Orders, decorations, and medals of the German states

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The orders, decorations, and medals of the German states, in which each states of Germany has devised a system of orders and awards to honour residents for actions or deeds that benefit their local community or state, are in turn subsumed within the German honours system. Each state sets their own rules and criteria on eligibility and also how each medal is awarded and presented. Most of the orders allow for the recipient to wear their orders in public.

Hanseatic rejection

Most of the orders have the form of a maltese cross.

The city states of Bremen and Hamburg do not allocate any orders. An exception was made during World War I when the Hanseatic Cross was awarded jointly with the city of Lübeck. Even today, senators of the two states reject any foreign orders. Former German chancellor Helmut Schmidt received a number of accolades, among them was the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, which he chose not to accept in Hanseatic tradition, in order to refuse any decoration presented for merely fulfilling one's duty.[1]

State orders

State Name Ribbon bar Established Number of inductees Living holders Limit of living holders Note
Baden-Württemberg Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg 1974 1,754 1,000
Bavaria Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art 1980 184[2] 92 100 Re-establishment of the order from 1853
Bavaria Bavarian Order of Merit 1957 5,537 1,637[3] 2,000
Bavaria Bayerischer Verfassungsorden 1961 (2011)
Berlin Order of Merit of Berlin 1987 431[4] 400[5]
Brandenburg Order of Merit of Brandenburg 2003 108 300
Hesse Hessian Order of Merit

Presented in two grades:

  • Cross of Merit (Verdienstkreuz)
  • Cross (Verdienstkreuz am Bande)
 1989 430 800
Lower Saxony Lower Saxony Order of Merit

Presented in three grades:

  • Commander's Cross (Großes Verdienstkreuz)
  • Officer's Cross (Verdienstkreuz 1. Klasse)
  • Cross (Verdienstkreuz am Bande)



1961 no limit
Lower Saxony Flood-Medal 2013 of the State of Lower Saxony 2013 20,000 no official limit, but was only

awarded in 2013

 For helpers during the 2013 European floods,

who did their duty in the State of Lower Saxony

Lower Saxony Lower Saxonian State Medal 54 24 no official limit but unofficially 30
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Order of Merit of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern 2001 no limit
North Rhine-Westphalia Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia 1986 1,357 3,500
Rhineland-Palatinate Order of Merit of Rhineland-Palatinate 1981 991[6] 800[7]
Saarland Saarland Order of Merit 1974 no limit
Saxony Order of Merit of the Free State of Saxony 1996 243[8] 500
Saxony Saxon Flood Helpers Order 2002 2002 For helpers during the 2002 European floods
Saxony Saxon Flood Helpers Order 2013 2013 For helpers during the 2013 European floods
Saxony-Anhalt Order of Merit of Saxony-Anhalt 2006 300[9]
Schleswig-Holstein Order of Merit of Schleswig-Holstein 2008 500[10]
Thuringia Order of Merit of the Free State of Thuringia 2000 300[11]

State medals

See also

References

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