Willkommen auf der Homepage des Deutschen Ordens
Brüder vom Deutschen Haus St.
Mariens in Jerusalem
Welcome
to The Website of The Teutonic Order
of the Hospital of the Virgin Mary in Jerusalem
The Teutonic Order
or in its full name the Order of the Teutonic Knights of St. Mary's
Hospital in Jerusalem - looks back on a long and
eventful history of more than 800 years.
Formally established as hospital brotherhood near the seaport Acre in the Holy
Land in
the year 1190, during the third crusade. In the prologue of the Order's Book it reads:
"Real knighthood
does not only know the time-bound form of swordplay, which has passed;
the actual composure of chivalrous men is rather
expressed in their commitment for the
Lord's kingdom, for protecting the defenceless, for helping the maltreated, those
beset,
the condemned and those in need." It is the pronounced goal of the Knights, Brothers and
Sisters of
the German Order to jointly implement this composure, abiding by the Order's
motto "Helping and Healing" With
this Website we would like to provide you with some
insight in the History of the Order, our work, in our roots and spirituality,
in our past,
but also the presence of the Order today.
Latin: Ordo domus Sanctæ Mariæ
Theutonicorum
Hierosolimitanorum,
"Order of the Teutonic House of Mary in
Jerusalem";
Ordo Teutonicus, "German Order"
German: Deutscher Orden, "German Order";
officially Orden der Brüder vom
Deutschen
Haus St. Mariens in Jerusalem, "Order of
the Brothers of the German House of St.
Mary
in Jerusalem"
Belarusian:
Тэўтонскі ордэн, "Teutonic
Order"
Danish:
Tyske Orden, "German Order"
Dutch: Duitse Orde, "German Order"
Croatian: Teutonski Red, "Teutonic Order"
Estonian: Saksa Ordu, "German Order"
Finnish:
Saksalainen ritarikunta, "German Order"
French: Chevaliers Teutoniques, "Teutonic Knights"
Hebrew: המסדר
הטבטוני , "The Teutonic Order"
Hungarian: Német
Lovagrend, "German Knighthood"
Latvian: Vācu ordenis, "German Order"
Lithuanian: Kryžiuočių
Ordinas, "Order of Crusaders"
Norwegian: (bokmål): Tyske Orden
Portuguese: Ordem dos Cavaleiros
Teutônicos,
"Order of the Teutonic Knights"
Polish: Zakon Krzyżacki,"Order of the Crossbearers"
Romanian: Ordinul Cavalerilor Teutoni,
"Teutonic Knights Order"
Russian: Тевтонский орден,
"Teutonic Order"
Slovenian:
Križniki, "Crossbearers"
Slovak: Rád nemeckých rytierov
Serbian: Тевтонски
ред-Tevtonski red, "Teutonic Order"
Swedish: Tyska orden, "German Order"
Swiss German: Tütsche Ordä, "German Order"
Turkish:
Töton Şövalyeleri, "Teutonic Knights"
Italian: Ordine Teutonico, "Teutonic Order"
Spanish: Orden
Teutónica, "Teutonic Order"
Japanese: "Knights of Germany"(doitsu-kishidan)
The Introduction to the Teutonic Order of
Knights
of St Mary's Hospital in Jerusalem
The
Order of the Teutonic Knights of St. Mary's Hospital in Jerusalem (Official names:
Latin: Ordo domus Sanctæ Mariæ
Theutonicorum Hierosolymitanorum, German: Orden der
Brüder vom Deutschen Haus St. Mariens in Jerusalem), or for
short the Teutonic Order
(Today: German Teutonic Order), is a Two armed German Roman Catholic Order of Knights
made
up of a Religious Arm and a Secular Arm. It was formed to aid Catholics on their
pilgrimages to the Holy Land and to
establish hospitals to care for the sick and injured.
Its members have commonly been known as the Teutonic Knights, since
they also served as
a crusading military order during the Middle Ages. The membership was always small and
whenever
the need arose, volunteers or mercenaries augmented the military forces.
Formed at the end of the 12th century in Acre, in the Levant,
the medieval
Order played an important role in Outremer, controlling the port tolls of Acre.
After Christian forces
were defeated in the Middle East, the Order moved to
Transylvania in 1211 to help defend Hungary against the Cumans.
They were
expelled in 1225 after allegedly attempting to place themselves under Papal
instead of Hungarian sovereignty.
In 1230, following the Golden Bull of Rimini,
Grand Master Hermann von Salza and Duke Konrad I of Masovia launched
the
Prussian Crusade, a joint invasion of Prussia to Christianise the Baltic Old Prussians.
The Order then created
the independent Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights in
the conquered territory, and subsequently conquered Courland,
Livonia, and Estonia.
The Kings of Poland accused the Order of holding lands rightfully theirs.
