The Goethe-Medaille für Kunst und Wissenschaft (Goethe Medal for Art and Science) is a German award. It was authorized by Reichspräsident

Paul von Hindenburg Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (; abbreviated ; 2 October 1847 – 2 August 1934) was a German field marshal and statesman who led the Imperial German Army during World War I and later became President of Germany fro ...

to commemorate the centenary of

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as trea ...

's death on March 22, 1932. It consists of a

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

, non-wearable

medal A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...

(62mm, after about 1938 69.5mm in diameter). This medal should not be confused with the Goldene Goethe-Medaille (Goethe Medal in Gold) of the

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

Goethe Society The (Goethe Society), not to be confused with the Goethe-Institut, is a literary and scientific organisation to explore the literary work of the German poet and writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It was founded in Weimar, where he lived, in 1885 ...

(61 awards from 1910 to 2017), the "

Goethepreis der Stadt Frankfurt The Goethe Prize of the City of Frankfurt (german: Goethe-Preis der Stadt Frankfurt am Main, links=no) is an award for achievement "worthy of honour in memory of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe" made by the city of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was u ...

" (Goethe Prize of the City of Frankfurt) which since 1927 has been awarded first annually, then

triennial An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded in a previous year, and may also refer to the commemoration or celebration of that event. The word was first used for Catholic feasts to commemorate saints. ...

ly (45 awards from 1927 to 2017 – no medal), the "Goethe-Plakette der Stadt Frankfurt" (

Goethe Plaque of the City of Frankfurt Goethe Plaque of the City of Frankfurt (german: Goethe-Plakette der Stadt Frankfurt am Main, links=no) is an award conferred by Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany and named after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The plaque was originally designed by sculptor ...

) 158 awards from 1947–2017, or the "Goethe-Medaille" (

Goethe Medal The Goethe Medal, also known as the Goethe-Medaille, is a yearly prize given by the Goethe-Institut honoring non-Germans "who have performed outstanding service for the German language and for international cultural relations". It is an offici ...

) of the

Goethe-Institut The Goethe-Institut (, GI, en, Goethe Institute) is a non-profit German cultural association operational worldwide with 159 institutes, promoting the study of the German language abroad and encouraging international cultural exchange and ...

, which from 1955 to 2017 has been awarded to 345 personalities from 57 countries. With more than 600 recipients, the "Goethe-Medaille für Kunst und Wissenschaft" is thus the most widely distributed award named after Goethe.

Under Hindenburg – 1932–1934

Originally meant to honor persons who had performed some service in connection with the 1932 Goethe Centennial at

, the "Goethe-Medaille für Kunst und Wissenschaft" was since April 1932 in Hindenburg's name given to Goethe scholars, artists, scientists, government officials and politicians. Between March 18, 1932 and June 19, 1934 almost 200 persons were honored, 159 of these before January 30, 1933. Among the first 55 recipients of the Medal were Chancellor Brüning, and the Nobel Prize winners

Gerhart Hauptmann Gerhart Johann Robert Hauptmann (; 15 November 1862 – 6 June 1946) was a German dramatist and novelist. He is counted among the most important promoters of literary naturalism, though he integrated other styles into his work as well. He recei ...

and

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novella ...

. Starting in April 1932 there followed

Max Planck Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck (, ; 23 April 1858 – 4 October 1947) was a German theoretical physicist whose discovery of energy quanta won him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918. Planck made many substantial contributions to theoretical p ...

and the current or future Nobel Prize bearers

Nicholas Murray Butler Nicholas Murray Butler () was an American philosopher, diplomat, and educator. Butler was president of Columbia University, president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, and the deceased Ja ...

André Gide André Paul Guillaume Gide (; 22 November 1869 – 19 February 1951) was a French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature (in 1947). Gide's career ranged from its beginnings in the Symbolism (arts), symbolist movement, to the advent o ...

Knut Hamsun Knut Hamsun (4 August 1859 – 19 February 1952) was a Norwegian writer who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920. Hamsun's work spans more than 70 years and shows variation with regard to consciousness, subject, perspective a ...

Verner von Heidenstam Carl Gustaf Verner von Heidenstam (6 July 1859 – 20 May 1940) was a Swedish poet, novelist and laureate of the 1916 Nobel Prize in Literature. He was a member of the Swedish Academy from 1912. His poems and prose work are filled with a great joy ...

Guglielmo Marconi Guglielmo Giovanni Maria Marconi, 1st Marquis of Marconi (; 25 April 187420 July 1937) was an Italians, Italian inventor and electrical engineering, electrical engineer, known for his creation of a practical radio wave-based Wireless telegrap ...

Albert Schweitzer Ludwig Philipp Albert Schweitzer (; 14 January 1875 – 4 September 1965) was an Alsatian-German/French polymath. He was a theologian, organist, musicologist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician. A Lutheran minister, Schwei ...

Fritz Haber Fritz Haber (; 9 December 186829 January 1934) was a German chemist who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1918 for his invention of the Haber–Bosch process, a method used in industry to synthesize ammonia from nitrogen gas and hydrogen ...

and

Richard Willstätter Richard Martin Willstätter FRS(For) HFRSE (, 13 August 1872 – 3 August 1942) was a German organic chemist whose study of the structure of plant pigments, chlorophyll included, won him the 1915 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Willstätter invente ...

. Other recipients were

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

José Ortega y Gasset José Ortega y Gasset (; 9 May 1883 – 18 October 1955) was a Spanish philosopher and essayist. He worked during the first half of the 20th century, while Spain oscillated between monarchy, republicanism, and dictatorship. His philosoph ...

Wilhelm Furtwängler Gustav Heinrich Ernst Martin Wilhelm Furtwängler ( , , ; 25 January 188630 November 1954) was a German conductor and composer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest symphonic and operatic conductors of the 20th century. He was a major ...

Otto Klemperer Otto Nossan Klemperer (14 May 18856 July 1973) was a 20th-century conductor and composer, originally based in Germany, and then the US, Hungary and finally Britain. His early career was in opera houses, but he was later better known as a concer ...

Carl Goerdeler Carl Friedrich Goerdeler (; 31 July 1884 – 2 February 1945) was a monarchist Conservatism, conservative German politician, executive, economist, civil servant and German resistance to Nazism, opponent of the Nazi Germany, Nazi regime. He oppose ...

, Paul Ernst,

Hans Grimm Hans Grimm (22 March 1875 – 29 September 1959) was a German writer. The title of his 1926 novel '' Volk ohne Raum'' became a political slogan of the expansionist Nazi ''Lebensraum'' concept. Early life Hans Grimm was born in Wiesbaden, in the P ...

and E. G. Kolbenheyer. About one quarter of the honorees of the Goethe Medal before July 1934 were non-Germans. Women were rarely considered; only

Ricarda Huch Ricarda Huch (; 18 July 1864 – 17 November 1947) was a pioneering German intellectual. Trained as an historian, and the author of many works of European history, she also wrote novels, poems, and a play. Asteroid 879 Ricarda is named in her hon ...

, Agnes Miegel,

Ina Seidel Ina Seidel (15 September 1885 – 3 October 1974) was a German lyric poet and novelist. Favourite themes included motherhood and the mysteries of race and heredity. Biography Family provenance Johanna Mathilde "Ina" Seidel was born in Halle, to ...

, Feodora, Grand Duchess of Saxon-Weimar,

Enrica von Handel-Mazzetti Enrica von Handel-Mazzetti (10 January 1871 – 8 April 1955) was an Austrian poet and writer, known for writing historical romances, notably ''Die Hochzeit von Quedlinburg''. Life Enrica Freifrau von Handel-Mazzetti was born in Vienna in 1871 a ...

and the Turkish writer Seniha Bedri were apparently thought to be worthy of the Medal. In Hindenburg's name this medal was last awarded under the date of June 19, 1934.

Under Hitler – 1934–1944

Beginning in November 1934, Adolf Hitler, in his position as German Head of State, took over the awarding of the "Goethe-Medaille für Kunst und Wissenschaft". Among them are the Nobel Prize winners

Hans von Euler-Chelpin Hans Karl August Simon von Euler-Chelpin (15 February 1873 – 6 November 1964) was a German-born Swedish biochemist. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1929 with Arthur Harden for their investigations on the fermentation of sugar and enz ...

Johannes Stark Johannes Stark (, 15 April 1874 – 21 June 1957) was a German physicist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1919 "for his discovery of the Doppler effect in canal rays and the splitting of spectral lines in electric fields". This phe ...

Heinrich Wieland Heinrich Otto Wieland (; 4 June 1877 – 5 August 1957) was a German chemist. He won the 1927 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research into the bile acids. Career In 1901 Wieland received his doctorate at the University of Munich while studyin ...

and

Adolf Windaus Adolf Otto Reinhold Windaus (; 25 December 1876 – 9 June 1959) was a German chemist who won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1928 for his work on sterols and their relation to vitamins. He was the doctoral advisor of Adolf Butenandt who also won ...

, as well as five women: Anna Bahr-Mildenburg,

Hedwig Bleibtreu Hedwig Bleibtreu (; 23 December 1868 – 24 January 1958) was an Austrian film actress. She appeared in more than thirty films from 1919 to 1952. Bleibtreu is perhaps best-known to international audiences as Alida Valli's furious landlady in ''Th ...

Agnes Bluhm Agnes Bluhm (9 January 1862 – 12 November 1943) was a German winner of a Goethe medal. She was trained as a medical doctor and won prizes for her research. She believed that German women could improve the race using eugenics and forced sterilisat ...

Isolde Kurz Maria Clara Isolde Kurz (21 December 1853 – 5 April 1944) was a German poet and short story writer. She was born at Stuttgart, the daughter of Hermann Kurz Hermann Kurz (30 November 1813 – 10 October 1873) was a German poet and novelist. ...

, and

Lulu von Strauß und Torney Lulu von Strauss und Torney (1873–1956) was a German poet and writer. Best remembered for her ballads, she also wrote historical fiction with rural settings in northwest Germany. Life Lulu von Strauss und Torney was born in 1873 in Bückeburg. Sh ...

. Under Hitler the Medal was generally awarded only on high birthdays or other important anniversaries. Many of the recipients were followers of National Socialism. Jewish candidates were no longer considered (until January 1933 at least eleven Germans of Jewish origin had been honored by Hindenburg with the Medal, although

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

and

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies explained as originatin ...

were ignored). The last "Goethe-Medaille für Kunst und Wissenschaft" was awarded on December 10, 1944.

Sources

Kurt-G. Klietmann, Staatlich-Zivile Auszeichnungen. Weimarer Republik und Drittes Reich. Stuttgart, 1990; Bundesarchiv Berlin (R55); Internet (Springerlink); search under "Goethe-Medaille für Kunst und Wissenschaft" {{DEFAULTSORT:Goethe-Medaille fur Kunst und Wissenschaft German awards Awards established in 1932 Awards disestablished in 1944 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe