Were there attempts to rename the French language Prussian order Pour le Mérite, why was it never Germanised?

Upvote:5

Due to the Hugenotten influence (from 1685 onwards) in Berlin and Prussia (there is no such thing as a 'Prussian' language) , the French language and culture (unaffected by Napoleons 'visit', as you term it, and the war of 1870/71) were very strong to the end of the 19th century.

As apposed to other countries (where only the aristocrats spoke French), in Prussia it was spoken by part of the population in everyday life.
- Der Einfluss der Hugenotten in Deutschland | Böser Wolf - Grenzen Überwinden

The Berlin dialect today is still strongly influenced by French.
- Den Hugenotten zugehört: Wie der Berliner französelt - WELT

It is unlikely that anybody saw the need to rename an existing Merit for the reasons that the OP gave (assuming anyone wanted to change it at all).

The Pour le mérite für Wissenschaften und Künste is an Ehrenzeichen and not a Verdienstorden.

Reasons for not renaming the Order of Merit

One of the more obvious reasons is, that the french text is incorperated to the metal itsself:

  • Prussian Military Pour le Mérite
    (Order For Merit)

  • with oak leaves (Eichenlaub)

The emblem of King Frederick II of Prussia, who established the honour in 1740, is also incorperated into the metal.

Since the King was still greatly respected, to change his original intentions of what the honour stood for, simply because of the french text, is unlikely.

The formal introduction as a military distinction in 1810 and it's extension (with oak leaves) in 1813 during the Napoleonic wars (where one would assume that anti-French sentiment was at its highest) contradicts the notion that French name of the Order was in itself a cause for consern. By 1816 around 1000 had been awarded (11 with oak leaves).

If anti-French sentiment was so great after the Napoleonic wars, then why didn't they give the newly created civilian version in 1842, long after 'anti-French thing' (as the OP call it), another name?

Between 1914 and 1918 the medal was awarded 687 times and the oak leaves for the Pour le Mérite 122 times.

The present association, in its PDF about the history of the order (Pour le Mérite – Über die Sichtbarmachung von Verdiensten), does not meantion any attempt to change the name. Nor any meantion that there was any opposition to using a French based name. It only states that the Nazi's (in 1934) wanted to to get rid of the association that issued the civilian order, not to rename it.

The only 'hint' that we have here is that no Pour le Mérite were issued (neither civilian or military) between 1934 and its reintroduction in 1952. No attempt was made to reintroduce the military Order in 1934. A draft to repeal the (civilian) Order was made in June 1939, but was not signed by the Prussian Prime Minister Hermann Göring (who recieved the military Pour le Mérite on the 2nd of May 1918).

The OP quotes the Wikipedia citement of the 1899 Cabinet order, which aims at the replacement of foreign words with German expressions, as a foundation for his assumption that this would/should apply also to French based names of objects.

Had this been the case, they would have done it then. But they didn't.

The Hugenotts, who had no reason to love France (royalist or revolutionary) but nevertheless retained their French identity, were respected and influential in Prussia. It is therefore doubtful that they would have supported such a general renaming of existing names or objects solely because it was based on french.

If this was truly the case, then Pommes frites (which the Hugenotts may have brought with them when they sought refuge in Prussia in the late 1680's) should have suffered the same fate as French fries did in 2003 where they were renamed to Freedom fries (just as the suggested renaming of Sauerkraut to Liberty Cabbage in 1918) in the United States. But it didn't happen.

These aspects of the background are completely missing in the OP question, making the background information too one sided. It gives the impression that the OP is only interested in answers that agree with his pre-drawn conclusions.

For these reasons I casted the second vote to close this question as Opion-based.

Der Orden Pour le Mérite, Stiftung Deutsches Historisches Museum
Nach der Niederlage Preußens gegen die von Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) geführten Truppen wurde der Charakter des "Pour le Mérite" als militärische Auszeichnung 1810 in den Ordensstatuten verankert. Die mit dem Verdienstorden geehrten Offiziere bildeten eine Ritterschaft und erhielten einen lebenslangen monatlichen Ehrensold. Da der Orden nur einmal verliehen werden konnte, führte Friedrich Wilhelm III. (1770-1840) für zusätzliche Verdienste der Ordensträger das gesondert anzubringende Eichenlaub als weitere Auszeichnungsstufe [1813] ein.

After Prussia's defeat by the troops led by Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), the character of the "Pour le Mérite" was anchored in the statutes of the Order as a military distinction in 1810. The officers honored with the Order of Merit formed a knighthood and received a lifelong monthly honorary salary. Since the order could only be awarded once, Friedrich Wilhelm III. (1770-1840) introduced [in 1813] the oak leaves to be attached separately as a further award level for additional merits of the order bearers.

...
Gab es 1816 rund 1.000 Träger des "Pour le Mérite", so erhöhte sich deren Zahl im Laufe des 19. Jahrhunderts erheblich.
...
Von den 704 Verleihungen unter Kaiser Wilhelm II. fielen 687 in die Zeit des Ersten Weltkriegs.

While there were around 1,000 "Pour le Mérite" carriers in 1816, their number increased considerably in the course of the 19th century.
...
Of the 704 awards made under Kaiser Wilhelm II, 687 fell during the First World War.

Sources:

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