Lower Saxony state medal
The Lower Saxony State Medal is awarded "as a token of honor by the Prime Minister to personalities who have made outstanding contributions to the State of Lower Saxony through exceptional achievements and outstanding services."
Appearance, composition and way of wearing the medal
The state medal is made of silver and has a diameter of 75 mm. On its front it shows a raised, embossed jumping horse ( Sachsenross ), the state coat of arms of Lower Saxony and shows on its back the central raised inscription:
MERIT
AROUND
LOWER SAXONY
This lettering is enclosed by two crossed laurel branches that are open at the top. The first and last name of the holder and the date of award are engraved on the edge of the medal. Unlike an order, the state medal is not suitable for being worn on the lapel or as a shoulder strap by the holder.
Award practice
The prime minister is responsible for the awarding authority. The ministers of the state of Lower Saxony are entitled to make proposals for their area of responsibility. With the award of the medal, the entrusted receives a certificate. The medal becomes the property of the borrower. Furthermore, the award is to be published in the Lower Saxony Ministerial Gazette. According to an unwritten law, the state medal should be awarded to a maximum of 30 living personalities. The holders of the state medal are also holders of the Great Cross of Merit of the Lower Saxony Order of Merit .
The Lower Saxony Prime Minister awarded the state medal to nine women and 45 men according to the incomplete overview below.
Withdrawal of the medal
The state medal can be withdrawn if the entrusted person behaves unworthy of this award due to his later behavior. The revocation is carried out by the Prime Minister.
Carrier (extract)
| Date of award | Surname | activity |
|---|---|---|
| May 15, 1957 | Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf | First Prime Minister of Lower Saxony |
| June 3, 1959 | Justus Danckwerts | State Secretary and authorized representative of the State of Lower Saxony at the federal level from 1951 to 1954 |
| May 1, 1961 | Helene Künne | Chairwoman of the Lower Saxony Rural Women's Association |
| 1961 | Rudolf Smend | Constitutional and canon lawyer |
| 1964 | Rudolf Beckmann | Entrepreneurs and politicians |
| 1965 | Alfred Kubel | Prime Minister of Lower Saxony |
| 1970 | Georg Diederichs | Prime Minister of Lower Saxony |
| 1974 | Yvonne Georgi | Dancer and choreographer |
| May 1st 1974 | Ilsa Reinhardt | Member of the Lower Saxony State Parliament 1947–1974 |
| February 25, 1982 | Manfred Eigen | Chemist and Nobel Prize Winner |
| December 12, 1985 | Günther Saßmannshausen | CEO of Preussag AG 1972–1988 |
| November 24, 1986 | Carl Hahn junior | Chairman of the Board of Management of VW AG 1981–1992 |
| April 24, 1991 | Karl Ravens | Federal Minister for Spatial Planning, Building and Urban Development 1974–1978 |
| July 1, 1991 | Erwin Dunst | Regional head of the DAG Lower Saxony-Bremen |
| June 16, 1991 | Heinrich Juergens | Lower Saxony Minister for Federal and European Affairs 1986–1990 |
| October 26, 1991 | Hans Kolbe | Entrepreneur of the Hans Kolbe & Co communication technology |
| October 29, 1991 | Ernst Pieper | |
| October 29, 1991 | Henri Nannen | |
| 19th August 1992 | Klaus-Peter Bruns | Lower Saxony Minister for Food, Agriculture and Forests 1970–1976 |
| September 14, 1992 | Klaus Liesen | Chairman of the Supervisory Board of VW AG 1987–2002 |
| February 7, 1994 | Hans Georg Borst | Cardiac surgeon |
| February 21, 1994 | Hermann Rappe | Chairman of IG Chemie, Papier, Keramik 1982–1995, member of the Bundestag 1972–1998 |
| November 7, 1994 | Egon Franke | Federal Minister ret. D. |
| September 7, 1995 | Max Näder | Head of Otto Bock HealthCare GmbH |
| November 9, 1995 | Helmut Rohde | Federal Minister for Education and Science 1974–1978 |
| November 29, 1996 | August Wenceslaus | Football official |
| June 7, 1997 | Ferdinand Piëch | CEO of VW AG 1992–2002 |
| July 14, 1997 | Paul Raabe | Director of the Herzog August Library |
| July 16, 1997 | Lola Fischel | Jewish concentration camp survivors |
| February 19, 1998 | Horst Milde | President of the Lower Saxony State Parliament 1990–1998 |
| October 23, 1999 | Ernst Albrecht | Minister-President of Lower Saxony 1976–1990 |
| October 23, 1999 | Gerhard Schröder | Minister-President of Lower Saxony 1990–1998, Federal Chancellor 1998–2005 |
| November 13, 1999 | Manfred Bodin | CEO of NORD / LB 1991–2004 |
| March 23, 2001 | Hinrich Seidel | President of the University of Hanover 1979–1997 |
| June 1, 2001 | Birgit Breuel | Lower Saxony Minister for Economics, Technology and Transport 1978–1986 and Finance Minister 1986–1990 |
| September 30, 2004 | Horst Hirschler | Regional Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Regional Church of Hanover 1988–1999 |
| September 30, 2004 | Josef Homeyer | Bishop of Hildesheim 1983-2004 |
| October 28, 2006 | Herbert Schmalstieg | Lord Mayor of Hanover 1972-2006 |
| December 12, 2006 | Eske Nannen | Managing Director of the Henri and Eske Nannen Foundation |
| May 29, 2007 | Rita Süssmuth | Federal Minister for Youth, Family and Health 1985–1988 and President of the Bundestag 1988–1998 |
| October 6, 2007 | Thomas Reiter | Spaceman |
| March 24, 2009 | Walter Hirche | Lower Saxony Minister for Economy, Technology and Transport 1986–1990 and for Economy, Labor and Transport 2003–2009 |
| April 18, 2011 | Wolfgang Mauersberg | Editor-in-chief of the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung |
| April 30, 2011 | Rolf Zick | Chairman and honorary chairman of the Landespressekonferenz Niedersachsen eV and the Press Club Hannover |
| February 13, 2012 | Rolf Wernstedt | Minister of Education 1990–1998, President of the State Parliament 1998–2003 |
| February 13, 2012 | Jürgen Gansäuer | President of the Landtag 2003-2008 |
| April 10, 2012 | Hermann Bröring | Senior District Director (1991–2001) and District Administrator (2001–2011) of the district of Emsland |
| Wilhelm Pleistern | including Chairman of the Board of NORD / LB and Vice President of the Hanover Chamber of Commerce | |
| June 10, 2014 | Gert Hoffmann | Lord Mayor of Braunschweig 2001–2014 |
| August 28, 2018 | Martin child | Entrepreneur, President Hannover 96 |
| August 28, 2018 | Eva-Maria Neher | Founder of the Göttingen experimental laboratory XLAB |
| August 28, 2018 | Dirk Rossmann | Entrepreneur |
| August 28, 2018 | Gudrun Schröfel | Head of the Hannover Girls Choir |
| June 24, 2019 | Ernst Gottfried Mahrenholz | Vice President of the Federal Constitutional Court |
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d illustration on the website of the Lower Saxony State Chancellery , accessed on June 20, 2019 The decision on the foundation of the state medal from 1956 in the version from 1961 is available as a PDF file on this website.
- ↑ Section VI of the decision of March 27, 1961 of the Lower Saxony State Ministry on the Foundation of the Lower Saxony Order of Merit, Lower Saxony Ministerial Gazette No. 37/1961, p. 902 ( presentation of Lower Saxony state awards and medals on the website of the Lower Saxony State Chancellery ) June 2019 The decision on the foundation of the Lower Saxony Order of Merit from 1961 is available as a PDF file on this website.
- ↑ Waldemar R. Röhrbein : Pleister, Wilhelm. In: Dirk Böttcher , Klaus Mlynek, Waldemar R. Röhrbein, Hugo Thielen : Hannoversches Biographisches Lexikon . From the beginning to the present. Schlütersche, Hannover 2002, ISBN 3-87706-706-9 , pp. 287f .; online through google books