The Bavarian Order of Merit () is the

Order of Merit The Order of Merit () is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by Edward VII, admission into the order r ...

of the Free State of Bavaria. It is awarded by the Minister-President of Bavaria as a "recognition of outstanding contributions to the Free State of Bavaria and the Bavarian people". The order was instituted by law on 11 June 1957. The Prime Minister and the Cabinet can nominate awardees. Hemmerle, a German jewellery house based in Munich founded in 1893, is the exclusive maker of the Bavarian Order of Merit since it was instituted in 1957. * Hermann Josef Abs * Ann-Kristin Achleitner * Josef Ackermann (journalist) * Lea Ackermann *

Konrad Adenauer Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a German statesman and politician who served as the first Chancellor of Germany, chancellor of West Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the first leader of th ...

Percy Adlon Paul Rudolf Parsifal "Percy" Adlon (; 1 June 1935 – 10 March 2024) was a German director, screenwriter, and producer. He is associated with the New German Cinema movement (ca. 1965–1985), and is known for his strong female characters and po ...

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Friedrich L. Bauer Friedrich Ludwig "Fritz" Bauer (10 June 1924 – 26 March 2015) was a German pioneer of computer science and professor at the Technical University of Munich. Life Bauer earned his Abitur in 1942 and served in the Wehrmacht during World War ...

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Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

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Iris Berben Iris Renate Dorothea Berben (, born 12 August 1950) is a German actress. Biography Berben was born in Detmold, North Rhine-Westphalia. She grew up in Hamburg, where her parents ran a restaurant. Berben has appeared in about 150 film and televi ...

* Roland Berger *

Senta Berger Senta Verhoeven (née Berger; ''Austrian German:'' , ; born 13 May 1941) is an Austrian-German actress. She received many award nominations for her acting in theatre, film, and television; her awards include three Bambi (prize), Bambi Awards, t ...

* Mathilde Berghofer-Weichner *

Karl-Friedrich Beringer Hans Karl-Friedrich Beringer (born 7 January 1948, in Neuendettelsau) is a German choral and orchestral conductor, who was from 1978 to 2011 the conductor of the Windsbacher Knabenchor. Life Born in Neuendettelsau, Beringer studied at the Meis ...

* Lennart Bernadotte * Sonja Bernadotte * Otto Bernheimer * Christian Bernreiter * Anton Betz * Gerhard Bletschacher * Peter Boenisch * Willy Bogner Jr. * Kurt Böhme * Uwe Brandl * Eberhard von Brauchitsch * Klaus Dieter Breitschwert * Beppo Brem * Heinrich von Brentano * Hans Breuer (politician) * Alois von Brinz * Dominik Brunner * Aenne Burda * Franz Burda *

Adolf Butenandt Adolf Friedrich Johann Butenandt (; 24 March 1903 – 18 January 1995) was a German biochemist. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1939 for his "work on sex hormones." He initially rejected the award in accordance with government pol ...

José Carreras Josep Maria Carreras Coll (; born 5 December 1946), better known as José Carreras (, ), is a Catalan operatic tenor from Spain who is particularly known for his performances in the operas of Donizetti, Verdi and Puccini. Born in Barcelona, ...

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Sergiu Celibidache Sergiu Celibidache (; ; 13 August 1996) was a Romanian people, Romanian Conducting, conductor, composer, musical theorist, and teacher. Educated in his native Romania, and later in Paris and Berlin, Celibidache's career in music spanned over fi ...

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Adolf Dassler Adolf "Adi" Dassler (3 November 1900 – 6 September 1978) was a German Shoemaking, cobbler, inventor and businessman who founded sportswear giant Adidas. He was also the younger brother of Rudolf Dassler, founder of Puma (brand), Puma. Dassler ...

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Colin Davis Sir Colin Rex Davis (25 September 1927 – 14 April 2013) was an English conductor, known for his association with the London Symphony Orchestra, having first conducted it in 1959. His repertoire was broad, but among the composers with whom ...

* Michael S. Davison *

Jacques Delors Jacques Lucien Jean Delors (; 20 July 192527 December 2023) was a French politician who served as the eighth president of the European Commission from 1985 to 1995. Delors played a key role in the creation of the single market, the euro and th ...

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Klaus Doldinger Klaus Doldinger (; born 12 May 1936) is a German saxophonist known for his work in jazz and as a film music composer. He was the recipient of the 1997's Bavarian Film Awards. He is also a frequent collaborator of German filmmaker Wolfgang Pet ...

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Brigitte Fassbaender Brigitte Fassbaender (; born 3 July 1939), is a German mezzo-soprano opera singer and a stage director. From 1999 to 2012 she was Theater manager, intendant (managing director) of the Tyrolean State Theatre in Innsbruck, Austria. She holds the ti ...

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Joseph von Fraunhofer Joseph Ritter von Fraunhofer (; ; 6 March 1787 – 7 June 1826) was a German physicist and optical lens manufacturer. He made optical glass, an achromatic telescope, and objective lenses. He developed diffraction grating and also invented the ...

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Karl von Frisch Karl Ritter von Frisch, (20 November 1886 – 12 June 1982) was a German-Austrian ethology, ethologist who received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1973, along with Nikolaas Tinbergen and Konrad Lorenz. His work centered on investi ...

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Joseph-Ernst Graf Fugger von Glött Joseph-Ernst Graf Fugger von Glött , since 1940: Fürst Fugger von Glött (26 October 1895, in Kirchheim in Schwaben – 13 May 1981, in Miesbach) was a German politician and representative of the Christian Social Union of Bavaria. He was a mem ...

* Maria Furtwängler * John Galvin (general) * Georg Gänswein *

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

* Peter Gauweiler * Martina Gedeck * Rudolf Geiger * Willi Geiger (painter) * Uschi Glas * Gloria, Princess of Thurn and Taxis * Peter Glotz * Nora-Eugenie Gomringer * Alfons Goppel * Josef Göppel * Silvia Görres * Eveline Gottzein * Franz Götz (politician) * Hugo Grau * Ulrich Grigull * Monika Gruber * Max Grundig * Enoch zu Guttenberg * Wolfgang Haber * Peter Häberle * Otto von Habsburg * Dietmar Hahlweg * Ingeborg Hallstein * Bernhard Häring * Anja Harteros * Gerda Hasselfeldt * Johannes Heesters *

Robert Heger Robert Heger (19 August 1886 – 14 January 1978) was a German conductor and composer from Strasbourg, Alsace-Lorraine. Life and career He studied at the Conservatory of Strasbourg under Franz Stockhausen, then in Zurich under Lothar Kempt ...

Werner Heisenberg Werner Karl Heisenberg (; ; 5 December 1901 – 1 February 1976) was a German theoretical physicist, one of the main pioneers of the theory of quantum mechanics and a principal scientist in the German nuclear program during World War II. He pub ...

* Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck * Josef Henselmann * Wolfgang A. Herrmann * Friedrich August Freiherr von der Heydte * Wilfried Hiller * Friedrich Högner * Karl Höller * Christiane Hörbiger * Melanie Huml *

Mariss Jansons Mariss Ivars Georgs Jansons (14 January 1943 – 1 December 2019) was a Latvian Conducting, conductor, best known for his interpretations of Gustav Mahler, Mahler, Richard Strauss, Strauss, and Russian composers such as Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, ...

* Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern * Marcus Junkelmann * Konstantinos Karamanlis * Karl, 8th Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg * Ellis Kaut *

Joseph Keilberth Joseph Keilberth (19 April 1908 – 20 July 1968) was a German conductor who specialised in opera. Career Keilberth began his career in the State Theatre of his native city, Karlsruhe, joining as a répétiteur in 1925 and conducting from 193 ...

* Paul Kirchhof * Susanne Klatten *

Carlos Kleiber Carlos Kleiber (3 July 1930 – 13 July 2004) was a German-born Austrian conductor, who is widely regarded as among the greatest conductors of all time. The son of the conductor Erich Kleiber, he was particularly known for the Romantic rep ...

Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist-Schmenzin Ewald-Heinrich Hermann Konrad Oskar Ulrich Wolf Alfred von Kleist-Schmenzin (10 July 1922 – 8 March 2013) was a Germans, German publisher and convenor of the Munich Conference on Security Policy until 1998. A member of the von Kleist family a ...

* Herbert Knaup * Herlinde Koelbl * Juliane Köhler * Peter Jona Korn * Platon Kornyljak * Max Kruse (author) * Rafael Kubelík * Reiner Kunze * Benno Kusche *

Bernard Landry Bernard Landry (; March 9, 1937 – November 6, 2018) was a Canadian politician who served as the 28th premier of Quebec from 2001 to 2003. A member of the Parti Québécois (PQ), he led the party from 2001 to 2005, also serving as the leader ...

* Gottfried Landwehr * Bernhard Langer * Pascalina Lehnert * Franz Lehrndorfer * Robert Lembke * Harald Lesch * Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger * Hans Ritter von Lex * Herbert Loebl * Loriot * Heidi Lück * Prince Luitpold of Bavaria (b. 1951) * Yury Luzhkov *

Lorin Maazel Lorin Varencove Maazel (; March 6, 1930 – July 13, 2014) was an American conductor, violinist and composer. He began conducting at the age of eight and by 1953 had decided to pursue a career in music. He had established a reputation in t ...

Peter Maffay Peter Alexander Makkay (born 30 August 1949), known as Peter Maffay (), is a Romanian-born German musician, singer, and composer. Being a veteran musician, he is often credited for motivating audiences with his emotional lyrics and powerful mel ...

* Jean Mandel * Max Mannheimer * Ursula Männle * Hubert Markl * Hellmuth Matiasek * Paul Augustin Mayer * Walther Meissner * Otto Meitinger * Maria-Elisabeth Michel-Beyerle * Joachim Milberg * Jürgen Mittelstraß * Walter Mixa * Martha Mödl * Jan Mojto * Alex Möller * Horst Möller * Wolf-Dieter Montag * Hans Müller (politician) * Gebhard Müller * Max Müller (Catholic intellectual) *

Thomas Müller Thomas Müller (; born 13 September 1989) is a German professional Association football, footballer who plays for club FC Bayern Munich, Bayern Munich. He primarily plays as an attacking midfielder or a second striker. Widely regarded as one o ...

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Kent Nagano Kent George Nagano (born November 22, 1951) is an American conductor and opera administrator. Since 2015, he has been ''Generalmusikdirektor'' (GMD) of the Hamburg State Opera (until 2025). Early life and education Nagano was born in Berkeley, ...

* Marlene Neubauer-Woerner * Christine Neubauer *

Manuel Neuer Manuel Peter Neuer (; born 27 March 1986) is a German professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for and captain (association football), captains club FC Bayern Munich, Bayern Munic ...

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Hermann Oberth Hermann Julius Oberth (; 25 June 1894 – 28 December 1989) was an Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian-born German physicist and rocket pioneer of Transylvanian Saxons, Transylvanian Saxon descent. Oberth supported Nazi Germany's war effort and re ...

Carl Orff Carl Heinrich Maria Orff (; 10 July 1895 – 29 March 1982) was a German composer and music educator, who composed the cantata ''Carmina Burana (Orff), Carmina Burana'' (1937). The concepts of his Orff Schulwerk, Schulwerk were influential for ...

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Wolfgang Petersen Wolfgang Petersen (14 March 1941 – 12 August 2022) was a German film and television director, screenwriter, and producer. His international breakthrough was the 1981 war film (1981), which earned him Academy Award nominations for Best Directo ...

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* Prince Raphael Rainer of Thurn and Taxis *

Georg Ratzinger Georg Ratzinger PA (15 January 19241 July 2020) was a German Catholic priest, Cast Film, Soap Opera Actor, Comedian, and musician, known for his work as the conductor of the Regensburger Domspatzen, the cathedral choir of Regensburg. He was ...

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Norbert Reithofer Norbert Reithofer (born 29 May 1956 in Penzberg, West Germany) is a German businessman and former chairman of the board of management (CEO) of BMW. He served as chairman of the supervisory board from 2015 to 2025. Early life and education Af ...

* Günther Rennert * Stefan Reuter * Erich Riedl * Herbert Rosendorfer * Marcus H. Rosenmüller * Philip Rosenthal (industrialist) * Claudia Roth * Joseph Rovan * Sep Ruf * Ivo Sanader * Carl Sattler *

Dieter Sattler Dietler Sattler (2 February 1906 - 9 November 1968) was a German architect who became involved in politics, especially with respect to culture, the arts and foreign policy. Between 1966 and 1968 he served as the West German ambassador to the Ho ...

* Robert Sauer (mathematician) *

Wolfgang Sawallisch Wolfgang Sawallisch (26 August 1923 – 22 February 2013) was a German conductor and pianist. Biography Wolfgang Sawallisch was born in Munich, the son of Maria and Wilhelm Sawallisch. His father was director of the Hamburg-Bremer-Feuerversich ...

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Volker Schlöndorff Volker Schlöndorff (; born 31 March 1939) is a German film director, screenwriter and producer who has worked in Germany, France and the United States. He was a prominent member of the New German Cinema of the late 1960s and early 1970s. He ha ...

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* Ernst Schwarz (philologist) *

Bastian Schweinsteiger Bastian Schweinsteiger ( , ; born 1 August 1984) is a German former professional Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. Earlier in his career, he primarily played as a wide midfielder before later switching to a central mi ...

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Horst Seehofer Horst Lorenz Seehofer (born 4 July 1949) is a German politician who served as Minister for the Interior, Building and Community under Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2018 to 2021. A member of the Christian Social Union (CSU), he served as the ...

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Luis Trenker Luis Trenker (born Alois Franz Trenker, 4 October 1892 – 12 April 1990) was a South Tyrolean film producer, director, writer, actor, architect, alpinist, and bobsledder. Biography Early life Alois Franz Trenker was born on 4 October 1892 in ...

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Joseph Vilsmaier Joseph Vilsmaier (, 24 January 1939 – 11 February 2020) was a German film director who began his career as a technician and cameraman. He is internationally known for films such as ''Comedian Harmonists (film), Comedian Harmonists''. Life Bo ...

Rudolf Voderholzer Rudolf Voderholzer (9 October 1959) is a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He is bishop of Regensburg since 2012. Life Born in Munich, Voderholzer studied at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich where he received an MA in 1985 and a d ...

* Hans-Jochen Vogel * Kurt Vogel (historian) * Miriam Vogt *

Karl Vötterle Karl Vötterle (12 April 1903 – 29 October 1975) was a German music publisher. Life Vötterle was born in Augsburg. With the intention of printing song sheets for the members of the musical youth movement, he founded the Bärenreiter-Verlag i ...

* Franz Vranitzky * Hermann Wagner * Wolfgang Wagner *

Theo Waigel Theodor Waigel (born 22 April 1939) is a German politician of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU). He represented Neu-Ulm in the Bundestag from 1976 to 2002. Waigel is a lawyer, and earned a doctorate in 1967. He was a member of the Bu ...

* Luggi Waldleitner * Ulrich Walter * Herbert Walther * Felix Wankel * Markus Wasmeier *

Friedrich Weber (general) __NOTOC__ Friedrich Weber (March 31, 1892 – September 2, 1974) was a German general in World War II. He fought in Tunisian campaign, Africa and in the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front. He was the commander of the Fortress Division W ...

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Friedrich Zimmermann Friedrich Zimmermann (18 July 1925 – 16 September 2012) was a German politician and a member of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria, Christian Social Union (CSU). From 1982 to 1989, he was the federal minister of interior. From 1989 to 1991 h ...

* Tanja Kinkel

References

External links

Searchable database with all recipients
1957 establishments in West Germany Awards established in 1957 Culture of Bavaria Orders, decorations, and medals of Bavaria {{Orders-medals-stub