Order of Merit of Berlin

Order of Merit of Berlin
Awarded by the Senate of Berlin
Country	Germany
Type	Civil order of merit
Awarded for	Outstanding contributions to the state of Berlin
Statistics
Established	21 July 1987
Total awarded	359
Ribbon bar of the order

The Order of Merit of Berlin (German: Verdienstorden des Landes Berlin) is this highest award of the German State of Berlin. Awarded in the name of the Senate of Berlin, the order had recognized outstanding contributions to the State of Berlin since 21 July 1987. Awarded each year on 1 October, the anniversary of the Berlin Constitution, the order is limited to no more than 400 living recipients.^[1] As of 2014 the order had been awarded 409 times, to 144 women and 265 men.^[2]

Design of the order

The Order of Merit of Berlin is awarded in a single class. The badge of the order is a white enamel Maltese cross edged in red. In the center of the cross is a depiction of the golden crowned Coat of arms of Berlin surrounded by a gold wreath. It is worn around the neck on a white ribbon with red edges.^[3]

Notable recipients

• Franziska van Almsick
• Stefan Arndt
• Vladimir Ashkenazy
• Seyran Ateş
• Hani Azer
• Marianne Birthler
• Eberhard Diepgen
• Paul van Dyk
• Rudi Fehr
• Klaus and Eva Herlitz
• Don Jackson
• Lena Schöneborn
• Judy Winter
• Jenny Wolf
• Walter H. Yates, Jr.
• Heinz Dürr

See also

• List of Holders of the Order of Merit of Berlin (German Wikipedia)

References

1. "Verdienstorden des Landes Berlin" [Orders of Merit of Berlin] (in German). Landes Berlin. Retrieved 2015-10-30.
2. "Der Verdienstorden des Landes Berlin" (in German). Ordensmuseum.de. Retrieved 2015-10-30.
3. "Verwaltungsvorschriften zur Verleihung des Verdienstordens des Landes Berlin" (PDF). http://www.berlin.de (in German). 4 October 2005. Retrieved 5 April 2012. External link in |work= (help)