Bundesverdienstkreuz - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany is the only general state decoration

State decoration

State decorations are orders, medals and other decorations granted by a state. International decorations are similar, but are not granted by a specific nation but rather an international organization....

of the Federal Republic of Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. It has existed since 7 September 1951, and between 3,000 and 5,200 awards are given every year across all classes. Colloquially, the decorations of the different classes of the Order are known as Federal Cross of Merit .

Most of the German federal states

States of Germany

Germany is made up of sixteen which are partly sovereign constituent states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Land literally translates as "country", and constitutionally speaking, they are constituent countries...

(Bundesländer) have their own orders of merit, with up to three ranks (member, officer, commander). This excludes the Free

Free Imperial City

In the Holy Roman Empire, a free imperial city was a city formally ruled by the emperor only — as opposed to the majority of cities in the Empire, which were governed by one of the many princes of the Empire, such as dukes or prince-bishops...

and Hanseatic

Hanseatic League

The Hanseatic League was an economic alliance of trading cities and their merchant guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe...

Cities of Bremen

Bremen

The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...

and Hamburg

Hamburg

-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

, which reject any orders; by old tradition their citizens will refuse any decoration in the form of an order (most famous example: former Chancellor Helmut Schmidt

Helmut Schmidt

Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt is a German Social Democratic politician who served as Chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982. Prior to becoming chancellor, he had served as Minister of Defence and Minister of Finance. He had also served briefly as Minister of Economics and as acting...

Classes

The Bundesverdienstkreuz has eight classes, in ascending order:

Verdienstmedaille (Medal)
Verdienstkreuz am Bande (Cross)
international equivalent: Ritterkreuz (Knight's Cross)
Verdienstkreuz 1. Klasse (Officer's Cross)
Großes Verdienstkreuz (Halskreuz) (Commander's Cross or Grand Cross (Neck cross))
Großes Verdienstkreuz mit Stern (Knight Commander's Cross or Grand Cross with Star)
Großes Verdienstkreuz mit Stern und Schulterband (Grand Cross with Star and Sash)
international equivalent: Großkreuz 2. Klasse (Grand Cross of Merit, Second class) or Großkomturkreuz (Grand Commander's Cross)
Großkreuz (Grand Cross 1st class)
Sonderstufe des Großkreuzes (Grand Cross special class)

The President of the Federal Republic holds the Sonderstufe des Großkreuzes ex officio. It is awarded to him in a ceremony by the President of the Bundestag
Bundestag
The Bundestag is a federal legislative body in Germany. In practice Germany is governed by a bicameral legislature, of which the Bundestag serves as the lower house and the Bundesrat the upper house. The Bundestag is established by the German Basic Law of 1949, as the successor to the earlier...

attended by the Chancellor, the President of the Bundesrat and the Supreme Court President. Other than the President of the Federal Republic, only a foreign head of state

Head of State

A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...

can be awarded with the highest class. There is also the provision of awarding the Großkreuz in a special rare design, which has so far only been used twice: for Konrad Adenauer

Konrad Adenauer

Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer was a German statesman. He was the chancellor of the West Germany from 1949 to 1963. He is widely recognised as a person who led his country from the ruins of World War II to a powerful and prosperous nation that had forged close relations with old enemies France,...

and for Helmut Kohl

Helmut Kohl

Helmut Josef Michael Kohl is a German conservative politician and statesman. He was Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and the chairman of the Christian Democratic Union from 1973 to 1998...

Insignia

Except for the lowest class, 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 is a golden Cross

Cross

A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two lines or bars perpendicular to each other, dividing one or two of the lines in half. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally; if they run obliquely, the design is technically termed a saltire, although the arms of a saltire need not meet...

enamelled in red, with a central disc bearing a black eagle.

The star is a golden star with straight rays, its size and points vary according to class, with the badge superimposed upon it.

The ribbon is red with gold-black-gold stripes.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Classes

Insignia

See also

External links