Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg

Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg (Verdienstorden des Landes Baden-Württemberg) is the highest award of the German State of Baden-Württemberg. Established 26 November 1974, it was originally called the Medal of Merit of Baden-Württemberg (Die Verdienstmedaille des Landes Baden-Württemberg). Effective 26 June 2009, the medal assumed its current name.

The order is awarded by the Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg for outstanding contributions to the state of Baden-Württemberg, in politics, society, culture and economics. The order is limited to 1,000 living holders, and has been awarded 1,923 times, as of 30 April 2018.

History
The form of the Order of Merit was fundamentally changed by an amendment to the foundation announcement on 3 February 2016. Since then, the Order of Merit is no longer awarded as a medal, but in the form of a stylised cross with a medallion in the middle, on which the large state coat of arms with the lettering „Baden-Württemberg“ is depicted.

Notable recipients

 * Helmut Eberspächer (1979)
 * Artur Fischer (1980)
 * Ulf Merbold (1983)
 * Walter Haeussermann (1985)
 * Anne-Sophie Mutter (1999)
 * Dorothee Hess-Maier (1999)
 * Jürgen Klinsmann (2001)
 * Gerhard Thiele (2001)
 * Klaus Zehelein (2001)
 * Wolfgang Ketterle (2002)
 * Svetlana Geier (2003)
 * Wolfgang Rihm (2004)
 * Queen Silvia of Sweden (2007)
 * Roland Emmerich (2007)
 * Henry Kissinger (2007)
 * Stelian Moculescu (2008)
 * Edmund Stoiber (2009)
 * Hanna von Hoerner (2009)
 * Eric Carle (2010)
 * Jean-Claude Juncker (2010)
 * Sami Khedira (2016)
 * Lucia A. Reisch (2017)