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 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)

## References