Bayerische Verfassungsmedaille

The Bayerische Verfassungsmedaille (Bavarian Constitution Medal) is an award by the German state Bavaria, which is awarded annually by the Bavarian state parliament to persons who have rendered outstanding services to the Bavarian constitution. The medal is given in Silver and Gold.

The medal was established on 1 December 1961, donated by the then president of parliament, as the necessity arose to honour long-serving members of parliament. The inscription on the medal is "Bayerische Verfassung" (Bavarian constitution) with the Roman year figures MDCCCXVIII (1818), MCMXIX (1919) and MCMXLVI (1946), the obverse shows the Coat of arms of Bavaria.

On 20 July 2011, the medal was elevated to the rank of an order.

Recipients
Many politicians received the medal, including Franz Götz and Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger. Members of the Bavarian parliament receive it usually after three legislative periods (formerly 12 years, now 15 years of service), ministers typically after one term (formerly 4 years, now five years). The medal has been awarded also to artists such as ballerina Konstanze Vernon, and clerics such as Joseph Alois Ratzinger, the later pope.

2001

 * Kurt Faltlhauser
 * Ingo Friedrich
 * Erwin Huber

2002

 * Reinhold Bocklet
 * Josef Deimer
 * Franz Götz
 * Karl Freller

2004

 * Johannes Friedrich
 * Christian Ude

2005

 * Karl Freller
 * Charlotte Knobloch
 * Ernst Pöppel

2006

 * Manfred Christ
 * Heinz Donhauser
 * Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker

2007

 * Otmar Bernhard
 * Ruth Drexel
 * Mieczysław Pemper
 * Gisela Stein
 * Klaus Dieter Breitschwert
 * Peter Radtke
 * Siegfried Schneider (politician)

2008

 * Herbert Ettengruber
 * Ingrid Fickler
 * Heidi Lück
 * Marion Schick
 * Jutta Speidel

2009

 * Dieter Dorn
 * Max Mannheimer
 * Horst Seehofer
 * Ludwig Stiegler
 * Dieter Borchmeyer
 * Walter Kolbow
 * Bernd Posselt

2010

 * Michael Glos
 * Theodor W. Hänsch
 * Gerda Hasselfeldt
 * Ludwig Schick
 * Siegfried Schneider
 * Senta Berger
 * Renate Dodell
 * Peter Maffay
 * Angelika Niebler

2011

 * Reinhard Marx
 * Waltraud Meier
 * Iris Berben
 * Wolfgang Kreissl-Dörfler
 * Peter Landau
 * Eduard Oswald
 * Claudia Roth

2012

 * Franz Beckenbauer
 * Peter Lerche
 * Ilse Aigner
 * Verena Bentele
 * Max Stadler

2013

 * Hans-Jürgen Buchner
 * Mahbuba Maqsoodi
 * Marcus H. Rosenmüller

2017

 * Jacques Chagnon
 * Philipp Lahm

2018

 * Gerd Müller

2019

 * Helmut Brunner

2020

 * Markus Söder

2021

 * Angela Merkel

2022

 * Felix Neureuther

2023

 * Thomas Müller