of Honor (
Ehrenritter).
Verzeichnis der Mitglieder der Balley Brandenburg des Ritterlichen Ordens St. Johannis vom Spital zu Jerusalem; Berlin: Johanniterorden, September 2008; page 88. Membership in the order is by invitation only, and individuals may not petition for admission. The Order comprises seventeen
commanderies in Germany, one each in
Austria,
Finland,
France,
Hungary, and
Switzerland, and one global commandery with subcommanderies in eight other countries (
Australia,
Belgium,
Canada,
Colombia,
Namibia,
South Africa, the
United States, and
Venezuela).
Together with the London-based
Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (of which, the British monarch is Sovereign Head), the Swedish......
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