http://www.ritterhaus.ch/en/ritterhaus_ritterorden.php
…last weekend I visited a Knight’s castle neaby my town in Switzerland. Beside it was a great trip into middle age history I explored that this place is dedicated to the Order of Saint John (Der Johanniterorden) – 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.
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 Johanniterorden i Sverige (the Swedish monarch is its High Protector), and the Dutch Johanniter Orde in Nederland (the Dutch monarch is an honorary commander), the Order forms the Alliance of the Orders of St. John of Jerusalem. With the Roman Catholic Sovereign Military Order of Malta (the “SMOM”), these four “Alliance orders” represent the legitimate heirs of the Knights Hospitaller. They consider other orders using the name of Saint John to be merely imitative, and the Alliance and the SMOM have jointly formed a False Orders Committee (now renamed and reorganized as the Committee on Orders of St. John), with representatives of each of the five orders, for the purpose of exposing and taking action against such imitations.[2]
The Order and its affiliate orders in the Netherlands and Sweden, which became independent of the Bailiwick of Brandenburg after the Second World War, in 1946, are Protestant. The SMOM, headquartered in Rome, admits only men and women of the Roman Catholic faith.[3] The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, a revival of the mediaeval English Langue of the Order of Saint John, was chiefly Anglican at its formation in the nineteenth century but has since opened its membership to men and women of any faith.
Well, the surprise was the castle which has also a Museum of the Order of Saint John (Johanniterorden) displays an original (not a copy) SMOM Diplomatic Passport issued 1968 to Swiss Diplomat Rudolf Schnyder von Wartensee. Every passport collector knows that this is one of the most rare document you can collect. Maybe collect is not the right word as I belive nobody has such a treasure in his collection and most probably never will have. ENJOY the few pictures at the galery…
REMEMBER! The SMOM is a “STATE” without territory but can issue it’s own passports (including Diplomatic) this is possible as more than 70 states accepts it’s SOVEREIGN status! See also my earlier article online…
This picture is from the Museum's flyer
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SMOM Diplomatic, Rudolf Schnyder von Wartensee
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Detail
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Detail
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