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.
Grand Star recipients
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 Scharf, 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 Kirchschlager, 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)
Arpad Goncz, 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 Mesic, 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 Ruhm, author, composer and artist (Decoration of Honour in Gold, 2007)
Ertugrul Gunay, 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.