Silver bay leaf

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The silver bay leaf in different designs
Silver bay leaf with certificate from fencer Rainer Maria Bruno Wirz
Official representation of the silver bay leaf

The silver bay leaf is the highest sporting award in the Federal Republic of Germany . The foundation was made on June 23, 1950 by the then Federal President Theodor Heuss . The award was only confirmed after the introduction of the law on titles, medals and decorations of July 26, 1957, on March 24, 1964 by the then Federal President Heinrich Lübke . This decree was repealed with effect from June 1, 2013. Since then, the decree on the Foundation of the Silver Laurel Leaf of May 22, 2013 has been in effect, which for the first time regulates that a violation of anti-doping regulations sanctioned with a ban generally excludes an award.

Foundation purpose

The silver laurel leaf is a state decoration and is awarded as an award for outstanding achievements (also internationally) in the fields of sporting and musical life.

Assessment standard

When awarding and evaluating the underlying performance of the person to be honored, a strict standard must be applied in order to emphasize the value of this award. One-off top performances are generally not enough. The performance must also reflect an exemplary human and character attitude on the part of the recipient. During his speech to 140 successful athletes on March 31, 2003 in Berlin, the then Federal Minister of the Interior, Otto Schily , once again underlined the foundation's principle that the silver laurel leaf should not only honor the top athletic performance of a person or team, but that the award also recognizes the human and character attitude of the individual.

Exceptions

Medal winners at the Olympic Games , Deaflympics and Paralympics are an exception to the otherwise strict evaluation standard . Since 1992, they have been able to receive the silver bay leaf even with one-off athletic peak performance.

Shape, composition and way of wearing

The silver laurel leaf is a silver pin and the ladies' version is a brooch in the form of a horizontally lying bay leaf . The special edition, however, is a little larger. The bay leaf is worn either as a pin or brooch on the left collar of the service skirt or on a suit. If the bay leaf is worn as a reduced version (miniature) on the strap buckle , the Olympic colors (blue-yellow-black-green-red) are to be used as the background.

Award procedure

Individual athletes and individuals

With the delivery of the bay leaf, the person to be lent received an award certificate with an enlarged version of the leaf. This was not intended to be worn. However, this regulation was changed with the revision of Article 1980. So from November 28, 1980, the entrusted only receives the award certificate and no longer any larger "non-portable" bay leaf.

Team performance

When the laurel leaf is awarded for a team performance, the team or the club receive the enlarged version and an award certificate. The active members involved in the performance receive the badge of honor (in its original size) along with the award certificate. Incidentally, the enlarged version could be awarded as an award to an association (without recognizing the members).

First awards

The first silver bay leaf for a team

On June 25, 1950, the show jumper Fritz Thiedemann was the first individual athlete and the German football champion 1950, VfB Stuttgart , was the first team to receive the Silver Laurel Leaf. The tennis player Inge Pohmann was the first woman to receive the award on July 2, 1950.

Application and award authority

If an athlete or a team is to receive the Silver Laurel Leaf, the President of the German Olympic Sports Confederation must apply to the Federal President for this. This application is examined by the Office of the Federal President and the Federal Ministry of the Interior , which is responsible for sport. The Federal Minister of the Interior signs the approved application in accordance with Article 58 of the Basic Law . In special cases, the Federal President hands over the silver laurel leaf himself, otherwise he is represented by the Federal Minister of the Interior.

Award in the musical field

Despite the clear wording in the foundation's decree that the silver laurel leaf can also be awarded for musical achievements, it has only been awarded sporadically in this area. So was z. B. 1954 the award for artistic achievement only awarded twice. One of the awards went to the Bad Vilbel Mandolin Orchestra .

Others

Since the Silver Laurel Leaf can only be awarded once, athletes who have already received this award will receive the Silver Laurel Leaf when it is awarded again in a special edition. Thus were football players and world champion of 1954 Fritz Walter as well as the handball player Erhard Wunderlich honored three times. The national soccer teams of the 1974 , 2006 , 2010 and 2014 World Cups , including their coaches Helmut Schön , Jürgen Klinsmann and Joachim Löw , were also awarded the Silver Laurel Leaf.

The shot putter David Storl , 2011 world champion and 2012 Olympic silver medalist , was refused the award in November 2012 because he shot a dog with an air rifle in the spring of 2011.

See also

literature

  • oV : … The bearers of the silver laurel leaf / awards from July 1, 1950 to May 15, 1973 , in: Drucksache 7/1040 of the German Bundestag from September 26, 1973; downloadable as a PDF document

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Decree on the Foundation of the Silver Laurel Leaf of March 24, 1964, Federal Law Gazette, page 242, Article I
  2. ↑ Federal Law Gazette 2013 I p. 1380 .
  3. ^ Decree on the Foundation of the Silver Laurel Leaf of March 24, 1964, Federal Law Gazette, page 242, Article II, Paragraph 1
  4. ^ Decree on the Foundation of the Silver Laurel Leaf of March 24, 1964, Federal Law Gazette, page 242, Article II, Paragraph 2
  5. ↑ German Bundestag (ed.): 14/9517 - 10th sports report of the federal government . ( archive.org [accessed May 13, 2020]).
  6. ^ Decree on the Foundation of the Silver Laurel Leaf of March 24, 1964, Federal Law Gazette, page 242, Article III
  7. ^ Decree on the Foundation of the Silver Laurel Leaf of March 24, 1964, Federal Law Gazette, page 242, Article IV, Paragraph 1
  8. ↑ Decree amending the decree on the foundation of the silver laurel leaf of November 28, 1980, Federal Law Gazette No. 76 of December 6, 1980, page 2217 Article IV paragraph 1 (amended version)
  9. ^ Decree on the Foundation of the Silver Laurel Leaf of March 24, 1964, Federal Law Gazette, page 242, Article IV, Paragraph 2
  10. ^ Decree amending the decree on the foundation of the silver laurel leaf of November 28, 1980, Federal Law Gazette No. 76 of December 6, 1980, page 2217 Article IV, paragraph 2 (amended version)
  11. ^ Decree on the Foundation of the Silver Laurel Leaf of March 24, 1964, Federal Law Gazette, page 242, Article V
  12. ↑ http://www.wlsb.de/cms/iwebs/default.aspx?mmid=581&smid=1952&xsl=d2
  13. ^ Exhibition board in the Theodor-Heuss-Haus Stuttgart
  14. ↑ Patrick Krull: When Storl aimed the air rifle at a dog. In: welt.de . November 10, 2012, accessed January 31, 2020 .