The Bayerische Verfassungsmedaille (Bavarian Constitution Medal) is an award by the German state

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

, which is awarded annually by the Bavarian state parliament to persons who have rendered outstanding services to the Bavarian constitution. The medal is given in Silver and Gold. The medal was established on 1 December 1961, donated by the then president of parliament , as the necessity arose to honour long-serving members of parliament. The inscription on the medal is "Bayerische Verfassung" (Bavarian constitution) with the Roman year figures MDCCCXVIII (1818), MCMXIX (1919) and MCMXLVI (1946), the obverse shows the

Coat of arms of Bavaria The coat of arms of Bavaria has greater and lesser versions. It was introduced by law fully by 5 June 1950: Meaning The modern coat of arms was designed by Eduard Ege, following heraldic traditions, in 1946. * First Quarter (The Golden Lion ...

. On 20 July 2011, the medal was elevated to the rank of an order.

Recipients

Many politicians received the medal, including Franz Götz and

Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger ( Leutheusser; born 26 July 1951) is a German politician of the liberal Free Democratic Party and a prominent advocate of human rights in Germany and Europe. Within the FDP, she is a leading figure of the soc ...

. Members of the Bavarian parliament receive it usually after three legislative periods (formerly 12 years, now 15 years of service), ministers typically after one term (formerly 4 years, now five years). The medal has been awarded also to artists such as ballerina

Konstanze Vernon Konstanze Vernon (2 January 1939 – 21 January 2013) was a German ballet dancer, academic teacher and director of a ballet academy and a ballet company. She was from 1963 to 1981 prima ballerina of the ballet at the Bayerische Staatsoper. She tau ...

, and clerics such as Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, the later pope.

2001

* Kurt Faltlhauser *

Ingo Friedrich Ingo Friedrich (born 24 January 1942 in Kutno-Wartheland) is a former German (Bavarian) Member of the European Parliament. He was elected on the CSU ticket and sits with the EPP-ED Group. Friedrich holds a University degree in Economics. He was ...

Erwin Huber Erwin Huber (born 26 July 1946) is a German politician. He was chairman of the Christian Social Union of Bavaria from 2007 to 2008. Early life Erwin Huber was born in Reisbach in the district of Dingolfing-Landau, Bavaria. He attended elementa ...

2002

* Reinhold Bocklet * Josef Deimer * Franz Götz * Karl Freller

2004

* Johannes Friedrich *

Christian Ude Christian Ude (born 26 October 1947) is a German politician who served as mayor of Munich from 1993 to 2014. He is a member of the German Social Democratic Party. Career Ude was born in Munich. From 1967 to 1969 he worked for the daily newspa ...

2005

* Karl Freller *

Charlotte Knobloch Charlotte Knobloch (born 29 October 1932, as Charlotte Neuland) is the former President of Central Council of Jews in Germany (Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland) from 2006 to 2010. She is also Vice President of the European Jewish Congress and ...

Ernst Pöppel Ernst Pöppel (born 29 April 1940) is a German psychologist and neuroscientist. He is the father of Dr. David Poeppel. Education and research Pöppel was born in Schwessin, Farther Pomerania. He studied psychology and biology in Freiburg an ...

2006

* Manfred Christ * Heinz Donhauser * Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker

2007

* Otmar Bernhard *

Ruth Drexel Ruth Drexel (; 14 July 1930 – 26 February 2009) was a German actress, director, and theatre director/manager. Her best-known role was as "Resi Berghammer" in the German television series, ''Der Bulle von Tölz'', in which she played the mother ...

* Mieczysław Pemper *

Gisela Stein Gisela Stein (2 October 1935 – 4 May 2009) was a German actress. Biography Stein was born in Swinemünde (now Świnoujście, Poland) and educated at the Wiesbaden actors school. She began her stage career in Koblenz, Krefeld-Mönchenglad ...

* Klaus Dieter Breitschwert * Peter Radtke * Siegfried Schneider (politician)

2008

* Herbert Ettengruber * Ingrid Fickler * Heidi Lück *

Marion Schick Marion Schick (born September 5, 1958) is a German manager, politician and professor. From February 2010 to May 2011 she was Minister of Education of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. Before being named minister she served as president of M ...

Jutta Speidel Jutta Speidel (; born 26 March 1954) is a German actress. She had her first television role at the age of 15. Jutta Speidel appeared in ''Schulmadchen Report 1'' (1970), which was directed by Ernst Hofbauer and produced by Wolf C. Hartwig. She ...

2009

Dieter Dorn Dieter Dorn (born 31 October 1935 in Leipzig) is a German theatre director, also for the opera, the manager of the Münchner Kammerspiele from 1983 to 2001 and now manager of the Bavarian Staatsschauspiel. Career Dieter Dorn studied at the Thea ...

Max Mannheimer Max Mannheimer (6 February 1920 – 23 September 2016) was an author, painter and survivor of the Holocaust. Except for one brother, he lost his entire family in the Holocaust, including his new wife. For decades, he did not speak about his exp ...

Horst Seehofer Horst Lorenz Seehofer (born 4 July 1949) is a German politician who served as Minister of 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 18 ...

Ludwig Stiegler Ludwig Stiegler (born 9 April 1944 in Parsberg) is a German politician. He was chairman of the SPD's group in the Bundestag in 2002

Dieter Borchmeyer Dieter Borchmeyer (born 3 May 1941 in Recklinghausen) is a German literary critic. Borchmeyer is Professor Emeritus of Modern German Literature (''Neuere Deutsche Literatur'') and Dramatic Theory (''Theaterwissenschaft'') at the University of Hei ...

Walter Kolbow Walter Kolbow (born 27 April 1944, in Spittal an der Drau) is a former German politician of the SPD. He was Parliamentary State Secretary (1998-2005) in the Federal Ministry of Defense, as well as deputy chairman of SPD Parliamentary Group in ...

Bernd Posselt Bernd Posselt (born 4 June 1956) is a German politician, who served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1994 to 2014, representing the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) and the European People's Party (EPP). He is currently a member ...

2010

Michael Glos Michael Glos (born 14 December 1944) is a German politician of the Christian Social Union (CSU) who served as Minister for Economics and Technology in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel from 22 November 2005 until 10 February 2009. Ea ...

* Theodor W. Hänsch *

Gerda Hasselfeldt Gerda Hasselfeldt (born 7 July 1950) is a German politician of the Christian Social Union (CSU) who served as deputy chairperson of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group and chairwoman of the Bundestag group of CSU parliamentarians. Following her dep ...

Ludwig Schick Ludwig Schick (born 22 September 1949) is a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as archbishop of Bamberg from 2002 to 2022. He was auxiliary bishop of Fulda from 1998 to 2002. Life Born in Marburg, Schick was ordained to the priest ...

* Siegfried Schneider *

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 Awards, two Romys, an A ...

* Renate Dodell *

Peter Maffay Peter Alexander Makkay (born 30 August 1949), known as Peter Maffay (), is a Romanian-born German musician, singer, and composer. Early life Born in Braşov (german: link=no, Kronstadt), Romania, the son of a German (Transylvanian Saxon), h ...

Angelika Niebler Angelika Niebler (née Rupertseder; born 18 February 1963) is a German lawyer and politician who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 1999. She is a member of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria, part of the Europ ...

2011

Reinhard Marx Reinhard Marx (born 21 September 1953) is a German cardinal of the Catholic Church. He serves as the Archbishop of Munich and Freising. Pope Benedict XVI elevated Marx to the cardinalate in a consistory in 2010. Biography Born in Geseke, No ...

Waltraud Meier Waltraud Meier (born 9 January 1956) is a German dramatic soprano and mezzo-soprano singer. She is particularly known for her Wagnerian roles as Kundry, Isolde, Ortrud, Venus, Fricka, and Sieglinde, but has also had success in the French and ...

Iris Berben Iris Renate Dorothea Berben (, born 12 August 1950) is a German actress and voice 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 ...

* Wolfgang Kreissl-Dörfler * Peter Landau * Eduard Oswald *

Claudia Roth Claudia Benedikta Roth (born 15 May 1955) is a German politician ( Alliance 90/The Greens). She was one of the two party chairs from 2004 to 2013 and previously served as one of the vice presidents of the ''Bundestag''. She is also currently se ...

2012

Franz Beckenbauer Franz Anton Beckenbauer (, ; born 11 September 1945) is a German former professional footballer and manager. In his playing career he was nicknamed ''Der Kaiser'' ("The Emperor") because of his elegant style, dominance and leadership on the fi ...

Peter Lerche Peter Lerche (January 12, 1928 – March 14, 2016) was a German jurist. Between 1964 and 1996 he held a chair for constitutional law at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. His research interests also included media law. Born in Leitmerit ...

Ilse Aigner Ilse Aigner (born 7 December 1964) is a German politician and member of the Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CSU). Aigner was born in Feldkirchen-Westerham, Bavaria, and entered Angela Merkel's grand coalition cabinet as Federal Minister ...

Verena Bentele Verena Bentele (born 28 February 1982, in Lindau) is a blind German Paralympic biathlete and cross-country skier. She studied at the Carl-Strehl Schule, a special school for the blind and partially sighted in Marburg, Germany. She won her firs ...

* Max Stadler

2013

* Hans-Jürgen Buchner *

Mahbuba Maqsoodi Mahbuba Elham Maqsoodi (born 1957) is a German- Afghan artist based in Munich, Germany. She is recognized for miniature paintings and painting on glass, including designing 34 stained glass windows for Tholey Abbey in Germany. She is an advocate fo ...

* Marcus H. Rosenmüller

2017

Jacques Chagnon Jacques Chagnon (born August 28, 1952) is a retired Canadian politician who served in the National Assembly of Quebec from 1985 to 2018. He holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Concordia University and graduate degrees in politica ...

References

External links

Informationen des Bayerischen Landtages zur Bayerischen Verfassungsmedaille
{{in lang, de German awards Culture of Bavaria Awards established in 1961 1961 establishments in West Germany Long service medals