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 (2 October 1847 – 2 August 1934) was a German military and political leader who led the Imperial German Army during the First World War and later became President of Germany (1919� ...

to commemorate the centenary of

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

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

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

, 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 in ...

(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 (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

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 18 ...

(61 awards from 1910 to 2017), the " Goethepreis der Stadt Frankfurt" (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. Most countries celebrate national anniversaries, typically called national days. These could be the date of independence of the nation or the adoption o ...

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 () is an award conferred by Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany and named after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The plaque was originally designed by sculptor Harold Winter. The plaque is awarded at irregular intervals t ...

) 158 awards from 1947 to 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, ''Goethe Institute'') is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit German culture, cultural organization operational worldwide with more than 150 cultural centres, promoting the study of the German language abroad and en ...

, 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 Naturalism (literature), literary naturalism, though he integrated other styles into h ...

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 novell ...

. Starting in April 1932 there followed

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

and the current or future Nobel Prize bearers

Nicholas Murray Butler Nicholas Murray Butler (April 2, 1862 – December 7, 1947) 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 ...

André Gide André Paul Guillaume Gide (; 22 November 1869 – 19 February 1951) was a French writer and author whose writings spanned a wide variety of styles and topics. He was awarded the 1947 Nobel Prize in Literature. Gide's career ranged from his begi ...

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

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 j ...

Guglielmo Marconi Guglielmo Giovanni Maria Marconi, 1st Marquess of Marconi ( ; ; 25 April 1874 – 20 July 1937) was an Italian electrical engineer, inventor, and politician known for his creation of a practical radio wave-based Wireless telegraphy, wireless tel ...

Albert Schweitzer Ludwig Philipp Albert Schweitzer (; 14 January 1875 – 4 September 1965) was a German and French polymath from Alsace. He was a theologian, organist, musicologist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician. As a Lutheran minister, ...

Fritz Haber Fritz Jakob Haber (; 9 December 1868 – 29 January 1934) was a German chemist who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1918 for his invention of the Haber process, a method used in industry to synthesize ammonia from nitrogen gas and hydrog ...

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. Life Willstätter wa ...

. Other recipients were

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

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 regarded as one of the greatest Symphony, symphonic and operatic conductors of the 20th century. He was a majo ...

Otto Klemperer Otto Nossan Klemperer (; 14 May 18856 July 1973) was a German conductor and composer, originally based in Germany, and then the United States, Hungary and finally, Great Britain. He began his career as an opera conductor, but he was later bet ...

Carl Goerdeler Carl Friedrich Goerdeler (; 31 July 1884 – 2 February 1945) was a German conservative politician, monarchist, executive, economist, civil servant and opponent of the Nazi regime. He opposed anti-Jewish policies while he held office and was opp ...

, 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 ...

and

E. G. Kolbenheyer Erwin Guido Kolbenheyer (30 December 1878, in Budapest – 12 April 1962, in Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest ci ...

. 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 a 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 honou ...

Agnes Miegel Agnes Miegel (9 March 1879 – 26 October 1964) was a German author, journalist and poet. She is best known for her poems and short stories about East Prussia, but also for the support she gave to the Nazi Party. Biography Agnes Miegel was born ...

Ina Seidel Ina Seidel (15 September 1885 – 3 October 1974) was a German lyric poet and novelist. In 1930, she published the novel generally regarded as her most famous work, ''Das Wunschkind ''("The Wished-For Child"); two years later she became the first w ...

, Feodora, Grand Duchess of Saxon-Weimar, Enrica von Handel-Mazzetti 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 Euler-Chelpin, since 28 July 1884 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 ...

Johannes Stark Johannes Stark (; 15 April 1874 – 21 June 1957) was a German physicist who received 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 phenom ...

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 studying ...

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,

Agnes Bluhm Agnes Bluhm (9 January 1862 – 12 November 1943) was a German physician, eugenicist, and winner of a Goethe medal. She believed that German women could improve the race using eugenics and forced sterilisation. She wrote that the "female psyche" m ...

Isolde Kurz Maria Clara Isolde Kurz (21 December 1853 – 5 April 1944) was a German poet and short story writer. She was born in 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 may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, a ...

. 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 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...

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 seen as originating fro ...

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

Sources

* Hartmut Heyck, Goethe - Hindenburg - Hitler. Die Entstehungs- und Verleihungsgeschichte der Goethe-Medaille für Kunst und Wissenschaft (1932–1944) mit den Namen von 600 Empfängern, Ottawa, 2009 * 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 1932 establishments in Germany 1944 disestablishments in Germany