The Order of Saint John in the Netherlands

• Time Period: Pre-WW1
• Institution: 1099 AD
• Country: Netherlands

The Bailiwick of Brandenburg of the Chivalric Order of Saint John of the Hospital at Jerusalem (or Balley Brandenburg des Ritterlichen Ordens Sankt Johannis vom Spital zu Jerusalem in German), commonly known as the Order of Saint John or the Johanniter Order, is the German Protestant branch of the Knights Hospitaller, the oldest surviving chivalric order, which generally is considered to have been founded in Jerusalem in the year 1099 AD.

The medieval Dutch Bailiwick of Utrecht and Commandery of Haarlem formed parts of the German Langue (one of the “Tongues”, the major divisions of the medieval Order of Saint John) until, during the Reformation, they associated themselves with the reformed Bailiwick of Brandenburg. Both the Bailiwick of Utrecht and the Commandery of Haarlem were suppressed in 1810, during the Napoleonic occupation.

Dutch knights of the Bailiwick of Brandenburg formed their own commandery within the Johanniterorden in 1909, when the Dutch monarch afforded it royal protection; and the commandery separated from the German Johanniterorden in 1946.

The commandery became an independent order in 1958 and is known as Johanniter Orde in Nederland, now admitting noblewomen as well as noblemen. The Dutch monarch is an honorary commander. With the German and Swedish orders, the Dutch order helped found the Alliance of the Orders of St. John of Jerusalem on June 13, 1961.

The Order of Saint John in the Netherlands Design

Dutch insignia of the Johanniter Orde in Nederland replace Prussian eagles with the Dutch lion.