Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria

Order of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria
Order of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria
	Grand Cross, Special Class set of the Order
Type	State decoration
Awarded for	Meritorious service ; to the Austrian nation
Eligibility	Civilians and military personnel
Established	2 April 1952
Precedence
Next (higher)	None (highest)
Next (lower)	Varies by grade
Related	Order for Science and the Arts

The Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (German: Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um die Republik Österreich) is a national honour awarded by the Republic of Austria.

The decoration is awarded in 15 grades and is Austria's highest national honour.

History[]

The Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria was first established by federal law on 4 November 1922. It initially had ten grades. Later it was expanded to sixteen grades. It was replaced in 1934 by the Austrian Order of Merit (Österreichischer Verdienstorden) in 1934.

The modern iteration of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria was established by the National Council in 1952.^[2] It is conferred by the Republic of Austria to honour people (from Austria and abroad) who have rendered meritorious services to the country. Recipients are selected by the government. The awards are made by the President in accordance with the respective laws.^[2] The State President of Austria automatically receives the "Grand Star of the Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria" by being elected to the office and holds this honour for life. The decoration should not be confused with other decorations in the Austrian honours system such as the "Austrian Decoration for Science and Art".

Classes[]

The Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria is divided into the 15 classes as follows:

Grand Star (Gross-Stern)^[3]
Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Sash (Grosses Goldenes Ehrenzeichen am Bande)^[3]
Grand Decoration of Honour in Silver with Sash (Grosses Silbernes Ehrenzeichen am Bande)^[3]
Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Star (Grosses Goldenes Ehrenzeichen mit Stern)^[3]
Grand Decoration of Honour in Silver with Star (Grosses Silbernes Ehrenzeichen mit Stern)^[3]
Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold (Grosses Goldenes Ehrenzeichen)^[3]
Grand Decoration of Honour in Silver (Grosses Silbernes Ehrenzeichen)^[3]
Grand Decoration of Honour (Grosses Ehrenzeichen)^[3]
Decoration of Honour in Gold (Goldenes Ehrenzeichen)^[4]
Decoration of Honour in Silver (Silbernes Ehrenzeichen)^[4]
Decoration of Merit in Gold (Goldenes Verdienstzeichen)^[4]
Decoration of Merit in Silver (Silbernes Verdienstzeichen)^[4]
Gold Medal (Goldene Medaille)^[4]
Silver Medal (Silberne Medaille)^[4]
Bronze Medal (Bronzene Medaille), no longer awarded^[4]

The "Gold Medal for Services to the Republic of Austria" may also be conferred as "Gold Medal with Red Riband" awarded for bravery and lifesaving.^[4]

Classes of the decoration

The five higher classes with Breast Star
The seven lower classes of the Decoration
Three Medals in Gold, Silver and Bronze

Notable recipients[]

Below is a list of all Grand Star recipients and other notable recipients, in chronological order with year of award in parentheses:.

Grand Star recipients[]

Royal Houses[]

Hussein bin Talal, King of Jordan from 1952 to 1999 (1976)
Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974 (1954)
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Emperor of Iran from 1941 to 1979 (1958)
Empress Farah, Empress Consort of Iran from 1959 to 1979 (1965)
Albert II, King of the Belgians from 1993 to 2013 now former King (1958)
Queen Paola of Belgium, Queen of the Belgians from 1993 to 2013 now former Queen (1997)
Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth Realms since 1952 (1966)
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh consort of Elizabeth II from 1952 (1966)
Olav V, King of Norway from 1957 to 1991 (1966)
Akihito, Emperor of Japan from 1989 to 2019 (1999)
Empress Michiko, Japanese empress consort from 1989 to 2019 (1999)
Qaboos bin Said al Said, Sultan of Oman since 1970 (2001)
Margrethe II of Denmark, Queen of Denmark from 1972 (1964)
Carl XVI Gustaf, King of Sweden since 1973 (1967)
Queen Silvia of Sweden, Queen of Sweden since 1976 (1979)
Hassan II, King of Morocco from 1961 to 1999
Harald V, King of Norway since 1991
Queen Sonja of Norway, Queen of Norway since 1991 (1978)
Abdullah II, King of Jordan since 1999 (2001)
Princess Anne, Princess Royal since 1969
Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein since 1991
Princess Marie, Princess consort of Liechtenstein since 2004
Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Grand Duke of Luxembourg from 2000 (2013)
Maria Teresa, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, from 2000 (2013)
Juan Carlos I of Spain, King of Spain from 1975 to 2014 now former King (1978)
Queen Sofía of Spain, Queen of Spain from 1975 to 2014 now former Queen (1978)

Politicians[]

Adolf Schärf, President of Austria from 1957 to 1965 (1957)
Franz Jonas, President of Austria from 1965 to 1974 (1965)
Josip Broz Tito, President of Yugoslavia from 1953 to 1980 (1965)^[5]
Rudolf Kirchschläger, President of Austria from 1974 to 1986 (1974)
Kurt Waldheim, Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1972 to 1981, and President of Austria from 1986 to 1992 (1974)
Thomas Klestil, President of Austria between 1992 and 2004 (1992)
Emil Constantinescu, President of Romania from 1996 to 2000 (1999)
Árpád Göncz, President of Hungary from 1990 to 2000 (1999)
Konstantinos Stefanopoulos, President of Greece from 1995 to 2005 (1999)
Petar Stoyanov, President of Bulgaria from 1997 to 2002 (1999)
Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of Kazakhstan from 1990 to 2019 (2000)
Stjepan Mesić, President of Yugoslavia in 1991, and President of Croatia from 2000 to 2010 (2001)
Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, President of Italy from 1999 to 2006 (2002)
Jorge Sampaio, President of Portugal from 1996 to 2006 (2002)
Abdelaziz Bouteflika, President of Algeria from 1999 to 2019 (2003)
Heinz Fischer, President of Austria from 2004 to 2016 (2004)
Giorgio Napolitano, President of Italy from 2006 to 2015 (2007)
Jacques Chirac, President of France from 1995 to 2007
Ferdinand Marcos, President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986
Alexander Van der Bellen, President of Austria from 2017 to present (2017)
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, President of Portugal from 2016 (2019)
Sergio Mattarella, President of Italy from 2015 (2019)
Kersti Kaljulaid, President of Estonia from 2016 (2021)
Moon Jae-in, President of South Korea from 2017 (2021)

Other select recipients[]

Dimitri Shostakovich (Grand Decoration of Honour in Silver, 1967)^[6]
Willy Brandt, Chancellor of Germany from 1969 to 1974 (Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Sash, 1972)
Anna Freud (1975)^[7]
Hilde Hawlicek (Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Sash, 1980)^[8]
Wolf In der Maur (Grand Decoration of Merit in Gold, 1985)^[8]
Shoichiro Toyoda (Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Star, 1999)^[9]
Randolph M. Bell (Grand Decoration of Honour in Silver, 2004)^[10]
Jeanette Schmid (Decoration of Merit in Gold, 2004)^[11]
Stuart Eizenstat (Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Star, 2005)^[12]
Andreas Maislinger (Decoration of Honour in Silver, 2005)
Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006 (Grand Decoration in Gold with Sash, 2007)
Gerhard Rühm, author, composer, and artist (Decoration of Honour in Gold, 2007)
Atta-ur-Rahman, Pakistani Organic chemist (Decoration of Honour in Gold with Sash for Services to the Republic of Austria, 2008)^[13]
Ertuğrul Günay, Minister of Culture and Tourism of Turkey (Grand Decoration in Gold with Sash, 2010)
Prince Hassan bin Talal, (Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Sash, 2004)
Christoph Schönborn, Roman Catholic Cardinal and Archbishop of Vienna (Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Sash, 2008)
Alois Mock, Vice-Chancellor of Austria from 1987 to 1989 (Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Sash)
Walter Schwimmer (Grand Decoration of Honour in Silver with Star)^[14]
Simon Wiesenthal (Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold for Services to the Republic of Austria, 2005)
Ruth Wodak (Decoration of Honour in Silver, 2011)^[15]
Elisabeth Bleyleben-Koren
Miep Gies (2009)^[16]
Hans Dobida, inductee into the IIHF Hall of Fame^[17]^[18]

Notes[]

^ "Bundespraesident.at: Decorations of Honour". Bundespraesident.at. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 16 February 2009. Retrieved 15 February 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Hofburg: Decoration (English); Archived 27 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine Ehrenzeichen (German). Archived 27 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Hofburg: Ehrenzeichen (German). Archived 27 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine
^ Badurina, Berislav; Saračević, Sead; Grobenski, Valent; Eterović, Ivo; Tudor, Mladen (1980). Bilo je časno živjeti s Titom. Vjesnik. p. 102.
^ Volkov, Solomon. (2004). Testimony, p. 280.
^ Felder, Deborah G. (2005). Fifty Jewish Women Who Changed the World, p. 129.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "Eingelangt am 23.04.2012 : Dieser Text wurde elektronisch übermittelt. Abweichungen vom Original sind möglich. Bundeskanzler Anfragebeantwortung" (PDF). Parlament.gv.at. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
^ Toyota: Toyoda bio Archived 4 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
^ "Austrian Decorations". Austrianinformation.org.
^ "Obituary: Jeanette Schmid". The Daily Telegraph. 17 March 2005.
^ "Stuart E. Eizenstat". Cov.com. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
^ "Reply to a parliamentary question about the Decoration of Honour" (PDF) (in German). p. 1879. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 12 May 2019.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ University, Lancaster. "News & Events - Linguistics and English Language - Lancaster University". Lancaster.ac.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
^ "Miep Gies :: Grand Decoration of Honour for Services". Miepgies.nl. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
^ "Dr. Dobida offiziell in die IIHF Hall of Fame aufgenommen". Hockey web (in German). 9 May 2007. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
^ "Dr. Hans Dobida in die IIHF Hall of Fame aufgenommen". Hockeyfans.at (in German). 11 November 2006. Retrieved 26 February 2019.

References[]

Poul Ohm Hieronymussen, Poul Ohm. (1967). Orders and Decorations of Europe in Color. New York: Macmillan. OCLC 796549
Werlich, Robert. (1965). Orders and Decorations of All Nations: Ancient and Modern, Civil and Military. Washington, D.C.: Quaker Press. OCLC 390804

External links[]

"Decorations of Honor" from the website of the President of Austria

[1] "Bundespraesident.at: Decorations of Honour". Bundespraesident.at. Retrieved 26 January 2020.

[aaa-2] Jump up to: ^a ^b "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 16 February 2009. Retrieved 15 February 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[hofburg2-3] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Hofburg: Decoration (English); Archived 27 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine Ehrenzeichen (German). Archived 27 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine

[hofburg3-4] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Hofburg: Ehrenzeichen (German). Archived 27 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine

[Bilo_je_časno_živjeti_s_Titom-5] Badurina, Berislav; Saračević, Sead; Grobenski, Valent; Eterović, Ivo; Tudor, Mladen (1980). Bilo je časno živjeti s Titom. Vjesnik. p. 102.

[6] Volkov, Solomon. (2004). Testimony, p. 280.

[7] Felder, Deborah G. (2005). Fifty Jewish Women Who Changed the World, p. 129.

[recipients-8] Jump up to: ^a ^b "Eingelangt am 23.04.2012 : Dieser Text wurde elektronisch übermittelt. Abweichungen vom Original sind möglich. Bundeskanzler Anfragebeantwortung" (PDF). Parlament.gv.at. Retrieved 10 February 2019.

[honorary-9] Toyota: Toyoda bio Archived 4 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine

[10] "Austrian Decorations". Austrianinformation.org.

[11] "Obituary: Jeanette Schmid". The Daily Telegraph. 17 March 2005.

[12] "Stuart E. Eizenstat". Cov.com. Retrieved 10 February 2019.

[13] "Reply to a parliamentary question about the Decoration of Honour" (PDF) (in German). p. 1879. Retrieved 1 November 2012.

[14] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 12 May 2019.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[15] University, Lancaster. "News & Events - Linguistics and English Language - Lancaster University". Lancaster.ac.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2019.

[16] "Miep Gies :: Grand Decoration of Honour for Services". Miepgies.nl. Retrieved 15 January 2016.

[17] "Dr. Dobida offiziell in die IIHF Hall of Fame aufgenommen". Hockey web (in German). 9 May 2007. Retrieved 26 February 2019.

[18] "Dr. Hans Dobida in die IIHF Hall of Fame aufgenommen". Hockeyfans.at (in German). 11 November 2006. Retrieved 26 February 2019.

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