The order Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts was founded in 1842 by the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm IV. Federal President Theodor Heuss revived it in 1952. New members are co-opted by the order’s chapter at its meeting.
In 2020 the order had 40 German and 40 foreign members. After the election of September 2025 it had 36 German and 37 foreign members.
The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic is not given for good work in a job. Its rules require eine selbständige, auszeichnungswürdige Leistung für das allgemeine Wohl, an independent achievement for the common good that is worthy of an award. Die tadelsfreie Erfüllung von Berufspflichten oder die Übernahme von ehrenamtlichen Tätigkeiten allein genügt nicht. Faultless fulfillment of professional duties, or merely taking on a volunteer post, is not enough.
Another rule concerns those who put themselves forward. Wer seine eigene Auszeichnung anregt, kann mit einer Ordensverleihung nicht rechnen. Whoever proposes his own award cannot expect to receive the order.
The Weimar Constitution of 1919 contained a sentence on decorations. Article 109 said: Orden und Ehrenzeichen dürfen vom Staat nicht mehr verliehen werden. Orders and decorations may no longer be awarded by the state. No German was allowed to accept a title or an order from a foreign government.
The Federal Republic returned to a state order in 1951. Federal President Theodor Heuss founded the Order of Merit on 7 September 1951, the second anniversary of the Federal Republic.
The German Historical Museum notes that orders have met with criticism again and again. It records a saying from the war and the first years after it: Bomben und Orden treffen immer die Falschen. Bombs and medals always hit the wrong people.
In 2015 Oracle published a study of 1,511 employees in five European countries. In Germany, 60 percent said they expect more recognition of their work from their direct supervisor. It was the highest share in the study. According to the report, only 28 percent of German companies recognize good performance in any form.
In the 2018 Employment Survey of two federal institutes, the BIBB and the BAuA, only one employee in three reported frequent recognition and praise from superiors. About six in ten said that they often received support from their manager. The trade unions’ Good Work Index of the same year found that 32 percent of employees received little or no appreciation at work.
In Germany, members of opera ensembles can receive honorary titles: Kammersänger, chamber singer, and Kammermusiker, chamber musician. In Saxony an administrative regulation of 22 June 1998 sets the conditions for the Saxon State Opera in Dresden and the Landesbühnen Sachsen. A singer needs leading artistic achievements and continuous, regular and successful work in the productions. An orchestra musician needs outstanding artistic achievements and at least five years of unbroken membership of the ensemble in Dresden, or eight at the Landesbühnen. To keep the titles from losing their value, at most three a year may be awarded at the Dresden State Opera, and one at the Landesbühnen.
gründlich — thorough. The word comes from Grund, the ground. To be gründlich is to go down to the bottom of a thing.
saubere Arbeit — clean work, the common praise for a job done well.
handwerklich sauber — clean in its craft. It is said of a law, an article or a piece of engineering when the work was done properly. A law can be handwerklich sauber and still be politically wrong.
schlampig gearbeitet — sloppily done. The verdict is about the method. It can apply even when the result turned out fine.
Pi mal Daumen — pi times thumb, a rough estimate. The speaker uses it to mark a number that was not properly worked out.
Wo ist der Haken?
Where is the hook? Where is the catch? The Duden dictionary defines Haken here as a hidden difficulty.
Die Sache hat einen Pferdefuß.
The matter has a horse’s foot. It has a bad side that is not obvious at first.
zu schön, um wahr zu sein
Too good to be true.
die Vorschusslorbeeren
Advance laurels. Praise given before anything has been achieved. The word usually carries doubt.
die Schwarzmalerei
Painting in black. A description that is too pessimistic. The word marks the limit: listing risks is expected, painting everything black is not.
In Hamburg, accepting a state decoration has long been considered improper for those in public office. The rule goes back to Hamburg city law of the 13th century. Today it is called Hanseatische Ablehnung, the Hanseatic refusal. It is still frowned upon among senators, members of the city parliament and public employees. Bremen’s Senate recorded the same custom in 1893. Helmut Schmidt, a former Hamburg senator, declined the Federal Order of Merit in 1968 in keeping with this tradition. He declined it several more times later.
German managers are careful not praise too often for fear that some team members could feel disadvantaged. Praise of a team member can quickly lead to envy, which in turn threatens team cohesion. A bonus awarded for good performance often leads to other team members claiming unfairness.
Furthermore, Germans do not feel comfortable working in an atmosphere of peer competition. German top performers would rather do without the praise and the bonus in order to safeguard a cooperative working relationship with their colleagues.
Envy: irritation, anger in response to the success of others; to crave for, to want what the other has in terms of material wealth, status, good health, attractive physical appearance.
Germans also believe that success of a team is often difficult to attribute to the performance of certain members. Praise in front of the team or any kind of reward can lead to an embittered discussion about how performance is defined and measured. Germans believe that it is too easy to mistakenly praise one colleague for work results produced by another. A feeling of unfairness, of injustice can arise quickly.