Law on titles, medals and decorations

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Basic data
Title: Law on titles, medals and decorations
Short title: Ordensgesetz (not official)
Abbreviation: Order G.
Type: Federal law
Scope: Federal Republic of Germany
Legal matter: Constitutional law , administrative law
References : 1132-1
Issued on: July 26, 1957 ( BGBl. I p. 844 )
Entry into force on: July 27, 1957, Section 11 old version retroactively to October 1, 1956
Last change by: Art. 14 VO from 19 June 2020
( Federal Law Gazette I, p. 1328, 1329 )
Effective date of the
last change: 		June 27, 2020
(Art. 361 of June 19, 2020)
Weblink: current version
Please note the note on the applicable legal version.

With the law on titles, orders and medals of 26 July 1957, initially in the Federal Republic of Germany until then gem. Art. 123 GG repealed religious laws from the time of National Socialism . On the one hand, the law should clarify the question of which awards given before May 8, 1945 may be worn in the Federal Republic of Germany, especially those from the Nazi era, and on the other hand regulate which awards are awarded.

The law has been federal law throughout Germany since German reunification . The GDR last passed a law on the foundation and awarding of state awards on April 7, 1977 , which continues to apply today as state law, provided it does not conflict with public policy and has not been repealed or amended by state law.

history

According to Art. 109 of the Weimar Constitution of 1919, titles could only be given as official and professional titles , medals and decorations.

After the ideological inflation of the religious system in the time of National Socialism, the Allied Control Council Act of November 30, 1945 (Art. IV) prohibited the awarding, acceptance and wearing of military and civil orders, decorations and awards of any kind Years later, when the Federal Republic was founded, there was little inclination to reintroduce state medals. In 1951 the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany was created.

The same applied in the GDR from 1949: The GDR constitution of October 7, 1949 regarded militaristic propaganda as a crime, which means that regardless of the occupation rights of the Soviet Union (which were not repealed until 1953), it was forbidden to show or to show previous medals and decorations publicly disseminate. On April 21, 1954, the GDR passed its own law on the appreciation of outstanding achievements by awarding state awards and a law on the foundation of the Patriotic Order of Merit. In 1958 the law on the repeal of legal provisions in the field of state awards followed. From then on, state awards were regulated by ordinance until the law on foundation and awarding of state awards was passed on April 7, 1977. Well over 8000 state and social awards were created on this basis.

The law on titles, medals and decorations has been in effect nationwide since October 3, 1990, whereby the Unification Treaty (Appendix 1, Chapter 11, Subject A, Section 11 No. 2 (Official Note) UnificationV) stipulates: “From the German Democratic Awards given to the Republic can be continued or carried unless this violates the public policy of the Federal Republic of Germany. The same applies to foreign awards approved for acceptance by the German Democratic Republic. "

Principles

The following basic decisions were made by law:

  • Both the federal government and the states can award titles, medals and decorations (in the following always short: medals).
  • The Federal President can donate medals himself or officially recognize existing decorations (e.g. in the field of sport).
  • Legally convicted criminals are usually stripped of medals and decorations.
  • Germans are only allowed to accept foreign medals with the express approval of the Federal President.
  • Medals may only be worn personally by those who have been awarded; however, the badges usually remain in the possession of the heirs after death.
  • The unauthorized wearing of domestic and foreign medals and decorations as well as the wearing of awards with National Socialist emblems can be punished as an administrative offense with a fine

Regulations for orders and decorations previously awarded

  • Medals from before 1933 may still be worn by the wearer.
  • Orders from the period between 1933 and 1945 may only be worn without the National Socialist emblems ( swastika , SS rune, etc.), namely:
    • the civil medals (e.g. fire service or mine service awards) without restrictions;
    • from the military awards (from the First and Second World War), including medals awarded by formerly allied states, only those that are expressly listed in the law. These include: the Iron Cross , the Silesian Eagle , the Baltic Cross , the Wound Badge , the Air Raid Badge , the State Service and Service Badges as well as the other work and achievement badges
  • Orders with National Socialist emblems may not be worn. They may not be produced, offered, offered for sale, sold or otherwise brought into circulation. (OrdenG § 6 Abs. 2)
  • For the changed versions of the medals from the period between 1933 and 1945, the Federal Minister of the Interior issued detailed provisions in which all medals whose appearance must be changed for public wear are depicted.

Salary of honor

In 1957, the federal government only took over honorary pay obligations from the First World War . This included the following highest war awards:

This regulation (§ 11 OrdenG, old version) was repealed with the legal adjustment act of February 19, 2006.

How to wear and order of precedence

Medals and decorations are placed on the left side of the chest from right to left in the following order:

  1. Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany ("Federal Cross of Merit "),
  2. Rescue medal on ribbon,
  3. Iron Cross 1914,
  4. Iron Cross 1939,
  5. Orders and decorations for services in the First World War in the order in which they were awarded,
  6. Cross of Honor of the First World War ,
  7. War Merit Cross 1939,
  8. other awards for services in the Second World War in the order in which they were awarded,
  9. other German awards in the order in which they were awarded
  10. state-approved awards in the order in which they are presented,
  11. foreign awards in the order of their class ratio.

Orders and decorations of the federal government

Orders and decorations donated by the Federal President

Badges of honor approved by the Federal President

Awards for sporting achievements recognized by the Federal President

Concretization

With a decree of December 18, 1997 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 3438 ), the Federal President announced the conditions under which acceptance and wearing permits for certain medals and decorations are granted.

title

Section 2 of the law on titles, medals and decorations entitles the Federal Presidentto award titles inaccordance with a law. Since no corresponding law has been passed so far, no titles are awarded at the federal level.

See also

literature

  • Heinz Kirchner, Hermann Wilhelm Thiemann, Birgit Laitenberger: German orders and decorations. Commentary on the law on titles, medals and decorations and a representation of German orders and decorations from the imperial era to the present with illustrations. 5th edition. Carl Heymanns Verlag, Cologne et al. 1997, ISBN 3-452-23210-7 .
  • Hans Rothfels : Theodor Heuss, the question of the war orders and the peace class of the Pour le mérite. In: Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte . Vol. 17, Heft 4, 1969, pp. 414-422, (Online, (PDF; 6 MB)) .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Federal Law Gazette I p. 844
  2. ^ Law on titles, medals and decorations of April 7, 1933
  3. ^ Law on Titles, Orders and Medals of July 1, 1937
  4. ↑ Journal of Laws of 1954 pp. 445 and 447
  5. ↑ Journal of Laws of 1958, p. 769
  6. ^ Journal of Laws of 1977 p. 106
  7. ↑ Stefan Hornbostel: Honor or tin blessing? The labeling system of the GDR . In SFB 580 Mitteilungen (2002) 3, pp. 33-36 online , accessed on September 2, 2018.
  8. ^ Enno Bernzen, Klaus H. Feder: Carrying awards from the GDR in a united Germany
  9. ↑ The supplement to the law of July 26, 1957 with the images of the orders changed in appearance (PDF document; 2.7 MB)
  10. ↑ Hans-Ulrich Krantz: Orders and Medals of the Federal Republic of Germany , Maximilian-Verlag, Cologne 1958, pp. 172–175.
  11. ↑ a b c d e f “Other decorations” on the website of the Federal President
  12. ↑ The mine rescue service badge on the website of the Federal President
  13. ↑ "The Silver Laurel Leaf" on the website of the Federal President