Austrian Badge of Honor and Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art

Austrian Decoration for Science and Art

Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art 1st Class with award certificate for Arnulf Rainer

Marina Abramović with the Decoration of Honor for Science and Art

The Austrian Badge of Honor and Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art (= contracted short form, in the long form: Austrian Badge of Honor for Science and Art and Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art ) is a state award in Austria , embedded in the system of orders and decorations of the republic Austria . It is awarded in three stages: the Austrian Decoration of Honor for Science and Art, the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art, 1st Class and the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art.

history

The Federal Act of May 25, 1955 on the Creation of an Austrian Decoration of Honor for Science and Art and an Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art ( Federal Law Gazette No. 96/1955 ) was the first law that came into effect after the signing of the Austrian State Treaty (May 15 1955), with which the full sovereignty of the republic came into effect on July 27, 1955 after the Second World War .

With this law, the Austrian Decoration of Honor for Science and Art and the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art were created or re-established. The explanatory remarks in the government bill of March 8, 1955 refer to the Kuk Österreichisches Ehrenzeichen für Kunst und Wissenschaft created by an imperial resolution from 1887 . Furthermore, it was pointed out in the RV that very soon after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy in November 1918, in the newly founded republic , “the lack of opportunity to honor outstanding achievements in the fields of art and science with a visible award , [was] perceived as a deficiency, because the decorations created for services to the Republic of Austria primarily meant general services to the state and not special services to art and science. "

According to the RV, a corresponding bill was submitted to the National Council as early as 1926 , but it never (reasons are not given) was voted on in the plenary. It was only under the Austro-Fascist corporate state with the federal law of October 9, 1934, concerning the creation of an Austrian Decoration of Honor and an Austrian Cross of Merit for Art and Science, (Federal Law Gazette II No. 333/1934; statutes in Federal Law Gazette 83/1935) created such distinction as proposed by representatives of the arts and sciences. (Until the "Anschluss" of Austria to the National Socialist German Reich in March 1938, the corporate state decoration of honor for art and science was awarded to 19 people, 15 of them to nationals and four to foreigners.)

In the explanatory remarks of the government bill, the following is finally emphasized in the general part:

“The peculiarities and peculiarities of merits in the fields of science and art require and justify creating a special badge and cross of honor as a visible award for such merits. The previous lack of such awards has already turned out to be a noticeable gap. Closing this gap is the goal of the government bill. "

Award terms

The Austrian Badge of Honor for Science and Art (short: Badge of Honor) is the highest federal award that the republic bestows for scientific or artistic achievements. This visible award represents the greatest appreciation and is awarded exclusively “to people at home and abroad who have earned general recognition and an excellent name through particularly high-quality creative achievements in the field of science or art”.

Hierarchically below that, the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art 1st Class (short: Cross of Honor 1st Class) and the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art (short: Cross of Honor) are awarded “to people at home and abroad who stand out through recognized achievements have made merits in this field. "

The award takes place in all three stages by the Federal President at the suggestion of the Federal Government after application by the Federal Minister of Education (today: BM for Education, Science and Research ).

Decoration of Honor for Science and Art

A maximum of 36 Austrian citizens (18 each in the field of science and art) and 36 foreigners may hold the honorary badge , who at the same time form a curia for science and art and from which the new bearers of the badge of honor are selected:

"In order to ensure that the Austrian Decoration of Honor for Science and Art in particular has a high ideal value in the long term, Section 2 provides that the total number of owners must not exceed 36 Austrian and 36 foreign citizens."

The honorary badge is awarded exclusively on the recommendation of the respective curia. The Federal Minister of Education (Education) may only propose to the Federal Government those persons who have been proposed to him by at least one third, but not fewer than five, members of the Curia. On the other hand, the minister is also entitled to invite the curia to submit a proposal. This prestigious award has only been presented about 200 times so far.

The honorary badge remains the property of the federal government and must be returned after the owner's death.

Cross of Honor 1st Class and Cross of Honor for Science and Art

In contrast to the badge of honor, there is no limit to the number of owners with the crosses of honor. The award takes place without the involvement of the above-mentioned curia by the Federal President at the suggestion of the Federal Government after the application by the Federal Minister for Education.

The crosses of honor remain the property of the heirs after the death of the owner.

Withdrawal of the badge of honor and the cross of honor

With an amendment of November 28, 2001, the following § 8a was added to the law :

"If facts later become known that would have stood in the way of an award, or if the entrusted person subsequently acts that would conflict with an award, the badge of honor or the cross of honor for science and art must be revoked."

The best-known example and the reason for adding the “revocation paragraph” concerned the Nazi doctor Heinrich Gross , whose award of the First Class Cross of Honor from 1975 was suspended by a resolution of the Council of Ministers on April 1, 2003. However , the then Minister of Science Johannes Hahn ( ÖVP ) refused to withdraw the cross of honor for the entrepreneur Johann Grander (“ revitalized water ”) on August 5, 2008 with reference to the Gross case “for reasons of proportionality between the two cases”.

Owner of the badge and crosses of honor

A list of the loaned persons can be found in the list of owners of the Austrian Badge of Honor and the Austrian Crosses of Honor for Science and Art .

Legal sources

Creation of an Austrian Decoration of Honor and Cross of Honor for Science and Art in the current version in the Federal Legal Information System (RIS):
- Federal law of 25 May 1955 on the creation of an Austrian Decoration of Honor for Science and Art and an Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art. In the original version of Federal Law Gazette No. 96/1955 of June 22, 1955.
- Amendment of the Federal Law on the Creation of an Austrian Decoration for Science and Art and an Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art. Addition of § 8a with Federal Law Gazette I No. 128/2001 of November 27, 2001, entry into force on November 28, 2001.
Badge of Honor, Cross of Honor for Science and Art - Statute in the current version in the RIS:
- Ordinance of the Federal Ministry of Education of August 10, 1956 on the statute for the Austrian Decoration of Honor for Science and Art and the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art with the statute in the annex (§§ 1 to 7) and the description of the decorations and the art wearing the same in the enclosure (numbers 1 to 3). In the original version of Federal Law Gazette No. 180/1956 of August 28, 1956.

literature

State Office Directorate, Protocol and Awards Unit: Visible Awards - Badges of Honor (undated). Comprehensive documentation and photos of all honors and awards given in Austria (civil and military), the federal states and others. State of Styria - Office of the Styrian Provincial Government (Ed.):

Web links

Federal Chancellery , Section II: Art, Department II / 6: Curia of Science and Art. - Official website.
Federal Chancellery: Curia for Art - Austrian Decoration of Honor for Science and Art

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Federal Ministry for Digitization and Business Location (Ed.): Austrian Decoration of Honor and Austrian Decoration of Honor for Science and Art. In: HELP.gv.at , as of January 8, 2018, accessed on July 20, 2018.

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Government bill: Federal (constitutional) law (471 dB). 471 of the supplements to the stenographic minutes of the National Council VII. GP, March 8, 1955: Federal law of [Leerplatz for day and month] 1955 on the creation of an Austrian Decoration of Honor for Science and Art and an Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art. ( Government draft (scanned original), PDF 193 kB.)

^ Federal law of October 9, 1934, regarding the creation of an Austrian Decoration of Honor and an Austrian Cross of Merit for Art and Science. Federal Law Gazette for the Federal State of Austria, year 1934, Part II, Federal Law Gazette II No. 333/1934.

↑ Ordinance of the Federal Ministry for Education, regarding the statutes for the Austrian Decoration of Honor for Art and Science and the Austrian Cross of Merit for Art and Science, in the appendix: Statutes. Federal Law Gazette for the Federal State of Austria, year 1935, BGBl. 83/1935.

↑ A Touch of Herzmanovsky-Orlando. National Council adopts Federal Decoration Act. In: Parliamentary Correspondence No. 700, October 23, 2001 (here: last three paragraphs), accessed on July 29, 2018.

[Help.gv.at-1] Federal Ministry for Digitization and Business Location (Ed.): Austrian Decoration of Honor and Austrian Decoration of Honor for Science and Art. In: HELP.gv.at , as of January 8, 2018, accessed on July 20, 2018.

[RV-19550308-2] Government bill: Federal (constitutional) law (471 dB). 471 of the supplements to the stenographic minutes of the National Council VII. GP, March 8, 1955: Federal law of [Leerplatz for day and month] 1955 on the creation of an Austrian Decoration of Honor for Science and Art and an Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art. ( Government draft (scanned original), PDF 193 kB.)