The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest federal decoration of the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen constituent states have a total population of over 84 ...

. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first President of the Federal Republic of Germany,

Theodor Heuss Theodor Heuss (; 31 January 1884 – 12 December 1963) was a German liberal politician who served as the first president of West Germany from 1949 to 1959. His civil demeanour and his cordial nature – something of a contrast to German nati ...

, on 7 September 1951. Colloquially, the decorations of the different classes of the Order are also known as the Federal Cross of Merit (). It has been awarded to over 262,000 individuals in total, both Germans and foreigners. Since the 1990s, the number of annual awards has declined from over 4,000, first to around 2,500, then from 2015 to under 1,500, with a low of 918 awards in 2022. Since 2013, women have made up a steady 30–35% of recipients.The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
English

both Website of the President, and accessed 29 March 2014. Most of the

German federal states Federalism in Germany is made of the states of Germany and the federal government. The central government, the states, and the German municipalities have different tasks and partially competing regions of responsibilities ruled by a complex syste ...

() have each their own order of merit as well, with the exception of the Free and

Hanseatic The Hanseatic League was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Growing from a few Northern Germany, North German towns in the ...

Cities of

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

and

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, which reject any orders (by tradition their citizens, particularly former or present senators, will refuse any decoration in the form of an order, the most famous example being former

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Helmut Schmidt Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt (; 23 December 1918 – 10 November 2015) was a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), who served as the chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982. He was the longest ...

History

The order was established on 7 September 1951 by the decree of Federal President

. Signed by Heuss, German

Konrad Adenauer Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a German statesman and politician who served as the first Chancellor of Germany, chancellor of West Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the first leader of th ...

, and

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

Robert Lehr Robert Lehr (20 August 1883 – 13 October 1956) was a German politician ( DNVP, CDU). He served as Federal Minister of the Interior from 1950 to 1953 under chancellor Konrad Adenauer. Early life and education Robert Lehr was born on 20 August ...

, the decree states: In 2022 Federal President

Frank-Walter Steinmeier Frank-Walter Steinmeier (; born 5 January 1956) is a German politician who has served as President of Germany since 2017. He was previously Minister for Foreign Affairs (Germany), federal minister for foreign affairs from 2005 to 2009 and again f ...

introduced a gender quota which demands a minimum of 40% of nominees to the order to be women.

Classes

The Order comprises four groups with eight regular classes and one special (medal) class (hereafter enumerated in English): * Grand Cross () ** Grand Cross special class of the Order of Merit (, Special Class of Grand Cross), official insignia of the

President of Germany The president of Germany, officially titled the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international correspondence; the official English title is President of the F ...

, reserved for heads of state and their spouses ** Grand Cross 1st class of the Order of Merit in exceptional finish (, Grand Cross 1st class in exceptional finish), reserved for former Federal Chancellors of Germany ** Grand Cross 1st class of the Order of Merit (, Grand Cross 1st class) * Great Cross of Merit () ** Grand Cross of the Order of Merit (, Great Cross of Merit with Star and Sash) ** Knight Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit (, Great Cross of Merit with Star) ** Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit (, Great Cross of Merit) * Cross of Merit () ** Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit (, Cross of Merit 1st Class) ** Cross of the Order of Merit (, Cross of Merit) * Medal of Merit () ** Medal of the Order of Merit (, Medal of Merit) The President of the Federal Republic holds the ''Grand Cross special class''

ex officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, or council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by r ...

. It is awarded to him in a ceremony by the

President of the Bundestag The president of the Bundestag ( or ; Grammatical gender in German#Professions, when the office is held by a man) presides over the sessions of the Bundestag, the federal parliament of Germany, with functions similar to that of a speaker (poli ...

, attended by the

Chancellor of Germany The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, is the head of the federal Cabinet of Germany, government of Germany. The chancellor is the chief executive of the Federal Government of Germany, ...

, the

President of the Bundesrat In Germany, the president of the Bundesrat or president of the Federal Council (German: ''Bundesratspräsident'') is the chairperson ( speaker) of the Bundesrat (Federal Council). The president is elected by the Bundesrat for a term of one year ...

, and the Supreme Court President. Other than the German president, only a foreign

head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "

he head of state He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

and their spouse can be awarded with this highest class. There is also the provision of awarding the ''Grand Cross 1st class in exceptional finish'' (), in which the central medallion with the black eagle is surrounded by a stylized

laurel wreath A laurel wreath is a symbol of triumph, a wreath (attire), wreath made of connected branches and leaves of the bay laurel (), an aromatic broadleaf evergreen. It was also later made from spineless butcher's broom (''Ruscus hypoglossum'') or cher ...

in relief. This ''Grand Cross 1st class in exceptional finish'' has been awarded only to three persons, the former German chancellors

Helmut Kohl Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (; 3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was a German politician who served as chancellor of Germany and governed the ''Federal Republic'' from 1982 to 1998. He was leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to ...

and

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German retired politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. She is the only woman to have held the office. She was Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2005 and Leade ...

Insignia

Comparison of Bundesverdienstkreuz stars

Except for the lowest class, the medal, the badge is the same for all classes, but with slightly different versions for men and women (slightly smaller badge and ribbon for women): The badge for the Member and Officer classes however are only enamelled on one side, and flat on the reverse. The ''badge'' of the Order is made up of a golden four-armed

cross A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...

enamelled in red, with a central gold disc bearing a black enamelled German federal eagle (). The ''star'' is a golden star with straight rays, its size and points vary according to class, with the badge superimposed upon it. An interesting fact about the stars, of which no less than four grades use one, is that they all have the same basic shape as various other breast stars from German history. * 8-pointed golden Star: Grand Cross special class - the same shape as the Prussian Order of the Black Eagle * 6-pointed golden Star: Grand Cross 1st class (and ''special issue'' design if golden oak crown between the cross branches around the medallion) - the same shape as the Third Reich Order of the German Eagle * 4-pointed golden Star: Grand Cross (Grand Cross of Merit with Star and Sash) - the same shape as the Third Reich Social Welfare Decoration * silver Square-upon-point: Knight Commander (Grand Officer) - the same shape as the Grand Cross of the Pour le Mérite The reasoning behind this is not clear. It is not known if this is deliberate or coincidence, as the tools used to make the stars were in short supply after the war, and using stamping dies that were readily available and could be reused or acquired from other manufacturers would have been a good way of cutting costs and simplifying production in a Germany only just starting to experience the . It is of course possible that this could have been deliberate, and a way to celebrate German history in the design of the new honour for the Federal Republic. This is unlikely however as two stars represent decorations awarded during the

Third Reich Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

, and the other two are of Prussian origin. Prussia itself had only been recently abolished and the legacy of so called " Prussian militarism" was not something openly celebrated in the new

. The ''

riband A ribbon or riband is a thin band of material, typically cloth but also plastic or sometimes metal, used primarily as decorative binding and tying. Cloth ribbons are made of natural materials such as silk, cotton, and jute and of synthetic mate ...

'' of the Order is made up of the colours of the German flag. The pattern is a large central band of red, edged on both sides in a smaller band of gold-black-gold.Hieronymussen, P. O., ''Orders and Decorations of Europe in Color'' (London:

Macmillan Publishers Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd in the United Kingdom and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC in the United States) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be on ...

, 1967).

Gallery

File:German order merit with special sash.jpg, File:German Order of Merit Grand Cross First Class.jpg, File:Bundesverdienstkreuz mit Schulterband.jpg, File:Bundesverdienstkreuz Stern.jpg, File:Saksan liittotasavallan ansioristikunnan suurristin rintataähti.png, File:Gr Verdienstkreuz BVK.jpg, File:Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.jpg, File:OĞUZ MADALYA 003.jpg, File:Bundesarchiv Bild 199-1992-089-29, Britische Königin Elisabeth II. in Brühl.jpg, File:Bundesadler on the inner lid of the German Order of Merit.png, The gold foil German Bundesadler found on the inner lid of the Order File:Bundesverdienstkreuz Grand Cross with Star and Sash.png, Grand Cross with Star and Sash File:Bundesverdienstkreuz Grand Cross badge.png, Grand Cross with badge File:Bundesverdienstkreuz Grand Cross with Star and Sash in case.png, Grand Cross with Star and Sash in case File:Bundesverdienstkreuz Grand Cross with Star and Sash set.png, Grand Cross with Star and Sash set File:Bundesverdienstkreuz Grand Cross Star.png, Grand Cross Star File:Bundesverdienstkreuz Commander Class.png, Commander's Cross set File:Bundesverdienstkreuz Commander.png, Commander's Class in case File:Commander Class set of the German Bundesverdienstkreuz.png, Commander's Class

Recipients

References

External links

*
Classes of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany with their official French, English, Spanish and Russian translations
(PDF)
Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany brochure

{{DEFAULTSORT:Order Of Merit Of The Federal Republic Of Germany 1951 establishments in West Germany Awards established in 1951 Civil awards and decorations of Germany Orders, decorations, and medals of Germany Merit Of The Federal Republic Of Germany, Order of Orders of merit