Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria

The **Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria** is a national honour awarded by the Republic of Austria. It is a visible honour. It is also called the **Order of Merit of the Austrian Republic**.

The Order has 15 levels. It is Austria's highest honour.

## Notable recipients

Below is a list with names of all Grand Star recipients and other notable recipients. It is in order of date.

#### Royal Houses

- Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia between 1930 and 1974 (1954)
- Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Emperor of Persia from 1941 to 1979 (1958)
- Albert II, King of the Belgians since 1993 (1958)
- Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth Realms since 1952 (1966)
- Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Prince consort of Queen Elizabeth II (1966)
- Olav V, King of Norway from 1957 to 1991 (1966)
- Paola, Queen of the Belgians since 1993 (1997)
- Akihito, Emperor of Japan since 1989 (1999)
- Michiko, Japanese empress consort since 1989 (1999)
- Rania, Jordanian queen consort since 1999 (2001)
- Qabus ibn Said, Sultan of Oman since 1970 (2001)
- Carl XVI Gustaf, King of Sweden since 1973
- Hassan II, King of Morocco from 1961 to 1999
- Harald V, King of Norway since 1991
- Abdullah II, King of Jordan since 1999 (2001)

#### Politicians

- Adolf Schärf, President of Austria from 1957 to 1965 (1957)
- Franz Jonas, President of Austria from 1965 to 1974 (1965)
- Josip Broz Tito, President of Yugoslavia from 1953 to 1980 (1965)
- Rudolf Kirchschläger, President of Austria from 1974 to 1986 (1974)
- Kurt Waldheim, Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1972 to 1981, and President of Austria from 1986 to 1992 (1974)
- Thomas Klestil, President of Austria between 1992 and 2004 (1992)
- Emil Constantinescu, President of Romania from 1996 to 2000 (1999)
- Árpád Göncz, President of Hungary from 1990 to 2000 (1999)
- Konstantinos Stefanopoulos, President of Greece from 1995 to 2005 (1999)
- Petar Stoyanov, President of Bulgaria von 1997 bis 2002 (1999)
- Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of Kazakhstan since 1990 (2000)
- Stjepan Mesić, President of Yugoslavia in 1991, and President of Croatia since 2000 (2001)
- Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, President of Italy from 1999 to 2006 (2002)
- Jorge Sampaio, President of Portugal from 1996 to 2006 (2002)
- Abdelaziz Bouteflika, President of Algeria since 1999 (2003)
- Heinz Fischer, President of Austria from 2004 to 2016 (2004)
- Giorgio Napolitano, President of Italy from 2006 to Present (2007)
- Jacques Chirac, President of France from 1995 to 2007
- Ferdinand Marcos, President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986

### Other select recipients

- Dimitri Shostakovich (Grand Decoration of Honour in Silver, 1967)
- Willy Brandt, Chancellor of Germany from 1969 to 1974 (Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Sash, 1972)
- Anna Freud (1975)
- Shoichiro Toyoda (Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Star, 1999).
- Randolph M. Bell (Grand Decoration of Honour in Silver, 2004)
- Jeanette Schmid (Decoration of Merit in Gold, 2004)
- Stuart Eizenstat (Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Star, 2005)
- Andreas Maislinger (Decoration of Honour in Silver, 2005)
- Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006 (Grand Decoration in Gold with Sash, 2007)
- Gerhard Rühm, author, composer and artist (Decoration of Honour in Gold, 2007)
- Ertuğrul Günay, Minister of Culture and Tourism of Turkey (Grand Decoration in Gold with Sash, 2010)
- Prince Hassan bin Talal, (Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Sash), 2004.
- Christoph Schönborn, Roman Catholic Cardinal and Archbishop of Vienna (Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Sash, 2008)
- Alois Mock, Vice-Chancellor of Austria from 1987 to 1989 (Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Sash)
- Walter Schwimmer (Grand Decoration of Honour in Silver with Star)
- Simon Wiesenthal
- Ruth Wodak (Decoration of Honour in Silver, 2011)
- Elisabeth Bleyleben-Koren
- Miep Gies (2009)

## Infobox (military award)

- **name**: Order of Merit of the Austrian Republic
- **caption**: Grand Star and Sash of the Order
- **type**: State decoration
 with 15 Grades
- **for**: Meritorious service
to the Austrian nation
- **description**: National Order of Merit
- **established**: 2 April 1952
- **higher**: None
- **lower**: Austrian Decoration for Science and Art, Austrian Decoration for Science and the Arts
- **image2**:
- **caption2**: Ribbon of the Order