The Order of St John, which came into being with the crusade movement at the end of the 11th century, fell victim to secularisation at the beginning of the 19th century, as did all religious institutions. The German Grand Priory in Heitersheim (in the Breisgau region) was dissolved in 1805/6 with its subordinates, including those in the new Grand Duchy of Baden and the Kingdom of Württemberg. The Brandenburg Bailiwick, which since the 14th century enjoyed a special position within the Grand Priorate of Germany strengthened by the conversion to Protestantism around 1540, was not secularised until 1811, but remained in existence in the form of an Order of Merit for persons of Protestant and Russian Orthodox denomination who deserved to serve the Prussian king, the royal house and the monarchy. In 1852 King Friedrich Wilhalm IV of Prussia restored the Ballei Brandenburg of the Order of St. John. The initiative for the revival of the Order and for the foundation of "cooperatives" in the Prussian provinces and in southern Germany also proceeded from it. The development in Württemberg was concluded in June 1858 with the award of corporate law, i.e. the status of a legal entity, to the "Cooperative of Knights of the Bailiwick Brandenburg of the Order of St John of Wuerttemberg in the Kingdom of Württemberg" residing in Stuttgart. It was joined by knights from Baden and - until the foundation of a cooperative society in the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1888 - also by Bavarian knights. There was no intention to found a cooperative of its own for Baden several times, so in 1906 the cooperative was renamed "Württembergisch-Badensche Genossenschaft des Johanniterordens". Since 1978 it has been called "Baden-Württembergische Kommende des Johanniterordens". It was originally a legal person by royal Württemberg sovereign act and is now a non-profit registered association of civil law. The Baden-Württemberg Kommende of the Order of St John is subordinated to the Ballei Brandenburg, which is subdivided into a total of 20 cooperatives or Kommende. At the head of the Order, which also includes Johanniter groups in Belgium, Austria, the USA and South Africa, is the Master of Masters, who is elected by the Chapter, the supreme decision-making body. His deputy is the governor of the order. The members of the order are classified as honorary knights, legal knights, commentators, honorary comedians or honorary members, depending on their activity or their probation. The Baden-Württemberg Kommende is headed by a "Governing Commentator", who exercises his office together with the board (convention) of the cooperative. On the knight days, which are held annually, pending questions are discussed. As tasks of the order the statute of the Ballei Brandenburg of 24.6.1853, also binding for the Württemberg cooperative, specifies above all the "defence of the Christian religion in particular of the Protestant confession", the "fight against unbelief", as well as the "service and (the) care of the sick" as tasks of the order. An expansion of the tasks took place with the statute of the Baden-Württembergische Kommende of 30 September 1978 § 2 (2): "The purpose of the association is the promotion of the general public through care and assistance for the sick, the elderly, the physically and economically weak, as well as young people and children. The Association carries out this activity in hospitals, old people's homes and other social institutions, as well as through affiliated working and auxiliary communities. In times of external and internal danger, the Association is particularly dedicated to "the wounded, the sick and other injured". In addition to their historically founded, intensive diaconal commitment, the Kommende is characterised by a pronounced cultural commitment. It is supported by three pillars: the archive, the library and the museum. The Archive of the Order has been located in the Main State Archive in Stuttgart since 1969. The Johanniter Library was founded after World War II. It contains valuable bibliophile works from six centuries, especially from the history of the order. Since 2007, the library has been housed as a deposit in the Badische Landesbibliothek Karlsruhe. The Johanniter Museum Krautheim a. d. Jagst is a joint institution of the town and the Kommende. The historical building, which was originally owned by the Order of St John and then by the Teutonic Order, now belongs to the city, the exhibits of the Kommende. The museum was opened in 1978 and was given a new appearance in 2006 on the occasion of the 700th anniversary of the city. The Commentators of the Baden-Württemberg Commentaries: 1858-1868 Frhr. Wilhelm vom Holtz 1868-1888 Graf Wilhelm von Taubenheim 1888-1908 Prince Hermann zu Hohenlohe.Langenburg 1908-1947 Prince Ernst zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg 1948-1952 Wilhelm Volrad von Rauchhaupt 1952-1958 Rudolf von Bünau 1958-1960 Prince Gottfried zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg 1960-1961 Wilhelm Volrad von Rauchhaupt 1961-1973 Frhr. Reinhard von Gemmingen-Hornberg since 1973 Knight Friedrich von Molo Content and evaluation History, order and indexing of the holdings The tradition of the Baden-Württemberg Commendary of the Order of St John is kept in the Main State Archives in Stuttgart as a deposit. For the documents received in 1969, there is already a completed find book available which was produced in 1970 by the inspector candidate Renate Pruschek. The since then existing taxes of June 1983, May 1984, August and September 1988, which were made by the Commentator of the Baden-Württembergische Kommende Friedrich Ritter von Molo and by the Hohenlohe-Zentralarchiv Neuenstein, have been combined to a partial stock and are indexed in the present find book. The recording initially took place as part of the training of the archive inspector candidates Corinna Pfisterer, Regina Keyler, Bettina Herrmann under the guidance of archive assessor Dr. Peter Schiffer from July to September 1988. From October 1988 to March 1989, archive inspector Sabine Schnell, among others, made the remaining title recordings and carried out the final work. Since the stock was recorded by several editors, it was not always possible to design the title recordings uniformly. A pre-archival order of the files is not recognizable, therefore the structure of the find book of Pruschek served as basis for the present find book. However, a modification was necessary. In order to avoid overlaps in the order numbers, order number 401 was used for the distortion of the present partial stock. In particular, the inventory contains files on the organisation and administration of the cooperative. Insights into the tasks of the cooperative are rather provided by the publications and journals received, the existing books provide information above all about the general history of the order. Personal documents of the commentators on membership and function in the Order remained in the private estates of the Hohenlohe Central Archives in Neuenstein. The listed documents have a total duration from (1714-1719) 1853 to 1987. Since the stock is property of the Johanniterorden, no cassations were made. The partial stock P 7/2 comprises 293 units with 8.3 m running time. The finding aid was created with the help of data processing on the basis of the MIDOSA program package of the State Archive Administration of Baden-Württemberg.
