The Banner of Labor () was an order issued in the

German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **G ...

(GDR). It was given for "excellent and long-standing service in strengthening and consolidating the GDR, especially for achieving outstanding results for the national economy". The order was established on 4 August 1954 in one class. On 8 August 1974 it was divided into three classes. The 1st Class was the highest class and each class included a cash award: *1st Class: 1,000

East German mark The East German mark (german: Mark der DDR ), commonly called the eastern mark (german: Ostmark, links=no ) in West Germany and after reunification), in East Germany only ''Mark'', was the currency of the German Democratic Republic (East Germ ...

s, limited to 250 per year *2nd Class: 750 East German marks, limited to 500 per year *3rd Class: 500 East German marks, limited to 1,000 per year For collectives with up to 20 members, there were cash awards of 2,000, 3,500 and 5,000 Marks per member. The Banner of Labor was awarded to: * Individuals and collectives in all three classes * Enterprises, Collective organizations (), institutions and cooperatives in the 1st Class A prerequisite was that individuals and members of collectives already had received other state awards. The Order could be given in any class several times, even to citizens of other countries. The awards ceremony took place each year on 1 May until 1989 and this order was presented by the Chairman of the

State Council State Council may refer to: Government * State Council of the Republic of Korea, the national cabinet of South Korea, headed by the President * State Council of the People's Republic of China, the national cabinet and chief administrative auth ...

or on his behalf. A certificate was presented with the Order. The medal is gilded, with dimensions of 44 x 37 mm. It is worn on the left chest. Establishments were entitled to include a symbol of the Order on their flag as well as on documents.

Recipients

*1955: Luise Ermisch *1959: Walter Arnold (Germany) *1960:

Hermann Axen Hermann Axen (6 March 1916 – 15 February 1992) was a German political activist who became involved in political resistance during the twelve Nazi years, most of which he spent in state detention. After the war he became a national politician ...

, Friedrich Burmeister, Georg Ulrich Handke,

Willi Bredel Willi Bredel (2 May 1901 in Hamburg – 27 October 1964 in East Berlin) was a German writer and president of the DDR Academy of Arts, Berlin. Born in Hamburg, he was a pioneer of socialist realist literature. Life and career Born in to the f ...

Werner Bruschke Werner Bruschke (18 August 1898, Magdeburg, Province of Saxony – 17 February 1995, Halle (Saale)) was an East German politician and member of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany. He was Minister-President of Saxony-Anhalt ( GDR) from 13 A ...

*1962:

Kurt Hager Kurt Hager (24 July 1912 – 18 September 1998) was an East German statesman, a member of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany who was known as the chief ideologist of the party and decided many cultural and educational policies in the German ...

*1963: Erich Hans Apel, Ernst Albert Altenkirch, Walter Halbritter,

Paul Fröhlich Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

Günter Mittag Günter Mittag (8 October 1926 – 18 March 1994) was a German member of parliament, secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), and a central figure in East Germany's command economy. Biography Born to a working-class family in St ...

, Hermann Pöschel *1964: Rudi Georgi,

Willi Stoph Wilhelm Stoph (9 July 1914 – 13 April 1999) was a German politician. He served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1964 to 1973, and again from 1976 until 1989. H ...

, Günther Wyschofsky *1965:

Peter Florin Peter Florin (2 October 1921 – 17 February 2014) was an East German politician and diplomat. Early life Florin was born in Cologne on 2 October 1921.

, Grete Groh-Kummerlöw, Ernst Scholz,

Erich Engel Erich Gustav Otto Engel (14 February 1891 – 10 May 1966) was a German film and theatre director.He is often confused with another German film director called Erich Engels, who specialised in comedy, and crime films. Biography Engel was b ...

*1967: Rudi Georgi *1968: Wilhelm Adam, Roman Chwalek,

Horst Dohlus Horst Dohlus (30 May 1925 – 28 April 2007) was a high ranking Socialist Unity Party of Germany, SED party functionary in the German Democratic Republic and a member of the country's People's Chamber, National Legislative Assembly (''Volkska ...

, Werner Lamberz *1969:

Lilly Becher Lilly Becher ( Korpus, 27 January 1901, Nuremberg – 20 September 1978, Berlin) was a German writer, journalist and communist activist. Noted as one of the first Antifascism, anti-Nazi writers to produce documentary work dealing with the persec ...

, Klaus Gysi, Walter Halbritter, Ernst-Joachim Gießmann, Helmut Kirchberg,

Paul Markowski Paul M. Markowski is an American meteorologist and leading expert on tornadogenesis and the Weather forecasting, forecasting of supercells and tornadoes. Career He was a principal investigator (PI) for the IHOP, (2002), PAMREX (2003–04), an ...

, Hermann Pöschel, Kurt Wünsche *1970:

*1974: Manfred Feist, Wolfgang Gress *1976:

Bruno Lietz Bruno may refer to: People and fictional characters *Bruno (name), including lists of people and fictional characters with either the given name or surname * Bruno, Duke of Saxony (died 880) * Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne, ...

, Eberhard Heinrich *1978:

Manfred Bochmann Manfred Bochmann (15 March 1928 – 18 November 2011) was an East German politician who served as his country's Minister for Geology for fifteen years. Life Bochmann was born into a working-class family in a mining region of Saxony, in a small t ...

*1979: Hubert Egemann *1981: Gisela Glende *1984:

, Siegfried Lorenz, Erik Neutsch *1986:

Egon Krenz Egon Rudi Ernst Krenz (; born 19 March 1937) is a German former politician who was the last Communist leader of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) during the Revolutions of 1989. He succeeded Erich Honecker as the General Secretary ...

*1988: Hartmut Buschbacher

Recipients

References

See also