Who Gets the German Federal Cross of Merit?

Who gets the Federal Cross of Merit in Germany? Let’s look at a dataset of 12,865 recipients since 2015.

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Background

The Federal Cross of Merit is the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and is awarded by the Federal President. There are several grades, from the Medal of Merit through the Cross of Merit on Ribbon and the Cross of Merit, First Class, to the various forms of the Grand Cross of Merit and the Grand Cross. The details are set out in the so-called statutes of the order. The Medal of Merit and the Cross of Merit on Ribbon make up the overwhelming majority.

What I find interesting about the Federal Cross of Merit is what it tells us about the things and people our political institutions value. I suspect this recognition also shapes what young, ambitious people want to do with their lives.

The Federal President’s website, bundespraesident.de, usually publishes the names four months after the award. The lists give the grade, name and place of residence, but don’t say what each person did to deserve the award. To fill this in, we use the Federal Gazette, WikiProject Federal Cross of Merit, Wikipedia, Wikidata, and reports from the press and public authorities. Some code and some language models later, we have 2,243 people whose age we can determine for at least one award, 1,812 with usable gender data, and 454 with a party affiliation. For 5,415 people, we also know what the award was for. We have a language model sort these by topic and by whether the work was voluntary or professional. Several rounds of checks caught duplicate and mistaken entries, though we still don’t have a reliable estimate of the error rate. If we only know the announcement date, we estimate the award year by subtracting 120 days. The data is current as of 22 October 2026.

First, biographical data, starting with age. We can find an age for 2,255 awards in Wikidata, Wikipedia or press reports. This is not necessarily a representative sample, so let’s separate it by source:

Surprisingly, the median age here is 69. In fact, bundespraesident.de says (translated): “Through his awards, the Federal President aims to draw public attention to outstanding achievements that he considers particularly important to our community. In future, women should receive awards even more often, and greater consideration should also be given to young people.”

Which brings us to gender. Here we only use Wikidata and gender-specific occupational titles, with no guessing from first names. In this sample, the share of women rises from 26% in 2015 to 39% in 2025.

Where people live is especially interesting. Here we only use the official lists and their WikiProject transcriptions. We know the German state for 11,488 awards, and the municipality for 11,412 awards. Below are the awards recorded over 2015–2026 per 100,000 inhabitants, with 95% Poisson confidence intervals.

So people in Saarland are about five times as likely to get a Federal Cross of Merit as people in Saxony! Cities with 500,000 inhabitants or more come in slightly below the smaller places.

Flensburg (independent city, Schleswig-Holstein): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 14 awards in 12 calendar years Kiel (independent city, Schleswig-Holstein): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 45 awards in 12 calendar years Lübeck (independent city, Schleswig-Holstein): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 25 awards in 12 calendar years Neumünster (independent city, Schleswig-Holstein): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 13 awards in 12 calendar years Dithmarschen (district, Schleswig-Holstein): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 14 awards in 12 calendar years Herzogtum Lauenburg (district, Schleswig-Holstein): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 29 awards in 12 calendar years Nordfriesland (district, Schleswig-Holstein): 2 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 35 awards in 12 calendar years Ostholstein (district, Schleswig-Holstein): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 21 awards in 12 calendar years Pinneberg (district, Schleswig-Holstein): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 40 awards in 12 calendar years Plön (district, Schleswig-Holstein): 2 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 34 awards in 12 calendar years Rendsburg-Eckernförde (district, Schleswig-Holstein): 2 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 61 awards in 12 calendar years Schleswig-Flensburg (district, Schleswig-Holstein): 2 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 38 awards in 12 calendar years Segeberg (district, Schleswig-Holstein): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 25 awards in 12 calendar years Steinburg (district, Schleswig-Holstein): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 15 awards in 12 calendar years Stormarn (district, Schleswig-Holstein): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 32 awards in 12 calendar years Hamburg (independent city, Hamburg): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 234 awards in 12 calendar years Braunschweig (independent city, Lower Saxony): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 34 awards in 12 calendar years Salzgitter (independent city, Lower Saxony): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 10 awards in 12 calendar years Wolfsburg (independent city, Lower Saxony): 2 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 27 awards in 12 calendar years Gifhorn (district, Lower Saxony): 2 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 43 awards in 12 calendar years Goslar (district, Lower Saxony): 2 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 37 awards in 12 calendar years Helmstedt (district, Lower Saxony): 2 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 26 awards in 12 calendar years Northeim (district, Lower Saxony): 3 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 46 awards in 12 calendar years Peine (district, Lower Saxony): 2 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 30 awards in 12 calendar years Wolfenbüttel (district, Lower Saxony): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 21 awards in 12 calendar years Göttingen (district, Lower Saxony): 3 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 119 awards in 12 calendar years Region Hannover (district, Lower Saxony): 2 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 319 awards in 12 calendar years Diepholz (district, Lower Saxony): 2 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 47 awards in 12 calendar years Hameln-Pyrmont (district, Lower Saxony): 2 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 38 awards in 12 calendar years Hildesheim (district, Lower Saxony): 2 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 53 awards in 12 calendar years Holzminden (district, Lower Saxony): 2 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 18 awards in 12 calendar years Nienburg (Weser) (district, Lower Saxony): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 17 awards in 12 calendar years Schaumburg (district, Lower Saxony): 2 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 36 awards in 12 calendar years Celle (district, Lower Saxony): 2 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 49 awards in 12 calendar years Cuxhaven (district, Lower Saxony): 2 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 44 awards in 12 calendar years Harburg (district, Lower Saxony): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 37 awards in 12 calendar years Lüchow-Dannenberg (district, Lower Saxony): 4 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 21 awards in 12 calendar years Lüneburg (district, Lower Saxony): 3 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 55 awards in 12 calendar years Osterholz (district, Lower Saxony): 3 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 37 awards in 12 calendar years Rotenburg (Wümme) (district, Lower Saxony): 2 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 41 awards in 12 calendar years Heidekreis (district, Lower Saxony): 2 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 35 awards in 12 calendar years Stade (district, Lower Saxony): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 30 awards in 12 calendar years Uelzen (district, Lower Saxony): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 13 awards in 12 calendar years Verden (district, Lower Saxony): 2 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 30 awards in 12 calendar years Delmenhorst (independent city, Lower Saxony): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 7 awards in 12 calendar years Emden (independent city, Lower Saxony): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 7 awards in 12 calendar years Oldenburg (Oldb) (independent city, Lower Saxony): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 17 awards in 12 calendar years Osnabrück (independent city, Lower Saxony): 2 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 32 awards in 12 calendar years Wilhelmshaven (independent city, Lower Saxony): 2 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 16 awards in 12 calendar years Ammerland (district, Lower Saxony): 2 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 24 awards in 12 calendar years Aurich (district, Lower Saxony): 2 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 46 awards in 12 calendar years Cloppenburg (district, Lower Saxony): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 20 awards in 12 calendar years Emsland (district, Lower Saxony): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 57 awards in 12 calendar years Friesland (district, Lower Saxony): 2 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 21 awards in 12 calendar years Grafschaft Bentheim (district, Lower Saxony): 2 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 31 awards in 12 calendar years Leer (district, Lower Saxony): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 23 awards in 12 calendar years Oldenburg (district, Lower Saxony): 2 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 24 awards in 12 calendar years Osnabrück (district, Lower Saxony): 2 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 77 awards in 12 calendar years Vechta (district, Lower Saxony): 2 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 32 awards in 12 calendar years Wesermarsch (district, Lower Saxony): 2 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 16 awards in 12 calendar years Wittmund (district, Lower Saxony): 2 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 13 awards in 12 calendar years Bremen (independent city, Bremen): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 65 awards in 12 calendar years Bremerhaven (independent city, Bremen): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 10 awards in 12 calendar years Düsseldorf (independent city, North Rhine-Westphalia): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 70 awards in 12 calendar years Duisburg (independent city, North Rhine-Westphalia): <1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 28 awards in 12 calendar years Essen (independent city, North Rhine-Westphalia): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 62 awards in 12 calendar years Krefeld (independent city, North Rhine-Westphalia): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 22 awards in 12 calendar years Mönchengladbach (independent city, North Rhine-Westphalia): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 25 awards in 12 calendar years Mülheim an der Ruhr (independent city, North Rhine-Westphalia): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 16 awards in 12 calendar years Oberhausen (independent city, North Rhine-Westphalia): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 19 awards in 12 calendar years Remscheid (independent city, North Rhine-Westphalia): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 15 awards in 12 calendar years Solingen (independent city, North Rhine-Westphalia): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 24 awards in 12 calendar years Wuppertal (independent city, North Rhine-Westphalia): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 44 awards in 12 calendar years Kleve (district, North Rhine-Westphalia): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 33 awards in 12 calendar years Mettmann (district, North Rhine-Westphalia): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 60 awards in 12 calendar years Rhein-district Neuss (district, North Rhine-Westphalia): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 82 awards in 12 calendar years Viersen (district, North Rhine-Westphalia): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 45 awards in 12 calendar years Wesel (district, North Rhine-Westphalia): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 74 awards in 12 calendar years Bonn (independent city, North Rhine-Westphalia): 2 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 73 awards in 12 calendar years Köln (independent city, North Rhine-Westphalia): 1 per 100,000 inhabitants per year · 118 awards in 12 calendar years Leverkusen (independent city, Nor