List of awards and honours received by Angela Merkel

Angela Merkel has received awards and honours from national governments, universities, and other non-governmental organisations. Merkel was the chancellor of Germany from 2005 until 2021, a length of tenure only exceeded by that of Helmut Kohl, and was the first female German chancellor. During her chancellorship, she was widely considered the de facto leader of the European Union. Forbes named Merkel the world's second most powerful person in 2012 and 2015, and the world's most powerful woman fourteen times. Merkel has also commonly been described as the leader of the free world.

Awards and honours received by Merkel include a special issue of the Grand Cross First Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom, and twenty-one doctorates honoris causa.

State honours German honours On 17 April 2023, Merkel received the third-ever special issue of the Grand Cross 1st Class Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany () from President of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The special issue had previously been awarded to then-chancellors Konrad Adenauer and Helmut Kohl in 1954 and 1998, respectively, making Merkel the first woman to receive the honour. Steinmeier lauded Merkel's ambition, intelligence, passion, and commitment to her responsibilities as chancellor of Germany. Many observers praised Merkel's achievements, particularly in international diplomacy and shaping the politics of Germany. Some critics questioned the decision to bestow the award on Merkel due to her controversial legacy.

Foreign honours + Foreign honours received by Angela Merkel Year Image Awarding country Foreign honour 2006ItalyKnight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic2007NorwayGrand Cross of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit2008 PeruGrand Cross of the Order of the Sun of Peru2009PortugalCollar of the Order of Infante Henry2010United Arab EmiratesCollar of the Order of Zayed2010BulgariaOrder For Bravery, 1st Class2011United StatesRecipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom2014IsraelRecipient of the President's Medal2015AustriaGrand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Sash of the Order of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria2015MoldovaMember of the Order of the Republic2017LithuaniaGrand Cross of the Order of Vytautas the Great2019SlovakiaGrand Cross of the Order of the White Double Cross2019LatviaGrand Officer of the Order of the Three Stars2021EstoniaMember 1st Class of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana2021UkraineRecipient of the Order of Liberty2021SloveniaRecipient of the Order for Exceptional Merits2021BelgiumGrand Cordon of the Order of Leopold2021LuxembourgGrand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg2021JordanGrand Cordon of the Supreme Order of the Renaissance2021FranceGrand Cross of the Order of the Legion of Honour2021PortugalCollar of the Order of Infante Henry2022NetherlandsKnight Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion

Honorary degrees

All honorary degrees received by Merkel have been doctorates honoris causa. + Honorary degrees received by Angela MerkelYearCountryInstitution2007IsraelHebrew University of Jerusalem2008GermanyLeipzig University2008PolandWrocław University of Science and Technology2009United StatesThe New School2009SwitzerlandUniversity of Bern2010BulgariaUniversity of Ruse2010RomaniaBabeș-Bolyai University2010 South KoreaEwha Womans University2011IsraelTel Aviv University2013NetherlandsRadboud University Nijmegen2014SlovakiaComenius University2015HungaryUniversity of Szeged2016ChinaNanjing University2017BelgiumJointly by Ghent University and Katholieke Universiteit Leuven2017FinlandUniversity of Helsinki2018IsraelUniversity of Haifa2019United StatesHarvard University2019GermanyHHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management2021United StatesJohns Hopkins University (JHU) 2021IsraelTechnion – Israel Institute of Technology2023FranceSciences Po2026United KingdomUniversity of Cambridge

Awards and other significant honours

+ Awards and other significant honours received by Angela MerkelYearAward2006Vision for Europe Award2008B'nai B'rith Europe Award of Merit2008Charlemagne Prize2010European Prize from the European Society Coudenhove-Kalergi2010King Charles II Medal from the Royal Society2010Global Leadership Award from the American-German Institute at JHU 2010Leo Baeck Medal2011Light unto the nations Prize from the American Jewish Committee20112009 Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding2011Prize for Understanding and Tolerance from the Jewish Museum Berlin2012Heinz Galinski Award2013Lord Jakobovits Prize for European Jewry from the Conference of European Rabbis2013Indira Gandhi Peace Prize2015Time Person of the Year 2015Abraham-Geiger Prize2016Four Freedoms Award2017Elie Wiesel Award2017International Gender Equality Prize from the Finnish Government2019Fulbright Prize for International Understanding2020Henry A. Kissinger Prize2020Buber-Rosenzweig Medal2021Charles V European Award2022Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize2022Nansen Refugee Award2023North Rhine-Westphalian State Prize 2023Bavarian Order of Merit2026Distinguished Member of the European Order of Merit2026 International Mendelssohn Prize Leipzig

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