Grosses Verdienstkreuz mit Stern

December 4, 2020 by joachim

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Today the German General Consul notified me that I received the German Federal Republic’s “Grosses Verdienstkreuz mit Stern”, which translates into “Knight Commander’s Cross”, an order of merit.

Wow!  I have become more important now.

I was given the choice of getting the medal now in a quick personal meeting with the General Consul, or waiting till it is safe to have a celebration with selected people at the Consulate in New York.  I decided for the latter.

The Order of Merit, I found out, was created by Theodor Heuss, the first president of the Federal Republic in 1951.  It has several classes of distinction, and this one is just below the one reserved for heads of state and similarly high positioned people.

The military brass is the one we think of when we talk of decorations.  The abuses of the Nazi time produced disdain about medals and decorations of any kind.  “Lametta” was the popular derogatory term for them, a reference to the decoration of the Christmas tree.

 

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