Order of St. John (Protestant Continental Europe)

Order of Saint John (Bailiwick of Brandenburg)
Flag of the Order
Type	Order of chivalry
Religious affiliation	Protestant
Ribbon	Black moiré
Herrenmeister	Prince Oskar of Prussia
Classes	Commander Knight of Justice Knight of Honor

The Bailiwick of Brandenburg of the Chivalric Order of Saint John of the Hospital at Jerusalem (German: Balley Brandenburg des Ritterlichen Ordens Sankt Johannis vom Spital zu Jerusalem), or simply the Order of Saint John (German: Johanniterorden), 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 AD 1099.

The Order is led by its thirty-seventh Herrenmeister ("Master of the Knights" or Grand Master), Prince Oskar of Prussia (born in 1959, he is a great-grandson of the last German emperor, Wilhelm II). Each of its knights, about four thousand men worldwide, is either a Knight of Justice (Rechtsritter) or a Knight of Honor (Ehrenritter). Membership in the Order is by invitation only, and individuals may not petition for admission; it is not limited to German citizens or German speakers, and knights include citizens and residents of most major nations. Although membership is no longer limited to the nobility, as it was until 1948, the majority of knights are still drawn from this class. The Order comprises seventeen commanderies in Germany, one each in Austria, Finland, France, Hungary, and Switzerland, and a global commandery with subcommanderies in twelve other countries (Australia, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Italy, Namibia, Poland, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Venezuela).