Bremen Medal of Honor in Gold

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Bremen Medal of Honor from 1846 (in the case fragment), awarded to the money broker Johann Martin Wolde (Qu: Focke Museum )
Dedication on the back

The Bremen Medal of Honor in gold is the highest honor that the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen has to bestow. With this medal, the Senate honors personalities for their outstanding services to the community.

The award has only been presented 25 times so far, most recently on November 7, 2018 to Henning Scherf for services to the benefit of the State of Bremen.

Origin of the medal

Orders, as is common in Prussia , are unacceptable for the Hanseatic population (even today public officials in the Hanseatic cities do not accept portable orders). Therefore, in 1823, the independent state government of Bremen endeavored to receive an adequate honor to express gratitude for outstanding services to the community and to shape it. Some designs, including those by renowned artists such as Adolph Menzel , were rejected. It was only 13 years later that the artist Theodor Neu and the Bremen master silversmith Wilkens came into play.

A "converted goddess" in gold - allegedly Rhea , one of the titans from the Vatican museums, was the model for a seated "Brema" with a Bremen coat of arms key instead of a scepter and a scroll of law instead of a kettle drum. Next to her is a Gothic heraldic shield with the national coat of arms, on the other side a lion is sitting as a symbol of power. The back, each with an individual dedication, is adorned with an oak leaf garland. This first “Bremen Medal of Honor in Gold” was awarded to Mayor Johann Smidt in 1843 , to the founder of Bremerhaven and the statesman who successfully defended Bremen's independence at the Vienna Congress in 1814/15.

List of medalists

Serial No. Surname Reason year
1 Mayor Johann Smidt Founder of the city of Bremerhaven 1843
2 Vincent Rumpff Hanseatic Minister-Resident in Paris 1844
3 Money broker Johann Martin Wolde Wunstorf – Bremen Railway 1846
4th Ship captain Meinhard Rooderkerk Rescue of the crew of a Bremen brig that sank in the English Channel 1847
5 Merchant Carl Theodor Gevekoht Negotiations in New York, steamship line Bremen – New York 1847
6th Lieutenant Matthew Fontaine Maury Merits to shipping on the North Atlantic 1855
7th Businessman Hermann Henrich Meier Founder of Bremer Bank and Norddeutscher Lloyd 1866
8th Businessman Christoph Papendieck Promotion of trade and commerce within the framework of the Northwest German Trade and Industry Exhibition 1890
9 Merchant Johann Heinrich Theodor Claussen President of the Bremen citizenship from 1876 to 1900 1900
10 Merchant Franz E. Schütte Restoration of the cathedral 1901
11 Head of Construction Ludwig Franzius Planning and implementation of the Weser correction and the construction of the trading ports in Bremen 1903
12 Envoy Karl Peter Klügmann Representation of the interests of the Hanseatic cities in the German Empire for many years 1913
13 Businessman Alfred Lohmann Return of the commercial submarine " Germany " from America 1916
14th Mayor Theodor Spitta Creator of the state constitutions from 1919/1947 1956
15th Senator Dr. Hermann Apelt Reconstruction of the ports of Bremen after the war 1956
16 Mayor Adolf Ehlers Services to the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen 1963
17th President of the Senate and Mayor Wilhelm Kaisen Services to the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen 1965
18th President of the Senate and Mayor Willy Dehnkamp Services to the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen 1973
19th Mayor Annemarie Mevissen Excellent services as a Senator for Social Affairs, Youth and Sport, especially for the development and expansion of trend-setting youth and social work 1975
20th Federal President Prof. Dr. Karl Carstens Excellent services as a close advisor to Mayor Wilhelm Kaisen, as the first authorized representative of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen to the federal government and for support in securing the independence of the State of Bremen 1984
21st President of the Senate and Mayor Hans Koschnick Outstanding services to the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen on a national and international level 1994
22nd Bremerhaven Lord Mayor and Senator Karl Willms Outstanding services to the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, its cities of Bremen and Bremerhaven 2000
23 President of the Senate and Mayor Klaus Wedemeier Outstanding services to the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, its cities of Bremen and Bremerhaven 2004
24 Businessman Klaus J. Jacobs Outstanding social commitment in the field of youth development and exemplary patronage for the benefit of science 2007
25th Mayor Henning Scherf For services to the benefit of the state of Bremen 2018

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bremen Medal of Honor in gold for Henning Scherf. senatspressestelle.bremen.de, November 7, 2018, accessed on November 9, 2018 .
  2. ↑ a b c Information from the Bremen Senate Press Office from April 25, 2008.

Web links