The Order of Karl Marx () was the most important

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of ...

in the

German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **G ...

(GDR). The award of the order also included a prize of 20,000

East German mark The East German mark (german: Mark der DDR ), commonly called the eastern mark (german: Ostmark, links=no ) in West Germany and after reunification), in East Germany only ''Mark'', was the currency of the German Democratic Republic (East Germ ...

s. The order was founded on May 5, 1953 on the occasion of

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

's 135th birthday during Karl Marx Year and on the recommendation of the GDR Council of Ministers. It was granted to individuals, enterprises, organizations, and military groups for exceptional merit in relation to ideology, culture, economy, and other designations. Additionally, citizens of other countries could also be awarded the order.

Notable recipients of the Order

*1953:

Hermann Duncker Hermann Ludwig Rudolph Duncker (24 May 1874 – 22 June 1960) was a German Marxist politician, historian and social scientist. He was a lecturer for the workers' education movement, co-founder of the Communist Party of Germany, professor at the ...

Otto Grotewohl Otto Emil Franz Grotewohl (; 11 March 1894 – 21 September 1964) was a German politician who served as the first prime minister of the German Democratic Republic (GDR/East Germany) from its foundation in October 1949 until his death in Septembe ...

Luise Kähler Luise Kähler (12 January 1869 – 22 September 1955) was a German socialist, trade union leader and politician. She was one of a small number of women union officials that held a prominent position within Germany's trade unions in the first ha ...

, Hermann Matern, Wilhelm Pieck, Wilhelm Zaisser *1956: Wilhelm Koenen *1961: Alfred Kurella, Gherman Titov *1962: Alexander Abusch,

Karl Bittel Karl Bittel (22 June 1892 – 18 April 1969) was a German left-wing historian and journalist. Life Karl Bittel was born in Darmstadt. His father was a bank worker. He attended school at Freiburg in the south-west of Germany, across the Rhine ...

Franz Dahlem Franz Dahlem (14 January 1892 – 17 December 1981) was a German politician. Dahlem was a leading official of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and, after 1945, of East Germany's ruling Socialist Unity Party (SED). By the early 1950s he had ...

Herbert Warnke Herbert Warnke (24 February 1902 – 26 March 1975) was an East German trade unionist and politician who served as both Chairman of the Free German Trade Union Federation and a member of the Politburo of the Socialist Unity Party. Biograph ...

Otto Winzer Otto Winzer (3 April 1902 – 3 March 1975) was an East German diplomat who served as East Germany's Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1965 to 1975. Biography Winzer was born in Berlin in 1902. He was a son of worker. Otto Winzer learned the types ...

*1963:

Yuri Gagarin Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin; Gagarin's first name is sometimes transliterated as ''Yuriy'', ''Youri'', or ''Yury''. (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who became the first human to journey into outer space. T ...

, Karl Maron,

Willy Rumpf Willy Rumpf (4 April 1903 – 8 February 1982) was a German communist politician and Finance Minister in the German Democratic Republic. Rumpf was born in Berlin. During 1917–1920, he was educated as an insurance assessor, and worked until 1 ...

Valentina Tereshkova Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova ( rus, Валентина Владимировна Терешкова, links=no, p=vɐlʲɪnʲˈtʲinə vlɐˈdʲimʲɪrəvnə tʲɪrʲɪʂˈkovə, a=Valentina Tereshkova.ogg; born 6 March 1937) is an engine ...

*1965:

Pavel Belyayev Pavel Ivanovich Belyayev (russian: Павел Иванович Беляев; 26 June 1925 – 10 January 1970) was a Soviet fighter pilot with extensive experience in piloting different types of aircraft. He was the first commander of the cosmona ...

Paul Fröhlich Paul may refer to: * Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

Aleksei Leonov Alexei Arkhipovich Leonov. (30 May 1934 – 11 October 2019) was a Soviet and Russian cosmonaut, Air Force major general, writer, and artist. On 18 March 1965, he became the first person to conduct a spacewalk, exiting the capsule during the ...

Hans Schaul Hans Schaul (13 December 1905 – 19 May 1988) was a German politician and a long-standing legally trained editor of the theoretical magazine of the Socialist Unity Party, '' Einheit.'' As a younger man he volunteered and participated on the Rep ...

*1966: Helene Berg *1967:

Rudolf Dölling Rudolf Dölling (4 November 1902 – 3 August 1975) was a politician in Czechoslovakia and in East Germany. He later trained for military service and was made a Major-General in the National People's Army of East Germany. At the end of August ...

John Heartfield John Heartfield (born Helmut Herzfeld; 19 June 1891 – 26 April 1968) was a 20th century German visual artist who pioneered the use of art as a political weapon. Some of his most famous photomontages were anti-Nazi and anti-fascist statements. ...

Wilhelm Kling Wilhelm Kling (7 February 1902 – 17 November 1973) was a Communist Party of Germany (KPD) functionary, and later an associate in the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) in East Germany. Kling was b ...

, Karl Mewis *1968:

Max Burghardt Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE) * Max (gorilla) ( ...

Roman Chwalek Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

, Kurt Seibt *1969:

Walter Beling Walter Beling (19 May 1899 – 31 May 1988) was a German political activist and party official (KPD) who became a resistance activist during the Hitler years. He was released from prison, possibly due to an administrative error, in 1936 and fl ...

, Paul Dessau,

Erich Honecker Erich Ernst Paul Honecker (; 25 August 1912 – 29 May 1994) was a German communist politician who led the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1971 until shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. He held the posts ...

Jürgen Kuczynski Jürgen Kuczynski (; 17 September 1904, Elberfeld – 6 August 1997, Berlin) was a German economist, journalist, and communist. He also provided intelligence to the Soviet Union during World War II. By 1936, Kuczynski had followed his father ...

, Hermann Matern,

Albert Norden Albert Norden (4 December 1904 – 30 May 1982) was a German communist politician. Early years Albert Norden was born in Myslowitz, Silesia on 4 December 1904, one of the five recorded children born to the liberal rabbi (1870–1943) and hi ...

, Willi Stoph,

Lotte Ulbricht Lotte Ulbricht (19 April 1903 – 27 March 2002, born Charlotte Kühn) was a Socialist Unity Party of Germany official and the second wife of the East German leader Walter Ulbricht. She was born the younger of two children in Rixdorf in 1903 ...

Paul Verner Paul Verner (26 April 1911 – 12 December 1986) was a German communist politician. He joined the communist movement at a young age and went into exile during Adolf Hitler's rule. Verner became a prominent political personality in the German D ...

*1970:

Bruno Apitz Bruno Apitz (28 April 1900 – 7 April 1979) was a German writer and a survivor of the Buchenwald concentration camp. Life and career Apitz was born in Leipzig, as the twelfth child of a washer woman. He attended school until he was fourteen, t ...

Otto Braun Otto Braun (28 January 1872 – 15 December 1955) was a politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) during the Weimar Republic. From 1920 to 1932, with only two brief interruptions, Braun was Minister President of the Free State ...

, Ernst Busch, Fritz Dallmann, Heinz Hoffmann,

Erwin Kramer Erwin Kramer (22 August 1902 – 10 November 1979) was an East German politician who served as both Minister of Transportation and General Director of the Deutsche Reichsbahn. Kramer was born in Schneidemühl (Province of Posen) (today Pi� ...

, Erich Mückenberger, Harry Tisch *1971: Erich Correns *1972:

Fritz Cremer Fritz Cremer was a German sculptor. Cremer was considered a key figure in the DDR art and cultural politics. His most notable for being the creator of the "Revolt of the Prisoners" (Revolte der Gefangenen) memorial sculptor at the former concentra ...

Max Fechner Max Fechner (27 July 1892 – 13 September 1973) was a German politician who served as Minister of Justice of East Germany from 1949 to 1953 Life and career Fechner was born in Berlin and was a trained tool maker. He joined the SPD in 1910, was ...

, Klaus Gysi, Kurt Hager,

, Max Spangenberg *1973: Ernst Albert Altenkirch, Eva Altmann, Werner Bruschke,

Friedrich Dickel Friedrich Dickel (9 December 1913 – 23 October 1993) was a German politician, who served as the interior minister of East Germany for nearly twenty-six years. Early life Dickel was born on 9 December 1913 in Wuppertal-Vohwinkel in the Pru ...

, Ernst Goldenbaum,

Erich Mielke Erich Fritz Emil Mielke (; 28 December 1907 – 21 May 2000) was a German communist official who served as head of the East German Ministry for State Security (''Ministerium für Staatsicherheit'' – MfS), better known as the Stasi, from 1957 u ...

, Fred Oelßner *1974: Walter Arnold,

Walter Bartel Walter Bartel (15 September 1904 – 16 January 1992) was a German communist resistance fighter, historian and university professor. Life Born in Fürstenberg/Havel, Bartel grew up in a working-class family. Wilhelm Bartel, his father, worke ...

, Bruno Beater,

Jurij Brězan Jurij Brězan (9 June 1916 – 12 March 2006) was a German writer. His works, especially the novels, narrative works and children's books, were available in the two languages German and Upper Sorbian. He lived, following its creation during and ...

Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev; uk, links= no, Леонід Ілліч Брежнєв, . (19 December 1906– 10 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union between 1964 and 1 ...

Walter Buchheim Walter Buchheim (28 January 1904 – 1 November 1979) was an East German politician and Trade unionist. He was the chairman of the national People's Solidarity organisation. Life 1904-1933 Childhood and early adulthood in Weimar Germany Buchhei ...

, Käthe Dahlem,

Arthur Franke Arthur Franke (born Berlin 5 August 1909: died Rüdersdorf 23 October 1992) was a leading political policeman in East Germany; he became a military officer when the country's army was established in 1956. Three years later he became Chief of ...

, Alexander Schalck-Golodkowski, Willi Stoph,

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito (; sh-Cyrl, Тито, links=no, ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various positions from 1943 until his death ...

Markus Wolf Markus Johannes Wolf (19 January 1923 – 9 November 2006), also known as Mischa, was head of the Main Directorate for Reconnaissance (), the foreign intelligence division of East Germany's Ministry for State Security (, abbreviated MfS, common ...

Todor Zhivkov Todor Hristov Zhivkov ( bg, Тодор Христов Живков ; 7 September 1911 – 5 August 1998) was a Bulgarian communist statesman who served as the ''de facto'' leader of the People's Republic of Bulgaria (PRB) from 1954 until 1989 ...

*1975:

Edmund Collein Edmund Collein (10 January 1906 – 21 January 1992) was an East German architect and urban planner. He is also known for his photography while studying at the Bauhaus art school. As a functionary of the SED, the ruling political party of East Ge ...

, Werner Eggerath,

Horst Sindermann Horst Sindermann (; 5 September 1915 – 20 April 1990) was a Communist German politician and one of the leaders of East Germany. He became Chairman of the Council of Ministers in 1973, but in 1976 he became President of the Volkskammer, ...

Aleksandr Vasilevsky Aleksandr Mikhaylovich Vasilevsky ( ru , Алекса́ндр Миха́йлович Василе́вский) (30 September 1895 – 5 December 1977) was a Soviet career-officer in the Red Army who attained the rank of Marshal of the Soviet ...

, Paul Wandel *1976: Vladimir Aksyonov, Hermann Axen,

Valery Bykovsky Valery Fyodorovich Bykovsky (russian: Вале́рий Фёдорович Быко́вский; 2 August 1934 – 27 March 2019) was a Soviet cosmonaut who flew on three space flights: Vostok 5, Soyuz 22, and Soyuz 31. He was also backup for Vost ...

Luis Corvalán Luis Nicolás Corvalán Lepe (14 September 1916, in Puerto Montt – 21 July 2010) was a Chilean politician. He served as the general secretary of the Communist Party of Chile (PCCh). Corvalán joined the Communist Party of Chile at the age of fi ...

, Luise Ermisch,

Manfred Ewald Manfred Ewald (17 May 1926 – 21 October 2002) served as German Democratic Republic's (GDR) Minister of Sport (1961–1988) and president of his country's Olympic committee (1973–1990). He was convicted for his role in the state-sponsored sy ...

, Wolfgang Junker, Günter Mittag, Ernst Scholz,

Werner Walde Werner may refer to: People * Werner (name), origin of the name and people with this name as surname and given name Fictional characters * Werner (comics), a German comic book character * Werner Von Croy, a fictional character in the ''Tomb Rai ...

*1977: Friedel Apelt, Hilde Benjamin, Klaus Gysi, Kurt Hager,

, Margot Honecker,

*1978:

, Fritz Eikemeier, Werner Felfe,

Hans Modrow Hans Modrow (; born 27 January 1928) is a German politician best known as the last communist premier of East Germany. Taking office in the middle of the Peaceful Revolution, he was the ''de facto'' leader of the country for much of the winter ...

, Joachim Herrmann, Werner Krolikowski, Konrad Naumann,

Elli Schmidt Elli Paula Schmidt (9 August 1908 – 30 July 1980) was a German communist political activist with links to Moscow, where as a young woman she spent most of the war years. She returned in 1945 to what later (in 1949) became the German Democr ...

Sigmund Jähn Sigmund Werner Paul Jähn (; 13 February 1937 – 21 September 2019) was a German cosmonaut and pilot who in 1978 became the first German to fly into space as part of the Soviet Union's Interkosmos programme. Early life Jähn was born on 13 Fe ...

*1979:

, Johannes Chemnitzer, Horst Dohlus,

Peter Edel Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

Ernst Engelberg Ernst Engelberg (5 April 1909 – 18 December 2010) was a German university professor and Marxist historian. He made a particularly noteworthy contribution with his two-volume biography of Otto von Bismarck which in the view of at least one comme ...

Klaus Fuchs Klaus Emil Julius Fuchs (29 December 1911 – 28 January 1988) was a German theoretical physicist and atomic spy who supplied information from the American, British and Canadian Manhattan Project to the Soviet Union during and shortly af ...

Gerhard Grüneberg Gerhard is a name of Germanic origin and may refer to: Given name * Gerhard (bishop of Passau) (fl. 932–946), German prelate * Gerhard III, Count of Holstein-Rendsburg (1292–1340), German prince, regent of Denmark * Gerhard Barkhorn (1919–1 ...

Heinz Keßler Heinz Keßler (26 January 1920 – 2 May 2017) was a German communist politician and military officer in East Germany. His career in the military started when he was conscripted into the Wehrmacht, the armed forces of Nazi Germany, in WWII. Du ...

*1980: Heinz Hoffmann,

Alfred Lemmnitz Alfred Lemmnitz (27 June 1905 – 23 September 1994) was an East German politician. He served as Minister for National Education from 1958 to 1963. Lemmnitz was born in Taucha, Saxony and completed training as a typesetter and studies in ec ...

, Siegfried Lorenz *1981:

, Peter Florin,

Erwin Geschonneck Erwin Geschonneck (27 December 1906 – 12 March 2008) was a German actor. His biggest success occurred in the German Democratic Republic, where he was considered one of the most famous actors of the time. Early life Geschonneck was born in Bart ...

Gerhard Schürer Gerhard Schürer (14 April 1921 – 22 December 2010) was a leading politician in East Germany. Between 1963 and 1989 he was a member of the powerful Central Committee of the country's ruling SED (party). He also served, between 1965 and 1989 ...

*1982: Hilde Eisler, Kurt Hager,

Kim Il-sung Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...

, Alexander Schalck-Golodkowski, Paul Scholz *1983: Theo Balden,

Gerhard Beil Gerhard Beil (28 May 1926, Leipzig – 19 August 2010, Berlin) was a politician for the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, SED and the Minister for Foreign Trade of the German Democratic Republic, GDR. Life After completing primary school, Beil ...

, Wilhelm Ehm, Oskar Fischer,

Egon Krenz Egon Rudi Ernst Krenz (; born 19 March 1937) is a German former politician who was the last Communist leader of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) during the Revolutions of 1989. He succeeded Erich Honecker as the General Secret ...

, Werner Scheler,

, Gustáv Husák *1984: 6th Flotilla of the East German People's Navy, Alfred Neumann, Willi Stoph, *1985:

, Horst Dohlus, Heinz Hoffmann,

, Bruno Lietz, Erich Mückenberger,

Ilse Thiele Ilse Thiele (4 November 1920 – 10 January 2010) was an East German politician. She was a member of the powerful Central Committee of the country's ruling SED (party) between 1954 and 1989. She served as the Chair of the national Democrati ...

*1986: Heinrich Adameck,

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 20 ...

Luise Dornemann Luise Dornemann (born Luise Fremy: 23 February 1901 - 17 January 1992) was a women's rights activist-politician and, in her later years, a writer. Life Luise Fremy was born in Aurich, a midsized town in East Frisia, in the northwestern corner of ...

Gisela Glende Gisela Glende (born Gisela Trautzsch: 30 October 1925 - 3 February 2016) was an East German party official. She served between 1968 and 1986 as head of the Politburo office, which meant she was responsible for preparing the agendas and draft de ...

, Günter Mittag *1987: Hilde Benjamin, Margot Honecker,

Werner Jarowinsky Werner Jarowinsky (25 April 1927 - 22 October 1990) was an East German economist who became a party official. Between 1963 and 1989 he was a member of the powerful Party Central Committee which, under the Leninist constitutional structure that t ...

*1988: Georgi Atanasov,

Nicolae Ceauşescu Nicolae may refer to: * Nicolae (name), a Romanian name * ''Nicolae'' (novel), a 1997 novel See also *Nicolai (disambiguation) Nicolai may refer to: *Nicolai (given name) people with the forename ''Nicolai'' *Nicolai (surname) people with the s ...

Manfred Gerlach Manfred Gerlach (8 May 1928 – 17 October 2011) was a German jurist and politician, and the longtime leader of the East German Liberal Democratic Party. He served as ''Chairman of the Council of State'' and was thus head of state of East ...

, Joachim Herrmann, Kurt Seibt *1989:

Horst Brünner Horst Brünner (1929–2008) was deputy Defense Minister in the East German Council of Ministers and chief of the Central Political Administration of the National People's Army. Life The son of a bricklayer, Brünner trained between 1943 a ...

Angel Dimitrov Angel Angelov Dimitrov ( bg, Ангел Димитров Ангелов; 1 January 1927 – 8 October 2005) was a Bulgarian politician belonging to the Bulgarian Agrarian National Union (BANU). He served as Secretary of the Standing Committee of ...

Alexi Ivanov Aleksi Ivanov Vasilev ( Bulgarian: Алекси Иванов Василев), (born Alexe Bădărău; October 22, 1922 – June 9, 1997) was a Bulgarian politician Secretary of (Deputy Chairman) of Standing Committee Bulgarian Agrarian People' ...

, Günter Schabowski, Willi Stoph,

Petur Tanchev Petar Tanchev Zhelev ( bg, Петър Танчев Желев) (1920-1992) was a Bulgarian politician, Secretary (Chairman) of the Bulgarian Agrarian People's Union (BAP) from 1974 to 1989, and a deputy in the I (1950-1953), II (1954-1957), II ...

, Herbert Weiz, Günther Wyschofsky

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Order Of Karl Marx Orders, decorations, and medals of East Germany Awards established in 1953 Awards disestablished in 1989 1953 establishments in East Germany 1989 disestablishments in East Germany Karl Marx